Monitoring and evaluation

• Nov 1, 2018
• 1 min

MSC’s monitoring and evaluation support helps clients to improve their systems and processes. A key assignment in this area was the direct benefit transfer (DBT) initiative in fertilizer in India, where we worked on reforms in the fertilizer distribution system. The government rolled out DBT across India based on our recommendations, and will have an impact on 118 million farmers.

MSC provides sustained monitoring and evaluation support to improve systems and processes for clients. We use a mixed-method approach that stems from our signature in-house Market Insights for Innovation and Design (Mi4iD) approach.

A key assignment for MSC in this area was the direct benefit transfer (DBT) initiative in fertilizer in India. MSC worked with the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizer (MoC&F) to design and implement reforms in the highly complex fertilizer distribution system. MSC designed the initial pilot in two districts and deployed a full-time team to support the pilot. The pilots successfully drove changes to the design of MoC&F interventions.

MSC helped the government to roll out the fertilizer subsidy project in additional districts and supported a concurrent evaluation of the project. The government decided to roll out the project across India based on our recommendations. At the time of writing, we have been conducting a pan-India evaluation of the DBT program.

Because of MSC’s intervention, the time it takes per transaction with biometrics reduced from 10.5 minutes to five minutes, margins for retailers doubled, and many other technical changes came into effect. This project will have an impact on 118 million farmers and result in efficiencies on an annual subsidy of USD 11 billion.