This presentation was given at the 'Beyond Scaling Up: Pathways to Universal Access' workshop which was held at the Institute of Development Studies, Brighton on the 24-25 May, 2010. This event was co-sponsored by the Future Health Systems Research Programme Consortium and the STEPS Centre. Pinto presented the work of Aline on agricultural measurement issues.
2. This is a second chance for agriculture Renewed focus on agricultural development Greater resources to initiatives that aim to make a difference to poor farmers’ lives “The next Green Revolution ....must be guided by small-holder farmers, adapted to local circumstances, and sustainable for the economy and the environment”Bill Gates, World Food Prize speech. October 2009. But, are we being guided by smallholder farmers? M&E is the key way of guiding agricultural resources so that they achieve impact But there are limitations www.aline.org.uk
3. Farmer involvement in M&E: Farmer Nowhere “Current M&E practice tends to provide good accountability to” n=171 ALINe stakeholder survey. Lindstrom and Ponsford 2009 www.aline.org.uk
4. What would partnership with farmers look like? Shared goals Cooperative pooling of talents Mutual responsibility Shared gains and risks www.aline.org.uk
5. Shared Goals A mixed methods evaluation of a participatory soil conservation project in 41 communities in Honduras Participation led to changes in types of technologies tested Participating farmers were more likely to innovate due to intervention This led to increased adoption and higher yields (at least x3 for vast majority) The cost of inputs per hectare under participatory conservation was $208. Similar projects in region without participatory methods recorded costs of at least $2000 per hectare Johnson, N. L.; Lilja, N. and Ashby, J.A. (2003) Measuring the impact of user participation in agricultural and natural resource management research’, Agricultural Systems 78, pp 287–306 www.aline.org.uk
6. Cooperative Pooling of Talents A systematic review of 121 diverse rural water projects in Asia, Africa and Latin America Indicators examined: percentage of water systems in good condition, percentage of target population reached and value of benefits Strong statistical evidence: a 10 per cent increase in participation of the rural poor in these projects resulted in a 2 per cent increase in overall performance Isham, J.; Narayan, D. and Pritchett, L. (1994) Does participation improve project performance : establishing causality with subjective data, Policy Research Working Paper Series 1357, The World Bank www.aline.org.uk
7. Mutual Responsibility Randomised control trial of community-based monitoring of public primary health care providers in Uganda Citizen report cards reduced child mortality by 33 per cent The study documents large increases in utilisation and improved health outcomes Cost per child death averted was $300, well below the average of $887 for 23 other interventions. Björkman, M and Svensson, J. (2009) 'Power to the People: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment on Community Based Monitoring in Uganda’, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol 124: 2, pp 735–69 www.aline.org.uk
8. Shared Gains and Risks A study of collaborative rice breeding in Nepal Varieties selected by farmers during on-farm trials had superior combinations of yield and maturity compared to the breeders‘ selections Varieties spread from farmer to farmer without the need for intervention from scientists Source: Gyawali, S., Sunwar, S., Subedi, M., Tripathi, M., Joshi, K.D. and Witcombe, J.R. (2007) 'Collaborative breeding with farmers can be effective', Field Crops Research, Vol. 101:1, pp 88-95 www.aline.org.uk
15. ALINe: people-centred performance measurement systems Research on agricultural measurement issues Specialist advice on systematic farmer feedback systems Work with innovators in the sector through the Farmer Voice Initiative to learn from their experiences, share good practice Pilot and evaluate new approaches to farmer feedback Builds on work done by CIAT, ILAC, Farmer First Revisited and those outside of agriculture, including private sector www.alineplanning.org
16. Deja Vu All Over Again? Now more evidence that participation can add value New approaches developed —outcome mapping, participatory impact pathways New IC technologies stimulate practical methods for direct feedback Agriculture will not get a third chance for a long time—this time around it has to demonstrate impact on people www.aline.org.uk
17. But, donors need to “initiate discomfort” True leadership is the installing of systems that might cause future discomfort in support of the greater good Feedback systems will improve Client accountability Advocacy Learning Outcomes www.aline.org.uk
18. We need more people-centredperformance measurement A meaningful partnership with farmers Between “Farmer First” and “Farmer Nowhere” Food security and nutrition www.aline.org.uk
