Utilization of Monitoring and Evaluation and Performance of Digital Education Technology Project in Malawi

Abstract

The 21 st century has brought internal and external forces, which have pressurized institutions to adopt monitoring, and evaluation (M&E) in order to be more responsive to the needs of the beneficiaries and accountable to the stakeholders. Using a case study of Rwanda-Israel Horticultural Centre of Excellence (HoCE) capacity building projects, this study focused on the influence of monitoring and evaluation on the performance of agricultural projects in Rwanda. The specific objectives of the study were to find out the influence of: i) monitoring and evaluation planning, ii) monitoring and evaluation data management, and iii) monitoring and evaluation data dissemination and utilization on the performance of capacity building project. The study focused on the period between 2015 and 2021. The stakeholder and program theory/theory of change form the theoretical foundation of this study while monitoring and evaluation and project performance form the conceptual framework. Empirical literature on the influence of M&E on project performance in the agricultural sector was also reviewed. The researcher used a mixed methods design by incorporating both quantitative and qualitative methods. The population of study was 1507 and the sample size was 338 people who were selected by use of stratified, simple random sampling and census methods. However, only 267 were able to participate in the study. Two instruments (the questionnaire and informant interview guide) were used for data collection. The validity of research instruments was determined by performing a content validity index using subject matter experts while reliability was validated through pilot-testing the questionnaire and interview guide using 2 groups of 5 people. Quantitative data was analyzed through descriptive (frequency and percentage distribution tables) and inferential (multiple linear regression) statistics while qualitative data was analyzed through content and narrative analysis. Findings show that all independent variables under have a positive and statistically significant influence on the performance of HoCE capacity building project. This is confirmed by the regression coefficients of β 1 =.397 (M&E planning), β 1 =.408 (M&E data management), β 1 =.513 (M&E data dissemination and utilization) with probability values below 0.05 which show that 39.7%, 40.8% and 51.3% of the changes in HoCE capacity building project performance outcomes are explained by M&E planning, M&E data management and M&E data dissemination and utilization respectively. Therefore, the research rejects the null hypotheses (H 0 1, H 0 2 and H 0 3) and adopts the alternative hypotheses (H a 1, H a 2, and H a 2) in