The Evaluation Manual’s primary function is to guide staff and consultants engaged in evaluation work at the Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE). It also serves as a reference document for other IFAD staff and development partners (such as project management staff and executing agencies of IFAD-supported operations), especially in recipient countries, on how evaluation of development programmes in the agriculture and rural development sector is conducted in IFAD. The revision of this Manual was undertaken in recognition of the dynamic environment in which IFAD operates, and in response to the evolution in the approaches and methodologies of international development evaluation. It will help ensure that IFAD’s methodological practice remains state of the art. It may be read in conjunction with the Evaluation Process Guidelines.