Agricultural Economist, Associate Professor, Director of the School of Agribusiness and Agricultural Policy
National University of Agriculture
Posted on 11/08/2025
1.The main barrier to the use of feedback in development organizations is negligence; that is, the lack of systematic programming of validated recommendations resulting from the monitoring and evaluation activities of projects and programmes. The results of monitoring and evaluation should, by default, constitute another set of activities to complement the ordinary planned activities. Each recommendation should become a planned activity at the operational and organizational level, on the same footing as other regular activities.
2. Generally, leaders are reluctant to take recommendations into account because they represent new flagship activities that are binding for them. Given that the stakes differ for the various actors in projects and programmes, it is ultimately the monitoring and evaluation team that is concerned with these recommendations. Partners and stakeholders are often complicit, while beneficiaries comply without much understanding. This can lead to conflicts if the monitoring and evaluation team insists, which often results in the abandonment of proper follow-up of recommendations.
3. The only cases where the implementation of recommendations has worked well, to my knowledge, are those in which the financial partner has been very demanding on this aspect of recommendations, with coercive provisions for all project/programme actors. This was the case in the implementation of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) programmes in Africa, which were highly successful.
4. The instrument that enabled this success was the establishment of favourable conditions to be met for any activity, combined with the systematic involvement of the judiciary (bailiffs) for the validation of recommendations and monitoring of their implementation.
5. The trust and involvement of stakeholders can only be maintained and strengthened through the use of feedback if such a legal arrangement is in place, supported by the financial partner(s) of the programme/project.
RE: How to Ensure Effective Utilization of Feedback and Recommendations from Evaluation Reports in Decision-Making
Benin
Emile Nounagnon HOUNGBO
Agricultural Economist, Associate Professor, Director of the School of Agribusiness and Agricultural Policy
National University of Agriculture
Posted on 11/08/2025
1.The main barrier to the use of feedback in development organizations is negligence; that is, the lack of systematic programming of validated recommendations resulting from the monitoring and evaluation activities of projects and programmes. The results of monitoring and evaluation should, by default, constitute another set of activities to complement the ordinary planned activities. Each recommendation should become a planned activity at the operational and organizational level, on the same footing as other regular activities.
2. Generally, leaders are reluctant to take recommendations into account because they represent new flagship activities that are binding for them. Given that the stakes differ for the various actors in projects and programmes, it is ultimately the monitoring and evaluation team that is concerned with these recommendations. Partners and stakeholders are often complicit, while beneficiaries comply without much understanding. This can lead to conflicts if the monitoring and evaluation team insists, which often results in the abandonment of proper follow-up of recommendations.
3. The only cases where the implementation of recommendations has worked well, to my knowledge, are those in which the financial partner has been very demanding on this aspect of recommendations, with coercive provisions for all project/programme actors. This was the case in the implementation of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) programmes in Africa, which were highly successful.
4. The instrument that enabled this success was the establishment of favourable conditions to be met for any activity, combined with the systematic involvement of the judiciary (bailiffs) for the validation of recommendations and monitoring of their implementation.
5. The trust and involvement of stakeholders can only be maintained and strengthened through the use of feedback if such a legal arrangement is in place, supported by the financial partner(s) of the programme/project.