Monitoring and evaluation of adoption of innovations and changes with references to the baseline data.
Abstract
A monitoring and Evaluation (M + E) survey was conducted for R8115 to gauge the changes brought by developing and promoting improved strategies for integrated soil and plant nutrient management in the project target areas. The information collected/ gathered addressed three main aspects, namely the use of soil fertility amendments, use of the various information transaction mechanisms and channels in the dissemination of information on integrated soil fertility and nutrient management and the extent of the use of various rainwater harvesting systems in the target areas in crop production. The questionnaire was administered to a total of 304 farmers in the two project sites taking into account the wealth status of the farmers, gender balance and age groups. The farmers were randomly picked based on the aforementationed three criteria.
The M and E was under taken two years from the date of inception of the project. The M and E data was then compared to the baseline data collected prior to the inception of the project on the same issues. Results from the compiled and analysed M and E data showed that the number of farmers using various soil fertility amendments increased within the two year period (2002 & 2004) and this was due to the increase in the awareness by farmers on the various aspects of integrated soil fertility and nutrient management on soil productivity, hence improved crop yields. The erratic nature of the rainfall amounts and distribution, drastically affected the quantities of rainwater harvested. Inadequate availability of organic soil amendment and the very high prices of the inorganic soil amendment limited the extent of adoption of the improved soil fertility management technologies. It was further noted that the best information transaction channels for integrated soil fertility and plant nutrient management strategies included farmer-to-farmer, demonstrations trials and farm visits.
Citation
Soil-Water Management Research Group (SWMRG). Monitoring and evaluation of adoption of innovations and changes with references to the baseline data. (2005) 23 pp.
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