Resource information
This publication is part of a series
aimed at promoting good policies and practices on rural
transport in Africa. A recent review of the status of Rural
Transport Knowledge Products and Practice (Riverson, 2012)
identified a number of knowledge gaps and recommended the
production of working papers to address these. One of these
gaps was the absence of robust tools, including relevant
indicators and instruments, to measure the impact of rural
transport projects on rural growth and poverty reduction.
This paper addresses this gap. The focus on impact
monitoring appears relatively straightforward but in reality
requires a distinction between effects and impact, terms
used interchangeably in the literature. Similarly, there is
a range of technical terms and definitions applied to
Monitoring and Evaluation, presented in annex four. A
monitoring and evaluation system is an essential element of
planning, design and implementation of a rural transport
project1 as it serves to assess whether it has achieved its
objective and its development goal. Thus, the Millennium
Challenge Corporation (MCC) sees independent evaluations as
the most rigorous means of measuring [program] impact and
[is] at the heart of MCC s commitment to accountability,
learning, transparency, and evidence-based decision-making.
Yet, there are few completed independent evaluations on the
MCC website and the majority of their evaluation effort
seems focused on performance monitoring. Similarly, the
Indian Government s results-based management of its large
agricultural support program separates outcomes from impact
and stresses the importance of the former as a means of
assessing the performance of government departments such as
public works and transport in supporting the government s
ambitious agricultural development program (Government of
Kerala Memo, 2013).
