AFPRO providing services of process monitoring to the World Bank supported Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Project being executed by the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP). This project works across 864 mandals in 22 districts, of which AFPRO is involved in five districts.

The objective of the project is to capacitate women so as to act as catalysts in the path of poverty reduction in the state. The beneficiaries of the project, chosen on the basis of participatory identification, are organized into Self-Help Groups, which federate into Village Organizations, and these further merge into Block or Mandal Samkhyas. Projects and activities for development are made at all these levels and submitted to the District office for approval. The process monitoring component seeks to observe the status of conversion of project inputs into expected outputs.

AFPRO’s role is to assess whether all planned project activities are executed and to help inculcate in the project staff a sense of accountability to the community they serve. Additionally, AFPRO also has to generate a learning and feedback mechanism mainly to enable required adaptation particularly in the early stages of this project. The role of process monitoring also entails the duty of empowering communities by linking the project to the community needs and demands, and to assess existing styles of work and management. Finally, AFPRO also has to facilitate required changes within the project, local institutions and involved government agencies. These critical issues and ground level information will help management make decisions necessary for improving effectiveness, as well as aid the replication of best practices.

(Field Unit: Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh)