Collaborative monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment: Experiences assessing the impact of improved fallows and biomass transfer in western Kenya

There is considerable literature available on assessing the impact of rural innovations from the perspective of a particular discipline, e.g., economics or sociology, and from the farmers’ own perspective, e.g., participatory monitoring and evaluation. But little has been written about collaborative...

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Main Authors: Franzel, Steven, Nanok, Tutui, Wangia, Sabina
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Cambridge University Press 2008
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/76151
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author Franzel, Steven
Nanok, Tutui
Wangia, Sabina
author_browse Franzel, Steven
Nanok, Tutui
Wangia, Sabina
author_facet Franzel, Steven
Nanok, Tutui
Wangia, Sabina
author_sort Franzel, Steven
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description There is considerable literature available on assessing the impact of rural innovations from the perspective of a particular discipline, e.g., economics or sociology, and from the farmers’ own perspective, e.g., participatory monitoring and evaluation. But little has been written about collaborative monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment, that is, how a group of diverse stakeholder organizations working in a particular location promoting similar innovations can work together to monitor and evaluate their work and assess their impact. The objective of this paper is to assess the experience of 30 organizations working together over a four year period, 1999-2003, to assess their impact in helping farmers to develop, adapt and adopt two soil fertility practices aimed at improving household livelihoods in western Kenya. The two practices were biomass transfer (cutting leaves and applying them as green manure) and improved fallows (enriching or replacing natural fallows with planted, nitrogen-fixing shrubs). Researchers of ICRAF, the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), and the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) in partnership with farmers developed the practices in the mid-1990s, in response to farmers’ soil fertility problems and their lack of cash for buying mineral fertilizer. The following section describes the study area, and research and dissemination activities concerning the two practices. Next the collaborative exercises on monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment are described, followed by the results of the assessments of biomass transfer and improved fallows. Finally, the impact of these exercises is discussed, highlighting the effect of the process and findings on the participating organizations.
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spelling CGSpace761512025-08-18T06:38:06Z Collaborative monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment: Experiences assessing the impact of improved fallows and biomass transfer in western Kenya Franzel, Steven Nanok, Tutui Wangia, Sabina participatory approaches impact assessment gender There is considerable literature available on assessing the impact of rural innovations from the perspective of a particular discipline, e.g., economics or sociology, and from the farmers’ own perspective, e.g., participatory monitoring and evaluation. But little has been written about collaborative monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment, that is, how a group of diverse stakeholder organizations working in a particular location promoting similar innovations can work together to monitor and evaluate their work and assess their impact. The objective of this paper is to assess the experience of 30 organizations working together over a four year period, 1999-2003, to assess their impact in helping farmers to develop, adapt and adopt two soil fertility practices aimed at improving household livelihoods in western Kenya. The two practices were biomass transfer (cutting leaves and applying them as green manure) and improved fallows (enriching or replacing natural fallows with planted, nitrogen-fixing shrubs). Researchers of ICRAF, the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), and the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) in partnership with farmers developed the practices in the mid-1990s, in response to farmers’ soil fertility problems and their lack of cash for buying mineral fertilizer. The following section describes the study area, and research and dissemination activities concerning the two practices. Next the collaborative exercises on monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment are described, followed by the results of the assessments of biomass transfer and improved fallows. Finally, the impact of these exercises is discussed, highlighting the effect of the process and findings on the participating organizations. 2008-01 2016-07-12T18:51:43Z 2016-07-12T18:51:43Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/76151 en Open Access application/pdf Cambridge University Press Franzel, Steven; Nanok, Tutui; Wangia, Sabina. 2008. Collaborative monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment: Experiences assessing the impact of improved fallows and biomass transfer in western Kenya. Experimental Agriculture. 44: 113-127.
spellingShingle participatory approaches
impact assessment
gender
Franzel, Steven
Nanok, Tutui
Wangia, Sabina
Collaborative monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment: Experiences assessing the impact of improved fallows and biomass transfer in western Kenya
title Collaborative monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment: Experiences assessing the impact of improved fallows and biomass transfer in western Kenya
title_full Collaborative monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment: Experiences assessing the impact of improved fallows and biomass transfer in western Kenya
title_fullStr Collaborative monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment: Experiences assessing the impact of improved fallows and biomass transfer in western Kenya
title_full_unstemmed Collaborative monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment: Experiences assessing the impact of improved fallows and biomass transfer in western Kenya
title_short Collaborative monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment: Experiences assessing the impact of improved fallows and biomass transfer in western Kenya
title_sort collaborative monitoring evaluation and impact assessment experiences assessing the impact of improved fallows and biomass transfer in western kenya
topic participatory approaches
impact assessment
gender
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/76151
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