AMP_PMEP_-_final_111909.doc

Access to Mechanization Project Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (PMEP) Submitted to:

United States Agency for International Development USAID/Caucasus Mission

Under the John Ogonowski Farmer-to-Farmer Program in Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia Leader with Associates Cooperative Agreement No. EDH-A-00-08-00019-00

Submitted: November 19, 2009 Implementing Partner:

CNFA

1828 L Street, NW, Suite 710 Washington, DC 20036 202-296-3920 (tel) 202-296-3948 (fax) www.cnfa.org 47 Kostava Street, Suite 7

Tbilisi 0179, Georgia

+995-32-99-58-30 (tel)

+995-32-98-49-50 (fax)

ACCESS TO MECHANIZATION PROJECT

PROJECT MONITORING AND EVALUATION PLAN (PMEP)

Summary of the Program and Objectives: Georgia’s small farmers cannot afford to purchase and maintain their own machinery and, due to a shortage of both equipment and service providers, lack reliable access to machinery services to cultivate their land. Much of the equipment that does exist in Georgia is aging and therefore costly to maintain, and is concentrated in the hands of large commercial farmers who do not necessarily contract out their machinery to benefit others. This combination of factors represents a major constraint to agricultural productivity and to smallholder profitability, severely limiting the opportunities for Georgia’s hundreds of thousands of small farmers to transition to commercial viability.

AMP will address Georgia’s lack of agricultural machinery by setting up a number of commercially-sustainable machinery service providers throughout the country. Building on CNFA’s established nationwide presence, our ability to build US consulting support through the USAID-funded Farmer-to-Farmer Program (FTF), and experience in development of agricultural services for farmers, the Access to Mechanization Project (AMP) will use a combination of matching investments, leveraged commercial finance, business and extension training and volunteer technical assistance to establish between 25-30 Machinery Service Centers (MSCs) countrywide, providing fee-based custom machinery services to small farmers. As a result of this initiative sales revenue for assisted firms will be increased and new jobs will be created.

Most importantly, beneficiary small farmers will enjoy more timely planting, cultivation and harvest, greater acreage under cultivation, higher productivity, and increased incomes. Also, immediate availability of custom machinery services will improve the quality and yield of existing production by ensuring timely plowing, planting, plant protection, fertilizer application and harvesting. Finally, the improved efficiency of newer equipment to be delivered to the FSCs will reduce costs for both service providers and farmers, while allowing a greater area to be served by each unit of machinery.

AMP Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy: CNFA will systematically collect and analyze information on the performance of individual grant projects, their beneficiaries and the program as a whole as implementation progresses. The goal will be both to demonstrate the impact of the program and to inform program management to improve performance. The monitoring and evaluation system will be based on targets set and activities planned at the outset of the project, with progress against those targets tracked over time. With this in mind, monitoring in the AMP context will track both the implementation processes (e.g. grants signed, MSCs opened, trainings performed) as well as outcomes (e.g. sales revenue, farmer income, jobs created). The two key priorities of the AMP M&E strategy will be:

· To confirm and measure increased small farmer incomes as a result of improved access to machinery;

· To track the financial performance of MSCs established through the program, in order to ensure sustainable commercial service delivery in the long term.

Tools and Methodology: CNFA’s monitoring and evaluation methodology is based on simple and easily measurable indicators that can describe or measure change (both process and outcome). These indicators have been established to provide useful and relevant information about the performance of the project in achieving the intended impacts, according to the planned implementation schedule. AMP indicators are primarily quantitative, reflecting measurable achievements of implementation and impact targets.

