Tools and guidelines
Tools and guidelines
Tools and guidelines
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Effective project management arrangements for agricultural projects: A synthesis of selected case studies and quantitative analysis
March 2015
In 2013, IFAD commissioned a study to analyse project management arrangements for market‑oriented smallholder agriculture. As IFAD adapts to the changing development discourse, the organization has focused increasingly on improving Project Management Unit (PMU) arrangements in order to provide more effective and expanded management and technical skills. This review was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of PMUs and their alignment with the Paris Declaration principles, as well as to identify lessons or frameworks to guide future project management and implementation arrangements. It investigated five case studies drawn from different regions and types of projects.
Scaling up note: Land tenure security
February 2015
Equitable access to land and tenure security for IFAD’s target groups are essential for rural development and poverty eradication. Tenure security influences the extent to which farmers are prepared to invest in improvements in production and land management. Interventions to be scaled-up are in this note are: (i) Recognition and recording of multiple and sometimes overlapping rights in community-level land use, watershed management, territorial, rangeland and forest management planning processes; (ii) Registration of land ownership and use rights; (iii) Equitable land access; (iv) Land conflict resolution and access to judiciary and legal aid and; (v) Civic education and public awareness-raising.
Scaling up note: Smallholder livestock development
February 2015
Smallholder livestock production is largely based on family farming and is key to poor rural people’s livelihoods, food security and employment creation.
Scaling up note: Inclusive Rural Financial Services
February 2015
With almost four decades of engagement in more than 70 countries and more than US$1.1 billion invested in rural finance (RF) initiatives, IFAD has rich and multifaceted experience, a global network of partners working at the frontier of innovation and hundreds of different types of providers addressing the financial needs of poor rural households as their clients. Most of the 3 billion people in rural areas still live on less than US$2 a day. Challenges such as economic shocks, food shortages and climate change affect poor people disproportionately. Poor rural households are typically excluded from opportunities in the formal financial sector.
Scaling up note: Climate-resilient agricultural development
February 2015
Smallholder farmers are in the front line of climate change impacts. The ecosystems on which they rely are increasingly degraded and their access to suitable agricultural land and to forest resources is declining.
Scaling up note: Smallholder institutions and organizations
December 2014
The initial step in scaling up smallholder organizations is to clarify and examine the elements that work best and decide which of these to scale up. The elements to be considered include the organizational components embedded in projects related to capacity-building, such as the managerial and technical skills and governance systems that enable organizations to fulfil their core functions and achieve their missions more effectively.
Foro de los Pueblos Indígenas en el FIDA
December 2014
Taller regional de América Latina y el Caribe en preparación de la segunda reunión mundial del Foro de Pueblos Indígenas en el FIDA.
Africa Regional Workshop Report
December 2014
Africa Regional Workshop in preparation for the Second Global Meeting of the Indigenous Peoples’ Forum at IFAD.
Case Study: Household approach for gender, HIV and AIDS mainstreaming, Malawi
December 2014
This case study illustrates how the household approach for gender, HIV and AIDS mainstreaming has been used effectively in Malawi, highlighting how it has worked in a particular context. Links are provided to resources and online materials.
Case study: Men's Campfire Conference, Zambia
December 2014
This case study illustrates how the Men's Campfire Conference (household methodology) has been used effectively in Zambia, highlighting how it has worked in a particular context. Links are provided to resources and online materials.
Lessons learned: Strengthening smallholder institutions and organizations
November 2014
This note highlights the lessons learned in supporting smallholder institutions and organizations.
Burundi: Country Technical Note on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues
November 2014
The Twa “Pygmy” of the Republic of Burundi are a small minority of around 80,000 people that self-identify as indigenous and are considered as such by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the UN system.
How to do note: Analyse and strengthen social capital
November 2014
This How To Do Note guides design and country teams in conducting an initial analysis of organizations and their capacity development needs at the project design stage. It provides a conceptual framework and practical suggestions and tools to help practitioners systematically collate and summarize information captured during design missions.
Pacific Regional Workshop Report
November 2014
In February 2013, the First Global Meeting of the Indigenous Peoples Forum took place at the IFAD headquarters in Rome, in conjunction with the 36th session of the Governing Council. In attendance at this inaugural meeting were 31 indigenous people’s representatives from 25 countries in Asia, Pacific, Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean regions. Of the 19 Asia- Pacific regional representatives, two were from the Pacific; Mr. Anthony Wale, the Executive Director Aoke Langalanga Constituency Apex Association (ALCAA), and Ms Rufina Peter, Senior Research Officer at the PNG Institute of National Affairs. During the meeting the Pacific representatives highlighted the need for the Pacific to have a “separate identity” as per the outcomes of Asia Pacific regional preparatory workshop in Bangkok. The issue was one of visibility for the Pacific Region due to its unique, rich and diverse cultures and traditions, its significant land and sea area and its high biodiversity. The Pacific Regional meeting proposed three action plans, of which the Pacific Regional Workshop in preparation of the Second Global Meeting of the Indigenous Peoples’ Forum at IFAD is a direct result.
