The perspective that informs this important book is that every evaluation of a capacity development effort should itself contribute to the capacity development effort and ultimately to the organization’s performance. This is a revolutionary idea in evaluation. With the idea have come the questions: Can it be done? And, if it is done, what will be the consequences? This book elucidates and deepens the idea, shows it can be done, and examines the consequences, both intended and unintended, of engaging in capacity development evaluation

This book explains how the project used an action-learning approach, bringing together people from various countries and different types of organizations. As they conducted six evaluation studies over the course of 3 years, project participants learned a great deal about capacity development and the process of evaluation. The authors use examples and lessons drawn from the evaluation studies as a basis for making more general conclusions regarding how capacity-development efforts and evaluation can help organizations to achieve their missions.

Describes how people in rural areas can improve their living conditions and the productivity of their resources through local interventions in natural resource management. Gives examples of participatory action research from seven Asian countries.