Impact monitoring and evaluation will be carried out using a combination of methods, including submission and review of MSC Quarterly Reporting Forms, on-site verification by the AMP M&E Specialist, completion and tabulation of Training Beneficiary Records by the AMP Training Coordinator, and sample MSC Client Surveys. Draft versions of all reporting forms are attached as Annexes 1-3 of this document

· MSC Quarterly Reporting Form (Annex 1) – Data on the performance of MSCs will be collected from grantees using this form, which will be maintained for each individual grant project. At the end of each reporting period, the M&E Specialist will schedule a site-visit to every grantee, in order to fill-in the reporting forms for that period. During these site visits, the grantees will be requested to provide primary data on the indicators related to their performance for the last quarter only. The data will then be added to the information obtained from previous monitoring visits by the M&E Specialist, in order to receive the cumulative information on the indicators for that project. Grantees will also be requested to provide the documentary proof of all figures provided in the form (examples include copies of employment agreements, salary payment receipts, financial statements and other documentation of cost share expenses), and both grantees and the AMP M&E Specialist will be required to sign the monitoring form attesting to the accuracy of the information.

· Training Beneficiary Record (Annex 2) – Information on participants in training sessions, including business skills training and extension training conducted by the program, as well as demonstrations and field days conducted by the MSCs, will be recorded in the Training Beneficiary Record. This document is essentially a sign-in sheet to be filled in by participants and will provide the name, gender and other contact information of all participants. This will allow CNFA to tabulate total participants and to disaggregate by gender, while also allowing the possibility of follow-up to determine the efficacy of the training received. The Training Coordinator and Extension Specialist will be responsible for gathering these forms and providing a copy to the M&E Specialist for reporting purposes.

· MSC Client Survey (Annex 3) – Finally, the impact of MSC services for farmers (MSC clients) will be gauged through the MSC Client Survey form. As it will be impractical to conduct a survey of all MSC clients created under the project, a sample group of 30 clients will be selected for each MSC. The AMP M&E Specialist and Project Coordinators will visit each MSC service area and survey these clients. This means that between 750-900 farmers will be surveyed per year. The survey form will be designed to collect past performance (baseline) data for each respondent, as well as to gauge current performance (hectares cultivated, crops grown, sales revenue, net income), for the purpose of evaluating improvements due to machinery access.

Implementation progress monitoring will use the following tools and methods to plan, project targets and track progress against those targets:

· Detailed implementation timelines will be designed for every project activity and written into AMP grant agreements, including a schedule for proper allocation of time, financing and other resources for each step;

· A site visit report form will be developed for project coordinators to collect and report information from the field on project performance against the implementation timeline;

· AMP management will conduct periodic reviews of implementation progress, with a special focus on time and quality adherence in the execution of project activities and identification of gaps and constraints;

· Regular and timely reports will be provided to the Program Manager by the Training Coordinator, Senior Project Coordinator, M&E Specialist, Communications/Outreach Specialist, Environmental Specialist and Credit Specialist, regarding progress in their areas of responsibility.

M&E Timeline: The timeline for data collection and reporting activities will vary according to the source and type of information being gathered. Generally, the data will be divided according to the same pattern as the annexed reporting forms – data from grantees, from training beneficiaries and from MSC clients (farmers).

Information from grantees – the MSCs themselves – will be collected on a quarterly basis by the AMP M&E Specialist and project coordinators, using the MSC Quarterly Reporting Form, with information confirmed through annexed supporting documentation and site visits. The corresponding forms (Annex 1) will be developed and maintained by M&E specialist for each project, which will allow monitoring the quarterly progress against baseline data. The M&E Specialist should have cumulative data on these indicators, ready for reporting to the USAID as well as CNFA HQ no later than 20th day of the month following every calendar quarter.

Information on training beneficiaries will be collected by the training providers, using the Training Beneficiary Record (Annex 2) and reported to CNFA after each training session conducted. CNFA will tabulate the totals from these forms and have updated information available upon request at all times. However, official reporting of training beneficiaries will be made to USAID according to the usual quarterly reporting schedule, in the M&E component of the AMP Quarterly Report.

Finally, data on the impact of the program for MSC clients will be gathered and reported on an annual basis only, using the MSC Client Survey form (Annex 3). As these indicators mainly deal with annual income, a full year (or crop cycle) is required in order to properly gauge both income and expenses, as well as to account for seasonal factors in the production of various crops. CNFA anticipates the farm survey to be conducted at the end of each project year, with data reported in the corresponding AMP Annual Report.

