Page - (000092) - in Evaluating Climate Change Action for Sustainable Development

The three thirdsprinciple impliesdifferentbudgetingandfundingstructures, so that appropriate levels of resources are allocated to capacity building, commu- nications and engagement with the wide range of different partners likely to be needed. These elements need to be budgeted for explicitly within a project life- cycle, rather thanas anafter-thought.At the same time, there is stillmuchwork to be done on how to monitor outcomes effectively, evaluate the real share of contribution towards the observed change, and assess value formoney. Similarly, delivery of outcomes, especially at scale,may take time for research-for-develop- ment programs. Longer funding cycles could be expected to facilitate this considerably. The CCAFS experience has highlighted several operational principles for programmatic RBM. First, there is a need to focus on people and users, on utilizingM&E as a tool to help achieve outcomes, and on accountability – it is thepeoplewithinorganizations thatmakebehavioral andpracticechangeshappen. Second, there should be an emphasis on learning throughM&Eactivities. Robust knowledge needs to be generated that can feed into developmental policy and investment decision making, and this in turn requires a cumulative and catholic approach to choice of impact assessment methods at different levels (Maredia 2009). Third, adaptivemanagement needs to be encouraged, as a key element of RBM. As a tool that is based on learning processes, it can improve long-run management outcomes. The challenge in using it is to find the balance between gaining knowledge to improvemanagement in the future and achieving the best short-term outcome based on current knowledge. Fourth, the development and implementation of an online platform is a great investment for capacity develop- ment. Planning, reporting and evaluation procedures need to be as simple as possible while still providing (most of) the information needed for effective and timelymanagement. Fig. 4.6 R4Dwithin an expandedCGIARmandate 4 Pathway to Impact: Supporting andEvaluatingEnablingEnvironments for. . . 73