ABSTRACT
In order for projects to achieve the intended objectives there is need for the project team to continuously, monitor the project activities with the objective of ensuring that the project is on course and take corrective actions whenever there are significant deviations. This process involves regular and systematic collection, analysing and reporting of information about a project’s inputs, activities, outputs and intended impact. In addition, due to continuous calls for accountability and transparency in project management, project managers are required to continuously monitor and evaluate their projects to ensure that they meet the objectives for which they were established. However, in spite of the important element of monitoring and evaluation in project success, there is still limited evidence on the effect of each monitoring and evaluation approach on project performance. To address this gap, the study investigated the influence of monitoring and evaluation approaches on the performance of maize production projects based on Galana Kulalu irrigation project. The study objectives evaluated the effects of result-oriented logical framework, participatory and rapid appraisal monitoring and evaluation approaches on performance of maize production projects. The study operationalization was guided by change theory and the results based management theory. The study was based on descriptive research design with a population of 132 target respondents drawn from the ministry of water and sanitation from which stratified sampling method will be used to select a sample of 71 respondents. Primary data was utilised in carrying out the analysis which was obtained through a semi structured questionnaire. A pilot study was conducted in Tana Irrigation Scheme to improve validity of questionnaires while Cronbach’s Alpha was used to test for reliability. Data collected from the field was analysed on the basis of descriptive statistics including means, frequencies and standard deviation for quantitative data and conceptual content analysis for qualitative data. Inferential analysis was carried out using regression analysis. The predictive power of the model was established through R2 , the fitness of the model assessed through the Fstatistic while the significance of the study coefficients assessed through the P-value. Relevant diagnostic tests were carried out while at the same time ethical factors were put into consideration while carrying out the research. The study concluded that monitoring and evaluation approaches was a significant factor in determining performance of the Galana Kulalu Maize Production irrigation project, Kenya. The study concluded that the project significantly embraced monitoring and evaluation. The study further concluded that result oriented approach, logical framework approach, participatory approach and rapid appraisal monitoring and evaluation approach were significantly employed by the project team and they had a positive and significant effect on performance of the project. The study recommends that the project team needs to embrace continuous, regular and objective M&E to ensure the project is within schedule, budget and scope. The study recommends that the project M&E team needs to integrate the four monitoring and evaluation approaches for better results. The study recommends further that the project team needs to involve all stakeholders in the monitoring