Main projects in the 2002 programme

ICT Observatory on 'gender and agriculture in the information society'

CTA organised a workshop under the auspices of its ICT Observatory for ACP agricultural and rural development. This meeting, held in Wageningen, The Netherlands, 11-13 September, was attended by CTA staff from the various Departments and some 20 ACP and EU experts in gender issues and in ICT policies and applications relevant to ACP agricultural and rural development.

The topic was chosen because CTA is developing a gender strategy, a priority identified in the Strategic Plan 2001-2005. Gender and ICTs are two of the main cross-cutting issues affecting all CTA activities, making this year's Observatory a meeting of strategic importance. Its objectives were to:

Study on social capital

The term 'social capital' refers to the institutions, relationships and norms that shape the quality and quantity of a society's social interactions. It can be of crucial importance for ACP agricultural and rural development because increasing evidence shows that social cohesion is critical for development to occur and be sustainable. However, little is known about how social capital can be built and maintained in the context of ACP agriculture and rural development.

CTA has commissioned a study to review the recent literature on this subject with a view to better understanding the concept and its implications for CTA's programmes and activities. The study will also contain advice on an appropriate methodology for operationalising the concept in future activities.

Revision and publication of a field manual for evaluating information programmes

The aim of this joint CTA/ISNAR project is to revise the draft evaluation manual Evaluating Information: Letter to a Project Manager, written in 2001 by Dr Byron Mook, ISNAR. CTA had commissioned the draft manual as part of its efforts to develop practical and cost-effective approaches for assessing the impact of information and communication management. During a CTA/IICD/LEAP-IMPACT workshop on 'Assessing the performance and impact of agricultural information products and services' (October 2001, Bonn, Germany) the draft manual was discussed extensively and there was good feedback from the participants. In view of the high interest in the manual, CTA and ISNAR have agreed to undertake its revision, based on:

• introducing new material on the 'value base' of impact assessment;

• elaborating upon the distinction between 'performance assessment' and 'impact assessment

• giving increased emphasis to the proactive material of impact assessment;

• revising the structure of the manual.

The manual is expected to be published by December 2002 and copies will be distributed to national stakeholders in agricultural information systems, primarily:

• NAS staff in ACP countries who are responsible for evaluating information programmes;

• NAS organisations in ACP countries that wish to build evaluation procedures into new information programmes;

• CTA staff responsible for programme management and assessment.

Production of an information impact assessment source book

During a CTA/IICD/LEAP-IMPACT workshop on 'Assessing the performance and impact of agricultural information products and services' (October 2001, Bonn, Germany), the participants noted that:

• no current source book on information impact exists;

• existing material is complex and not easy to understand by non-experts;

• there is no consensus on terminology;

• there is not enough emphasis on the practical side (few impact studies);

• there is a multiplicity of methodologies.

One of the recommendations at the workshop was that a source book be produced to address some of these problems and to take the debate on impact assessment forward. To this end, CTA has appointed a writer/consultant to conduct a literature review and coordinate the project. A Steering Committee has been established to assist in guiding the project and helping to review material to be included in the book, and workshops, e-consultations and meetings are being arranged to draw on expertise in this field and to involve potential ACP users in defining the content and validation of final product.

The source book is scheduled for publication in early 2004. The target audiences are development project managers, information project practitioners, extension practitioners, researchers and monitoring and evaluation experts.

Inter-agency project on evaluating capacity development in research and development organizations

This 3-year collaborative project, initiated by ISNAR in 2000, is supported by CTA, ACIAR, GTZ, IDRC and SDC. Other organisations participating in the project are based in Ghana, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Cuba, Vietnam and Nicaragua.

Referred as the Evaluating Capacity Development (ECD) project, it is designed to improve participants' ability to evaluate their own capacity development efforts, to prepare a set of evaluation studies on capacity development, and to draw general conclusions about capacity development and related evaluation concepts and methods.

The ECD project is now in its third and final year. In May 2002, a workshop was held to synthesise the results of the evaluation studies. The results of the workshop discussions, summarised in session reports, will provide material for the production of a book entitled The Case for Capacity Development, to be published by CTA, ISNAR and IDRC in early 2003. It will cover the following topics:

• key issues for evaluating capacity development;

• experiences with evaluating capacity development, based on 6 cases studies;

• results and implications for the future.

Evaluation of ICM skills and systems programme

The ICM Skills and Systems Programme became operational in January 2002. An evaluation of activities implemented prior to 2002 but now included under this Programme has been initiated by the P&CS Department. The main aims of this evaluation are to:

• improve the design and performance of the programmes, using lessons learnt in the formulation and planning of new activities;

• review progress of the projects and recommend, where appropriate, adjustments in the planning, implementation and monitoring processes;

• examine whether sustainability and ownership processes are in place in partner organisations to ensure continuity after the exit of CTA.

The evaluation will focus on the following key issues:

• project cycle management (PCM)

• project concept and design

• project management of financial and human resources

• programme and implementation (including monitoring and evaluation)

• programme performance

• effectiveness

• efficiency

• sustainability

• impact

The evaluation is expected to produce the following results:

• recommendations, which will enable CTA to redefine the strategies for planning, monitoring and implementing its programmes;

• design of an effective and efficient sustainability tool for all projects relating to capacity building.

The methodology and approach adopted are:

• documentation review at CTA;

• self-administered questionnaires and face-to-face interviews;

• questionnaires sent by post to partners, participants, users and end-users;

• visual accountability visits by the Evaluation Team of three external consultants to partner organisations and institutions with which CTA conducts its training courses.

Mid-term evaluation of pilot book distribution project in Burkina Faso and Zambia

The Publications Distribution Service (PDS) initiated pilot book distribution projects in 1999 (CNRST in Burkina Faso) and 2000 (Insaka Press in Zambia) aimed at strengthening ACP distribution capacities for agricultural publications and improving the distribution of CTA publications. The P&CS Department is conducting an evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of CNRST and Insaka Press in this project.

The evaluation should provide information which will contribute to efforts to decentralise CTA's book distribution service. The specific aims of the evaluation are to:

• compare the effectiveness of the existing centralised system of distribution with an approach based on distribution through local partners;

• identify options and mechanisms to move from free distribution to an approach involving partial cost- recovery for book distribution in ACP countries;

• recommend suitable alternative partnership models for book distribution in ACP countries.

The evaluation will also address the following issues:

• design and implementation of the project;

• relevance;

• effectiveness;

• efficiency;

• sustainability of a partial cost-recovery system.

The expected results of the evaluation are:

• formulation of criteria for the selection of new book distributors;

• production of a framework and recommendations for the partial cost-recovery phase;

• recommendations that will enable CTA to redefine the strategies for implementing its book distribution activities (including formulating an efficient planning and monitoring system).

The evaluation methodology and approach are based on:

• documentation review (desk study);

• interviews;

• self-administered questionnaires or face-to-face interviews with PDS subscribers, relevant staff in partner organisations, and CTA staff

• field visits (involving three external consultants and the CTA monitoring team).