Project Design, Monitoring & Evaluation

Land projects, whether implemented as a core program or as a component of larger sector-wide reform, inherently respond to wider social, political and economic issues. Capturing, guiding and harnessing short and long-term changes and outcomes requires appropriate and adaptable program management. Successful and sustainable projects also require monitoring and evaluation mechanisms that help guide projects and respond within the dynamic context in which reforms occur.

LEI has an extensive and proven track record in project identification, concept development, project preparation and design, for land sector projects. We are sought-after partners of government, donors and private sector stakeholders. We ensure project designs closely align with and contribute to country strategies and economic, social and environmental long-term development goals. Our experience has demonstrated the importance of regional integration and donor coordination, linking land projects with broader development objectives.

LEI has experience in costing for land reforms in excess of US$400m. We have designed a land administration institution costing and financing tool and routinely use this to develop short- and long-term costed action plans for government agency staff and donors. We also have under-development a toolkit that will guide donor decision-making for land information system investment, including clear identification of prerequisite actions, guidance on risk and support for selecting systems development approaches and delivery models. We understand institutional work plan requirements, capacity and resource assessment and planning, and realistic timeframes for project design work and implementation.

We benchmark and measure project impact and effectiveness from project onset throughout all stages including conceptualisation, design, piloting, and implementation. We see monitoring, evaluation and learning as fundamental to fostering collaborative processes, beneficiary ownership, and responsive results-based program management. “Tools” in our MEL toolkit, implemented in our projects, include: qualitative and quantitative analytical tools, participatory mapping and monitoring, evaluation and learning, outcome mapping, political economy and stakeholder analysis, social learning, gender audits and power analyses.

For most donor-led projects, the design requires markers of progress for evaluation against the five Development Assistance Committee (DAC) evaluation criteria. These criteria are established “to determine the relevance and fulfillment of objectives, developmental efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability” (OECD 1992) of donor investment efforts. Results Chains, Results Frameworks, Log frames and Theories of Change are just some of the frameworks routinely used in our projects, against which project progress and performance can be assessed. These frameworks identify the expected causal linkages and the underlying assumptions implicit in project design, as well as providing a basis for project review. We support the use of a Human Rights-Based approach in monitoring and evaluation to promote gender-responsive and pro-poor outcomes.

We have a thorough knowledge of the environmental and social safeguards applicable to land projects, and appropriate strategies to identify, manage and mitigate risks. We seek continuous learning and reflection throughout our projects, including knowledge sharing and management. We frequently submit our project reports for peer review, drawing on our client and associate networks, as well as at international conferences to contribute to public dialogue on key topics.