Michael Loevinsohn Institute of Development Studies, U.K.

1. Monitoring, evaluation and learning
in the SRI Lower Mekong Basin project
Michael Loevinsohn
Institute of Development Studies, U.K.
SRI Regional Project Inception Workshop,
Bangkok, 10 April 2013

2. What should responsive monitoring
and evaluation look like?
• Clear, accurate pictures: what is happening?
• Information on questions of local concern
• Feeding decisions:
– Revising the content of FFS and its research
– Community deliberations e.g. field days
– Policy deliberations national, regional, global
• Information in a form that is meaningful and
available in a timely fashion
• Early indications of unintended consequences
– Social and environmental

3. Major questions
• What are farmers doing with what they learn about
SRI in their fields and what do they achieve?
– What directions does innovation take?
– Among which farmers is innovation proceeding?
– Where is it stagnating?
– What are the exceptional innovations?
– What are the production, income and other benefits?
– Do other farmers learn and adapt new practices?
• How do the new cropping practices respond to
extreme weather events?
• What are the responses to and impacts on the
landless and other marginalized groups?

4. How will it be done?
• Trained monitors/evaluators visit FFS graduates and
non-graduates 2 times per season
– Continuing over life of project  ¼ of FFS
– Inquire about practices in different fields
– What outcomes achieved?
– Observations, obstacles, opportunities
– Do other farmers learn and adapt new practices?

5. How will it be done?
• How do the new cropping practices respond to
extreme weather events?
• Flooding, drought, high winds can be expected to hit
at least one of the sites across 10 provinces each
year
• Teams (researchers, monitors, trainers) prepared to
respond: assess degree of exposure and outcomes in
the fields of graduates/non graduates
 Clearer understanding of resistance of SRI-like crops
to extreme events
 Understand how livelihoods are benefited

6. How will it be done?
• What are the responses to and impacts on the
landless and other marginalized group
• Visit sample of landless households
• Follow their responses to new opportunities
• Extent to which their earnings are impacted