METHODOLOGIES FOR MONITORING AND EVALUATING AGRICULTURAL AND NATURAL-RESOURCES RESEARCH

This paper examines the methodology of monitoring and evaluation (M & E) in three distinct contexts. In the introduction, the particular foc us is on methods which are usable given the sparse data in many develo ping countries. In the following two sections, the strengths and weakn esses of a widely-used monitoring tool-the Project Logical Framework ( Logframe) are reviewed. Suggestions are made on how it may be made mor e relevant at the programme-project interface by the incorporation of criteria used by the private commercial sector. The third section sugg ests that, with suitable adaptations, the Logframe can be used for mon itoring farmer participatory research, but efforts to make it sensitiv e to process and to the diverse expectations of different stakeholders also make it increasingly cumbersome, thereby ino easing the attracti on of alternative, process-based ways of monitoring change. (C) 1997 P ublished by Elsevier Science Ltd.