Learning objective
By the end of the session, participants shall understand the principles of performance reporting and can use reporting tools to effectively represent performance observed.
“As a result of low income, most of my children have not been able to acquire good education. My first son dropped out of school at S.4 because I could not afford to take him to high school. But with this new hope of improving my income stream from local seed business, am sure to support my children’s education!” narrates Orombi a middle aged man and member of Watembo LSB in Nebbi District.
Orombi is married to Atyang and the couple has 8 children aged between 6 and 17. Like others in this village, Orombi’s family is mainly engaged in production of food crops such as cassava, sweet potatoes, maize, beans and ground nuts and grows sesame mainly for cash. However, the family usually prioritizes growing of food crops because of the relatively large family, and on average grows about ½ acre of sesame earning about UGX 200,000 per year. Orombi also earns about UGX100,000 a year from doing casual labour in the village. Being an active LSB member since 2013, Orombi participated in all the trainings and was even elected on the quality assurance committee. As a result he opened 2 acres of sesame seed, instead of the usual ½ acre sesame as usual. He maintained best practices in production and post-harvest activities and during the field inspections, his seed garden was the best. He harvested 400kg of sesame seed, sold each at UGX5500 earning UGX2,220,000.
“I have never received such a big money at once, and not even in one year!” exclaimed Orombi. “In the next year, I will double my production, since I see the benefits, my wife and children will help as well” concluded Orombi.
Content
Use of performance data
1. To manage LSB performance: Is the LSB achieving the desired results?
o Determining whether activities and strategies by the LSBs are appropriate o Shows if LSBs are meeting their targets e.g. production, sales, profit; o Helps LSB leaders make administrative decisions
2. To plan
o Can determine future LSB activities and strategies;
o Can pinpoint LSB performance ‘trouble spots’, i.e. where the problem is, how it came about and how it can be addressed.
3. To inform budget decisions
o Helps to relate results produced vis a vis resources allocated. Resource could be money, human capital or time allocated to LSB.
o Not always straightforward due to other realities in the environment 4. Performance Data for Advocacy
o Advocate for Action: Producing good information e.g. success stories about how a program is improving people’s lives can generate a will to act. For example,
stories about LSB successes can be used to lobby the government to support LSBs
o Attribute change to interventions to generate resources: Data documenting program success can increase funding & bring in more resources for M&E What data to collect / document?
Data collection should be guided by the M&E plan. For each of the results and indicators, the ISSD implementing team should develop a clear plan of what data they will need to collect to answer the performance questions. Data collection should be followed by the data source and collection method (Ref to M&E plan). An example is given below of data required, data source and collection methods. The plan should also indicate the type of report in which the data will be required.
Result Indicator Data required Data sources Collection methods Type of report Result 1: Functional LSBs Total number of LSBs and % commercially sustainable Number of LSBs, LSB membership, profits made by LSBs, LSBs that re-invest in seed business, access to foundation seed LSBs Review of records, interviews with LSB members Annual report, success stories Marketed volume of quality of superior variety through LSBs No. of LSBs producing seed, crops/varieties grown, quantity of seed produced per season, quantity of seed sold per season, price per unit and income obtained by LSBs LSBs Review of records, interviews with LSB members Quarterly report, annual report No. of smallholder farmers using quality seed from LSBs
No. of farmers who bought seed from LSB (men/women), other places (institutions) that LSBs sold seed to LSBs Smallholder farmers Review of LSB sales record survey of seed users at end of project Quarterly report, annual report Baseline and end of project evaluation reports
Tools for documenting or reporting LSB performance
The selection of tools to use for reporting or documenting LSB performance is guided by the target audience and the intended purpose of sharing information. Below are some proposals of the tools that can be used, purpose and target audience. Note: the documentation / reporting tools are supported by data collection tools as described in session 1.4.1.
No. Reporting tool Aim Target audience 1 Monthly reporting
format
Share progress of activities against plan – e.g. (Simple Planned Versus Actuals sheets these should cover the aspects of activities, time, cost, and quality)
Internal document to aid decision making on activity progress and prioritization
2 Quarterly reporting format / quarterly reviews
Share progress of LSB against set results. Compare plan and actual results, reflect on results identifying the lessons, challenges and propose mechanisms for improvement
Internal document to aid decision making; ZARDI partners to understand LSB progress / achievements, NARO
3 Annual reporting format / annual review
Progress against outcomes of LSB, review of context and assumptions, lessons learned, and effectiveness of LSB strategies
Internal document to aid decision making; ZARDI partners to understand LSB progress / achievements, NARO, general public 4 LSB self-
assessment
Internal assessment by LSBs to review their performance against targets and success factors, action planning by LSBs
ISSD, ZARDIs, other partners such as NAADS, S/County extension
5 Documentation of successes and lessons learned
Create awareness of the successes of LSB, how LSB works, and documenting evidence for decision making. Tools used here can be case studies, position papers, policy briefs, impact briefs, or photo documentation.
Potential out-scaling partners, ZARDIs, MAAIF, general public
How to organize the data? – telling the performance story
In organizing and reporting performance data, the following considerations should be made:
Reporting shows the evidence of achievement, comparing expected to actual results
To tell a performance story:
o Set results in context – status before, changes in current situation, implications for result achievement.
o Measure & report on progress and achievements (actual results) vs. expected results stated in the project/program results framework.
o Use performance information you have collected related to indicators to support reporting on achievements.
o Combine both qualitative and quantitative, be sure to provide facts.
o Explain variance between planned & actual results (e.g. discuss challenges and issues)
o Integrate reporting on cross-cutting issues: gender and capacity-building (e.g. gender, others as applicable). Accurate gender disaggregated data in reporting will allow comparative analysis about realities of men and women and track the progress appropriately.
o Process reports show progress of various activities e.g. policy analysis, awareness, advocacy, formulation; stakeholder engagements and agreement on key issues etc.
o Suggest lessons learned & improvements.
o Use reporting internally to strengthen performance management and externally to provide ISSD with the information to track investment progress.
o Critically reflect on the results achieved in relation to LSB building blocks and success factors.
Training methods
Q: How to manage LSB performance? Q: How do you plan LSB activities?
Q: How do you make informed budget decisions? Q: What are other uses of LSB data?
Reflection on successes, challenges, lessons learned and critical issues of concern Propose new strategies for enhancing performance of LSBs
Materials
Flip charts, markers, masking tape, reference documents (M&E plan, LSB scoring table, progress reports, activity reports, storytelling)
Advice
Performance reporting to be done preferably on quarterly basis
Performance reports form part of the management reports prepared by implementing teams. Since information is generated from LSB level, it’s important to feedback to the team on key performance issues identified by the trainers.
Resources
LSB Scoring Matrix (Diagnostic Survey tool) M&E matrix