Background
During
the last decade, several international development
organisations including CTA, IDRC and UNESCO have
invested in research that aims to develop appropriate
methodologies for evaluating information products
and services. CTA's interventions have focused
on literature reviews, pilot studies, and technical
consultations, with a view to facilitating the
development of practical and cost-effective approaches
for assessing the impact of information and communication
management. Through these activities, it has become
clear that many organisations in developing countries
will benefit significantly from a more systemic
approach to the evaluation of their information
and communication activities.
Problems
to be addressed
Although various approaches are proposed in development
literature for carrying out evaluation exercises,
there are as yet few methodologies and applications
relating to information management, and even fewer
which have been or could be applied specifically
to agricultural information products and services.
If the practice of evaluation is to be adopted
more widely in the field of agricultural information
and communication management, the current methodologies
for project evaluation need to be adapted taking
into account the specific characteristics of the
discipline. Without agreement on the choice of
performance and impact indicators and evaluation
procedures, it will difficult to draw meaningful
lessons from any evaluation exercise, since different
stakeholders may have different and sometimes
conflicting expectations.
The multiplicity of concepts and terms currently
employed by various specialists and consultants
also constitutes a serious constraint to the development
of a coherent body of literature on evaluation
theory and practice.
The
overall aim of this initiative is to facilitate
the development and use of practical and cost-effective
methods for evaluating the performance and impact
of agricultural information products and services.
The Technical Consultation in Bonn will serve
as a key step towards the realisation of this
goal.
