Capacity in monitoring and assessing project activities critical for planning the future of agriculture and forestry development in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic is being strengthened with the Project Monitoring Information System (ProMIS) with help from FAO and IFAD.

(KPL) ProMIS has been developed by MAF with assistance from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with the support of the “Strategic Support for Food Security and Nutrition Project” (SSFSNP) financed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

The ProMIS system will allow monitoring projects in terms of budget expenditures and activities, covering both national financed projects and international development assistance.

The system is easy-to-use for project staff and allows for continuous quality control by MAF. All projects will have to complete a simple form at the opening of activities and report a subset of indicators regularly over the course of the project life. Line department staff will be able to check at the project results of their responsibility and report activities properly.

The Department of Planning and Finance will have a clear sector-wide vision of the successes or issues associated with all projects. Critically important, it will also be able to access a dashboard that will illustrate the total results obtained by all agricultural projects over a certain period of time.

It will be easier to report to the 8th National Socio-Economic Development Plan (NSEDP) and prepare data for high-level political events or donors. The system will be accessible by password to all Department and development partners’ teams.

Data produced by the MAF will be made available to the government of the Lao PDR for reporting purposes.

Such innovations are needed to monitor for MAF to sustainably guide the increased agricultural production planned under the national strategic objectives.

Activities were supported by technical experts of the FAO project “Strengthening Agro-climatic Monitoring and Information Systems (SAMIS) to improve adaptation to climate change and food security in the Lao PDR” and the Lao PHENIX company.

The launch saw PROMIS presented to potential users such as MAF departments and provincial and district offices, other ministries, partners and donors, and the general public.

The meeting was opened by Mr. Sousath Sayakoummane, Director General of the Department of Planning and Cooperation, who underlined the importance of the system for reporting and implementation of the 9th National Socio-Economic Development Strategy (NSEDP) for the Lao PDR in the context of national development.

FAO Representative to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic Mr Nasar Hayat stressed the importance of project data for the success of the agricultural sector management.

“The present version of the ProMIS supports the development of big data systems to strengthen decision making on the agricultural sector, and in particular can be useful to improve project activities along the Lao China connection that FAO is also supporting through the Hand in Hand Initiative,” Mr Nasar said.

Materials were made available for awareness-raising and training, and a technical manual was prepared as were simple leaflets guiding ProMIS users.

Source:
courtesy of KPL NEWS AGENCY

by KPL NEWS AGENCY

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