This piece examines the prevailing thinking and trends in evaluation (specifically impact assessment), which is important for understanding how a contest of ideas has become something of a battleground in the quest for better evidence. It is particularly Impact assessment and the quest for the Holy Grail Common Fund for Commodities relevant for the many organisations, including CFC, who desire methodological rigour in their evaluations and yet have to be realistic when it comes to evaluation budgets.
This study, conducted by the World Bank at the request of the Government, is motivated by the need to understand Malaysia’s progress in facilitating the shift to a knowledge-focused economy. The assessment has three primary objectives related to the ETP’s...
This publication presents a synthesis of methods and lessons learnt in the implementation of the Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) concept within the Sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Program (SSA CP). It relates lessons learnt and impact gained from the program...
This paper aims to set out for policy makers and a range of actors across donor/practitioner/research communities, a series of challenges and opportunities for support to capacity development. It pays particular attention to a systemic approach for understanding and supporting...
This compendium consists of ten sector papers commissioned by FAO in 2008, as a precursor to the white paper and nally leading to the development of the FAO-India National Medium Term Priority Framework (NMTPF). These papers are intended to be...
There is renewed attention on the importance of advisory services and extension in rural development processes. This paper, based on the publication ‘Mobilizing the potential of rural and agricultural extension', focuses on five opportunities to mobilise the potential of extension...