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Welcome to a new cycle of webinars focusing on inclusive market facilitation tools. In this special edition we have three 1-hour webinars that form a complete set. In this series, Eric Derks and Leanne Rasmussen share learning from this five-year, multi-million dollar USAID program, the objective of which is to increase Ugandan farmers' use of good quality agro-inputs by fostering more inclusive systemic changes in the agro-inputs industry. As of late 2014, the program developed and began utilizing an M&E scheme that is expected to:

• Monitor the feedback from actors in the agro-inputs sector on the program's interventions and use this information to improve their interventions
• Gauge systemic change in behavior and business practices in the agro-inputs industry and explore the impacts on smallholder farmers
• Explore the limits of reasonable attribution to interventions

This third webinar in the series, titled "Using Systemic M&E Tools in Feed The Future Uganda: Sensemaker ®," looked at how the project team used this tool and method to monitor systemic change. Leanne and Eric shared their experiences with using the tool and provide recommendations to other practitioners who are interested in applying it.

What is Sensemaker?

SenseMaker combines an innovative research methodology with patented software to collect and analyze large quantities of narratives in order to understand complex change. It brings together insights from complexity sciences, anthropology, and cognitive science. It uses participants' narratives to uncover foundational attitudes and norms that inform and influence behavior.

Recommended Reading

• Feed the Future M&E Scheme - This paper will give you an overview of the project, its theory of change, and its key interventions. It also describes the different tools the team used to gauge systemic change and emergent lessons.
• SenseMaker ® Case Study PROOFS Bangladesh 2014: Food security is about more than having enough to eat
• Using SenseMaker ® to Understand Girls' Lives: Lessons Learnt from GirlHub

Speakers

Eric Derks

Eric Derks designs and advises on system change projects, applying concepts and tools from complexity science. He currently advises on several international market systems initiatives. He recently managed a USAID/Uganda Feed the Future agricultural inputs project, focused on shifting patterns of behavior in Uganda's agro-inputs market.

Leanne Rasmussen

Leanne Rasmussen is an Associate with Adam Smith International, where she is currently working as the Technical Advisor on the USAID Uganda Agricultural Inputs Activity, implemented by Tetra Tech. Previously, she supported various market systems facilitation projects and organizations in East and Southern Africa while working with Pollen Group/Engineers Without Borders Canada. Leanne is interested in how complexity and systems theory translates into practice on market systems and M4P projects, especially with how to measure systemic change.