Page - (000328) - in Evaluating Climate Change Action for Sustainable Development

telephone, andwere used to collect input at key points throughout the programas well to harvest outcomes and collect evidences of the changeprocess.7 The implementation of the approachwas developed after consultationwith the key-stakeholders involved. Interviews and questionnaires captured the key-challenges and constraints to be tackled regarding drought management, as well as their vision and commitments to the changeprocess. Following the structure of theDroughtNLTAdescribed in its concept note, the change process for each group of partners was grouped under two key-areas (the National andRegional tracks, described above) and for each of these twobroader areas, one ambitious long-term outcomewas designed (Institutional ChangeOut- comes), describing the deepest possible transformations theDroughtNLTAcould influence, without losing sight of the reality of the context and what can be realistically achieved. Althoughoutputs (aswell as inputsandactivities)weredescribed in theRFand monitored along the process, the key-focus of the approach has been the design, monitoring, and evaluationof outcomes. To monitor the program, outcomes were ‘harvested’ through individual and group interviews, and examining of project documents and related materials to capture the (intended and unintended) relevant political and institutional changes generatedthroughout theprocess;allowingtheWBteamtounderstandits influence beyond the scope of the program and beyond its outputs. The harvesting of out- comes isnotguidedby theRF,butcompared to itafter theharvesting,allowing the identification and acknowledgment of unpredicted/unplanned direct and indirect outcomes (promoted by partners and by partners’ partners). Similarly, designed indicators were monitored and provided support to the harvested outcomes. The findingswere validatedwith themanagement team. The final steps of the process are the selection ofmore relevant outcomes and substantiation. The substantiation requires that knowledgeable, independent third parties reviewthedescriptionandconfirmtheoutcomesandthecontributionsof the program. In theDroughtNLTA, thesubstantiationwill beperformedafter thefinal harvesting of outcomes (fall/winter of 2015/2016). Substantiation represents an additional source of evidence that helps confirm the harvested outcomes – reinforcing the triangulationprocess. 7The harvesting and analysis of outcomes can benefit significantly from opportunities to gather partnersandtheprogramteamaroundthe table toasharedreflectionprocess,addinganother layer of credibility to overcome the risk of reporting outcomes without evidence. It is possible to implement theapproachbyreplacingthisstepof theprocesswithagroupor individual interviews, as itwas adopted in theDroughtNLTA,but theprocessmay lose someof its richnessbyplacing the collection andanalysis in the handsof a single person. 316 E.Bretan andN.L.Engle