Case study: Household approach, Zambia
November 2014
This case study illustrates how Household Approach (household methodology) has been used effectively in Zambia, highlighting how it has worked in a particular context. Links are provided to resources and online materials.
Case study: Chiefs and traditional leaders, Zambia
November 2014
This case study illustrates how the Chiefs and Traditional Leaders Household Methodology has been used effectively in Zambia, highlighting how it has worked in a particular context. Links are provided to resources and online materials.
A field practitioner's guide: Institutional and organizational analysis and capacity strengthening
November 2014
The purpose of this Guide is to support institutional and organizational analysis and strengthening (IOA/S) for design and implementation of programmes and projects. The Guide is designed to be a practical, hands-on set of directions to those needing to answer the following questions: “how to go about doing institutional and organizational analysis? And once I’ve done it, how do I go about using this analysis to promote sustainable institutions and organizations?” This is intended as a user-friendly Guide, the use of which could help identify strategic partners and key areas for intervention at COSOP level; to deepen the COSOP analysis at the design stage by generating interventions that support sustainable institutions and organizations, and progress at implementation stage should be easier to monitor and evaluate effectively.
Toolkit: Strengthening smallholder institutions and organizations
November 2014
The “Strengthening smallholder institutions and organizations toolkit” provides valuable guidance to help practitioners analyze and address issues related to smallholder institutions and organizations during the devopment of country strategies and in the design and implementation of programmes and projects.
How to do note: Strengthen community-based natural resource management organizations
November 2014
Natural resources (land, water, forests, fisheries) are fundamental to the survival of rural people. The livelihoods of most poor people depend on agriculture, which in turn hinges on the continued productiveness of the land and availability of water resources. Land and water, in addition to forests, offer the compendium of ecological goods and services that smallholders in developing countries need for their economic development; they can also provide a safety net in times of crisis. These resources are also global public goods. Natural resources need to be managed sustainably not only on smallholder farms and in individual sectors (e.g. selected sources of water or forest reserves) but in the totality of ecosystems that support their existence.
Congo: Country Technical Notes on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues
October 2014
The indigenous population of the Republic of Congo (RC) include the Baka, Mbendjele, Mikaya, Luma, Gyeli, Twa and Babongo peoples. Depending on sources, these peoples represent a small minority of 1.25 to 10 percent of RC’s estimated population of 4.4 million, primarily of Bantu origin.
Lessons learned: Commodity value chain development projects
October 2014
The purpose of this Lessons Learned note is to provide design teams with observations based on lessons from IFAD and other donors’ projects that may help in the design of value chain projects.
Toolkit: Lines of credit
October 2014
The LOC is a loan to a participating financial institution (PFI) for on-lending to customers who are expected to repay their loans with interest.
Case study: Transformative Household Methodology, Ethiopia
October 2014
This case study illustrates how the Transformative Household Methodology has been used effectively in Ethiopia, highlighting how it has worked in a particular context. Links are provided to resources and online materials.
Case study: Men’s Travelling Conference, Kenya
October 2014
This case study illustrates how the Men's Travelling Conference (household methodology) has been used effectively in Kenya, highlighting how it has worked in a particular context.
How to do note: Loan Guarantee Funds
October 2014
This How To Do Note highlights the rationale for using Loan Guarantee Funds, focusing on different types of guarantee arrangements, as well as their strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. It also summarizes global experience with LGFs. The Note provides country programme management teams, programme design teams, implementation teams, and other practitioners and users with evidence-based good practices and guidelines so that they can design and implement more effective and contextually appropriate guarantees.
Toolkit: Key performance indicators and performance-based agreements
October 2014
This note provides an overview on key performance indicators and performance-based agreements highlighting the main issues, challenges, opportunities and benefits.
How to do note - Key performance indicators and performance-based agreements
October 2014
This how to do note addresses KPIs and PBAs at the level of partnering financial institutions. In this context, key performance targets are included in various documents, including strategic plans, business plans and possibly budgets at different levels. Also, they can be used as an important support instrument for results-based management.
How to do note: Lines of credit
October 2014
This How To Do Note highlights the philosophy and rationale for LOCs, focusing on different types of LOC arrangements, as well as their strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. It summarizes global experience with LOCs in order to clearly outline when they should and should not be used. It presents practical aspects of specific approaches, methodologies and models that have been tested and can be recommended for implementation and scaling up.
Lessons Learned: Loan Guarantee Funds
October 2014
This document highlights IFAD’s and other partners’ experiences with products, services, methods and approaches associated with Loan Guarantee Funds. It will assist IFAD’s country programme manager (CPM) to take up evidence-based good practices that can aid IFAD’s thematic focus.