Worksheet Nine: Indicators for Sustainable Livelihoods

We arrive at the final section of the evaluation with the identification of change which is linked to output use with some degree of certainty. Now we must determine whether or not change is moving in the direction of broader project goals, that is the promotion or achievement of empowerment and sustainable livelihoods. When assessing adaptive strategies that have evolved out of the use of the project outputs it will be necessary to compile a set of indicators for sustainable livelihoods which take these factors into account. Thus, indicators should fall into one of five categories: ecology / environment, technology and infrastructure, socio-cultural, political, and economic.

Indicators are defined as "specific / explicit verifiable measures of change or results brought about by social action or activity. They are standards against which to measure, assess, and show progress and change over time" (Titi 1995, attachment 3).

Sustainable livelihoods are indicated by a number of things. Some are completely context specific and referred to as indicators. FAO states, "in a development project, indicators are those variables which are used as tools for monitoring and evaluating how we are doing. They are objective measures of change or results brought about by an activity, or an output from an activity. Indicators provide a standard against which to measure, assess or show progress" (1988).

In the case of the rural community, indicators of sustainable livelihoods should be self-defined. In fact, one output of the project was to be the community articulated indicators of sustainable livelihoods. Examples of these might include: the number of children learning to read, the amount of a preferred fuel wood in the forest, the extent of local control over resources. Because it is impossible to monitor the change through every indicator that the community has defined, the community (or smaller sections within the community, possibly a user group) must define which indicators it feels are the most important to "keep an eye on".

FAO (1988) states that "the selection of appropriate indicators for monitoring and evaluation is partly a matter of common sense, but there are certain rules which must be followed if they are to be useful". They feel the best indicators are: valid; reliable; relevant; sensitive; specific; cost-effective; and timely.

The evaluation facilitator should be cognizant of these characteristics and possibly facilitate a workshop with the community which allows people to decide on common indicators which are important and meaningful to them. Consensus must be reached within a group with regards to indicator selection so that everyone is monitoring and evaluating the same thing, by the same standards (FAO 1988).

Underlying the evaluation framework is the concept of participation. This stage in the process is no different; ideally the community articulates indicators of sustainable livelihoods and actively involve themselves in the process of monitoring change through these indicators. The evaluation facilitator can catalyze this process; ideally, participation has already been established in the initial stage of the Project.

Of central importance to this stage is the fact that the monitoring of change is, again, an on-going process. The evaluation facilitator has the role of helping people analyze and interpret their own progress, however "after a suitable period of time, group facilitators should be in a position to phase out their support, so that the people fully implement and further develop the system themselves".