In recent years, development programmes have become increasingly complex, seeking to tackle ever more complicated problems and to achieve sustainable impact by changing the fundamental social, economic and political systems that entrench poverty. At the same time, donors are demanding clearer and stricter ways of quantifying their impact. Limitations of conventional results evaluation methodologies thus often create a tension between accountability and the flexibility to pursue innovative approaches to development.2 In this paper, we explore the benefits of Outcome Mapping, an alternative planning and results evaluation system for complex development interventions. Key to the success of this system has been the ability to adapt it in creative ways to meet an individual programme’s needs. This paper looks at three unique ways in which the Accountability in Tanzania (AcT) programme has adapted OM to help its grantees improve governance in Tanzania and to capture the true impact of their work.
