This Guide is organized into ten modules, each covering a specific topic or step important for organizing and facilitating CA. They are designed to provide practical guidance and tips on how to apply CA principles in a relatively concise, easy-to-reference format that can be utilized as needed. In this way, users need not necessarily read the entire guide in sequence, but rather refer to those modules applicable in the moment. You may find that completing a step in one module may lead you to retrace your work in an earlier module, as many of the components are interrelated and, in general, development is an iterative process. Throughout the document we have hyperlinked all references to other modules to facilitate navigation and quick reference.

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, then a map must surely be worth far more. Especially if it is a map enriched with data – one that shows what and where activities are planned, are happening, and have been achieved.

This practical manual provides guidance on how to use geographic information systems (GIS) in the monitoring and evaluation of rural development projects. With over 20 maps showing IFAD-funded projects, it describes how to map a project’s activities and how to use the data the map shows. It provides sample geospatial data standards and quality checklists for project designers and managers.

The farmer field school (FFS) approach, based on group experimentation of innovative practices and/or farming systems, is in line with participatory farm advisory efforts. This approach has an ambitious goal: strengthening farmers’ skills so that they can adapt their practices, or even invent new ones, and move towards more agroecological farming systems. Assessing such an advisory intervention poses significant challenges. The purpose of this document is to propose fresh ways to update FFS assessment methods, notably the study of changes in farming practices and the detailed analysis of FFS outcomes. Project designers, managers, and evaluators are the target audience for this document, which may also interest teachers, researchers, students, and policymakers. The elements of the FFS assessment methodology presented here stem from the collaboration between three institutions, CIRAD, FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), and the NGO AVSF (Agronomists and Veterinarians Without Borders), and fieldwork carried out in cotton-growing areas of Burkina Faso and Togo between 2018 and 2019.

This document is divided into four parts. We first define FSS and the principles of the approach, then we detail the methods commonly used to assess FSS and the challenges involved. We then present a comprehensive assessment method using a case study in northern Togo. The final part of the report provides a basis for placing the proposed method within the process of designing an assessment for a project involving FSS.