This paper was written collectively by monitoring and evaluation (M&E) specialists of the Association of International Research Centers for Agriculture (AIRCA) for the purpose of strengthening the M&E systems of individual centres within AIRCA. The paper grew out of the AIRCA M&E workshop in March 2017 and the subsequent use of a selfassessment tool. The tool enabled the authors to benchmark and characterize their respective centres’ M&E systems and identify ways to improve them. The paper identifies experiences and practices to learn from across centres and concludes with 10 key lessons for M&E systems. The process of writing this paper collectively has strengthened the AIRCA community of practice on M&E within AIRCA to which the authors belong.