Feed the Future Market Systems and Partnerships: MEL Plan

Government Operating Units and their implementing partners. The activity aims to design, implement, monitor, and evaluate Market Systems Development (MSD) and Private Sector Engagement (PSE) activities that lead to inclusive and resilient agricultural-led economic growth, improved food security and nutrition, and/or increased incomes for the poor. MSP seeks to improve the effectiveness of Feed the Future, USAID, and other USG programs to bring about sustained development outcomes at scale. MSP activities support the Feed the Future initiative in alignment with the USG Global Food Security Strategy (GFSS), the USAID Private Sector Engagement Policy, and the USAID Private Sector Engagement Evidence and Learning Plan. The activity contributes to achieving the GFSS Results Framework Objective 1: Inclusive and sustainable agriculture-led economic growth, and assists with GFSS Objective 2: Strengthened resilience among people and systems and GFSS Objective 3: a well-nourished population, especially among women and children. MSP also advances evidence and learning under the PSE Evidence and Learning Plan's priority questions. The MSP Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Plan describes how the activity monitors its progress, approaches collaboration and learning, manages data, reports results, and disseminates knowledge products throughout the activity lifecycle. The MEL approach is driven by a collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA) approach based on deep collaboration with other activities, experts, and donors working with market systems development and private sector engagement, routine collection of quality performance data, informative analysis, and learning dissemination. The MEL Plan's utility as a management and learning tool will be maintained throughout the life of the activity by updating and revising the plan as necessary to reflect the addition of new data collection and management processes, and to reflect any changes or adjustments to performance indicators approved by the MSP Contract Officer's Representative (COR). The MEL Plan is organized into six sections: an introduction, a description of the activity, a monitoring plan, a learning plan, a data management plan, and a change log. The monitoring plan outlines the guiding principles underlying the monitoring strategy and indicator rationale, while the learning plan presents a brief summary of the MSP approach to learning and integrates USAID's CLA framework. The data management plan describes protocols for managing data and ensuring data quality throughout the data lifecycle, from initial collection to final reporting to USAID. The MEL roles and responsibilities are also outlined in the plan. The MSP MEL approach emphasizes continual measurement of mechanism and buy-in level outcomes and subsequent adaptation to challenges and successes. The activity's MEL plan is designed to provide a framework for monitoring and evaluating progress towards the activity's objectives, and for learning and adapting to challenges and successes throughout the activity lifecycle.