Indicators: The M&E Plan measures the results of the Program using quantitative, objective and reliable data (indicators). Each indicator has one or more expected results that specify the expected value and the expected time by which that result will be achieved (targets). The M&E Plan will measure and report four types of indicators. First, the AMP IDP Indicators will measure the impact of the program in providing services to resettled IDPs that have been issued agricultural land during the 2010 crop season. Second, Program Implementation Indicators measure the delivery of key goods and services in order to monitor the pace of program implementation. MSC Performance Indicators will measure the financial and service performance of grantee enterprises as the program endeavors to establish sustainable, service-providing businesses. Finally, Farmer Impact Indicators will measure the ultimate impact of access to newly introduced machinery and service providers on the targeted beneficiaries of the project – Georgia’s smallholder farmers.

IDP Indicators: During the 2010 crop season, AMP will ensure the delivery of free or subsidized machinery services to resettled IDPs who have been issued agricultural land.

IDP-specific indicators:

Program Implementation Indicators: The program must establish 25-30 Machinery Service Centers (MSCs) around the country to provide fee-based, custom machinery services to Georgia’s small farmers. In support of this effort, commercial financing and grantee matching investment must be leveraged. In addition, large-scale business training and extension components must be implemented.

Project Indicators – Programmatic:

(tractors and combines)

(field days and demonstrations)

MSC Performance Indicators: The following indicators will be used to track the financial sustainability and business performance of MSCs established through the project.

Project Indicators – MSC Performance:

(job positions)

Farmer Impact Indicators: The ultimate goal of the program is to increase small farmer incomes through improved access to agricultural machinery. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the program in achieving this goal, the following indicators will be used.

Project Indicators – Farmer Impact:

Baseline: All indicators that are formulated as increases (e.g. increased farmer income, increased enterprise gross profit) require baseline data against which progress may be compared. This baseline data will be compiled in a variety of ways, depending on the indicator. For impacts related to MSC performance, baseline data will be collected during the project development process. Past financial performance, including sales and gross profit, will be evaluated as part of the scoring process and will be used as the basis for development of financial projections to be included in each grant proposal. This information will then be recorded in each project’s impact monitoring forms and will serve as the baseline against which to judge increases over time. Baseline data related to impacts achieved by MSC clients (farmers) will be gathered as a part of the MSC Client Surveys. The survey forms will ask farmers to provide information on their last two years of operations, as well as on the results of the current year’s operations. The current data will be compared to the past years’ information for the purpose of measuring increases.

Disaggregating Data by Gender: In cases where beneficiaries are individually identifiable, they will be disaggregated by gender to the extent practical and such information shall be made publicly available. Reporting on the following indicators will be disaggregated by gender.

· Women-owned businesses assisted

· New jobs created

· Women trained in business or agricultural practices Implementation and Management of M&E: The M&E Specialist will be responsible for overall monitoring and evaluation of the Project. The M&E Specialist will be primarily responsible for coordinating and ensuring quality and accuracy in data collection and reporting on the indicators in this M&E Plan. Others involved in data collection and reporting will include the project coordinators, who will assist grantees to complete and return the MSC Quarterly Reporting Forms and will conduct the MSC Client Surveys, as well as the Training Coordinator and Extension Specialist, who will collect Training Beneficiary Records from training sessions conducted. The M&E specialist will work closely with the Project Manager to track both implementation and impact results to ensure the program remains on track to achieve the expected results, according to the established timeline.

Annexes:

ANNEX 1 – MSC Quarterly Reporting Form ANNEX 2 – Training Beneficiary Record ANNEX 3 – MSC Client Survey Form ANNEX 4 – Project Monitoring Plan (forecasted progress on indicators on month-by-month basis in MS Excel format)

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The John Ogonowski Farmer to Farmer Program

Access to Mechanization Project

Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (PMEP) - Submitted by CNFA