Capacity development has moved center-stage in agendas of development organizations. Strengthening the capabilities of individuals, organizations, and institutions is viewed as essential to ensure the sustainability of development efforts and the eradication of poverty. Substantial sums are being invested in the development of organizational and institutional capacities. Yet, the design, management, and evaluation of capacity-development efforts leave much to be desired. Results indicate that capacity- development efforts often fall short of their goals and expectations. Relatively few of these efforts have been systematically and thoroughly evaluated. The complexity and dynamic nature of capacity- development processes complicates evaluation. The familiar challenges facing evaluators of capacity development at the individual level are exacerbated at the organizational level.||A number of organizational or institutional assessment frameworks have been published. However, little is known about their use in evaluating capacity development. Most of the information available in this field is in " gray" or "fugitive" literature.||This paper reports on a project that seeks to contribute to the effectiveness of capacity-development efforts in research and development organizations through the use of evaluation. The project focuses on capacity development at the organizational level, rather than at the micro level of individuals or the macro level of national institutions. It recognizes the multiple perspectives of key actors involved in capacity development, rather than the single perspective of an externally funded and directed capacity-development intervention. The impacts or contributions of international organizations to capacity development in national organizations are being assessed "from the bottom up." The project is implemented by capacity-development practitioners and evaluators based in 13 organizations.||An action-research approach is being employed to advance understanding and practice in the evaluation of capacity-development efforts in organizations that conduct research or use research for development. Professionals involved in capacity development are evaluating their own efforts, and in the process, they are developing and refining evaluation methods that may later be suitable for use on a broader scale.||The project involved participants from six national and local organizations who are working to develop their own capacity and six international organizations who support these capacity- development efforts (four of the six international organizations are CGIAR centers). Five donor agencies that provide resources for organizational capacity development, also participated in the project.||The paper reviews the current state of practice in evaluating capacity development and presents a framework for evaluating organizational capacity development. Highlights of six evaluation case studies are followed by general conclusions and lessons for improving capacity development efforts and their evaluation.

English

0310|AGRIS 0301|AL-Economics Program|R01PROCE

Juan Carlos Mendieta

CIMMYT Publications Collection