Livestock, poultry and aquaculture projects carry unusual measurement challenges. Production cycles are short for broilers and long for cattle, losses from disease can erase months of progress overnight, and the households involved often keep no written records. Programmes that rely on training attendance figures cannot show whether farmers earn more, feed their families better or manage animal health responsibly, and funders are asking sharper questions as a result.

This programme walks participants through the whole M&E cycle as it applies to animal and fish production. It starts with results chains and indicator selection, moves to baselines, sampling and farm record systems, and then covers productivity, welfare, environmental and income measures. Later sessions address data quality, analysis in Excel, evaluation design, learning reviews and reporting that reaches both donors and farmers.

Teaching is practical. Participants draft indicator sheets from real project documents, design questionnaires for pond, house and herd visits, and interpret sample datasets, finishing with a monitoring plan for a project of their choice. Facilitators with field experience in fisheries, poultry and pastoral programmes review each draft and suggest refinements.

After completing this programme, participants will be able to:

• Build a results framework and theory of change for a livestock, poultry or aquaculture intervention.
• Select SMART indicators for productivity, health, welfare and household income.
• Design baseline surveys and sampling plans for farm-level data collection.
• Set up farm record systems and mobile data collection for ponds, flocks and herds.
• Calculate and interpret feed conversion, mortality, yield and gross margin measures.
• Apply gender, youth and nutrition lenses to production data.
• Choose evaluation designs that credibly attribute change to project activities.
• Prepare learning reports that lead to practical adjustments in project delivery.

The programme is aimed at those who plan, run or fund animal and fish production projects, including:

• Monitoring and evaluation officers in agriculture and food security projects
• Livestock, veterinary and fisheries extension officers
• Programme managers in NGOs and development agencies
• County and national agriculture department planners
• Dairy, poultry and aquaculture cooperative managers
• Agribusiness and value chain development advisers
• Donor programme officers and fund managers
• Researchers and graduate students in animal science and fisheries

Participants return to work with:

• An indicator matrix tailored to a livestock, poultry or fish project.
• A baseline and monitoring plan with sampling, tools and responsibilities.
• Ready-to-use farm record sheets and a mobile questionnaire outline.
• A worked template for calculating feed conversion, mortality and gross margin.
• A short evaluation terms-of-reference draft for their own programme.
• A learning-review agenda that turns results into management decisions.
• A one-page results dashboard layout for reporting flock, herd and pond performance to funders.

Learning is anchored in real production settings and project documents. The programme uses:

• Expert-led sessions on each stage of the M&E cycle
• Sample datasets from pond, poultry and herd enterprises for analysis in Excel
• Tool design workshops using KoboToolbox-style questionnaires
• Small-group case work on dairy, layer, broiler and tilapia projects
• A closing clinic where each participant reviews a monitoring plan for their own project

Participants who attend the sessions and complete the practical work are awarded a CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion issued by Vision Reach Global Consultancy.

To qualify, each delegate submits the indicator matrix and monitoring plan drafted during the week, which also serve as a useful record of applied learning for supervisors and professional development files.