Harnessing Evaluation Evidence for Evidence-Informed Decision-Making (EIDM): Lessons from CLEAR-AA Experience on resilience building interventions

2024-08-19 advocates africa evidence week informs learns news
Harnessing Evaluation Evidence for Evidence-Informed Decision-Making (EIDM): Lessons from CLEAR-AA Experience on resilience building interventions

 

In the face of persistent hunger and vulnerability in Southern Africa, where economic growth has yet to alleviate deep-seated inequalities, the challenge of building resilience is both urgent and complex. In navigating complex challenges like resilience building, harnessing the power of evaluation evidence is essential for making informed, impactful decisions that drive sustainable change. EIDM has an important role to play in ensuring that interventions are effective in achieving the intended outcomes; ensuring that no harm will come from the implementation of resilience building interventions; maximising use of resources and ensure the highest return on investment; and helping minimise inequities.

Importantly, it requires the integration of evidence into all decision-making processes by identifying and synthesising relevant evidence. Evaluation provides a systematic approach to understanding the effectiveness of interventions and generating evidence. For resilience-building programmes, this means assessing how well these interventions enhance the ability of communities, institutions and systems to cope with and recover from adversities. Evaluations can help us to uncover what works, what doesn’t, and why, providing a basis for refining current approaches and maximising impact for resilience-building interventions.  

At the Centre for Learning on Evaluation and Results Anglophone Africa (CLEAR-AA), we have been contributing to improving evidence-informed decision making in the Anglophone Africa region through the development of evaluation systems. As part of our mission, we have been actively engaged in developing evidence synthesis and summaries across various development interventions in the Southern African region to support decision making. Our recent experience with collating and integrating evaluation evidence for resilience-building has illuminated how crucial it is to ground evidence informed decision making (EIDM) on rigorous, context-specific evaluation evidence.

This blog highlights three key takeaways; 

1. Prioritising the local context in evidence generation, synthesis and use supports development of informed equitable evidence-based decisions

It is no surprise that prioritising the local context is the first lesson, the importance of aligning interventions with local contexts cannot be understated in ensuring that evidence generation and use is informed by local realities. In this case, resilience-building initiatives thrive on a nuanced understanding of local conditions, which involves navigating a web of social, economic, and environmental systems at multiple levels. This is supported by evaluators’ transparent reporting of evaluation findings of both successes and limitations, including outlier data or contextual nuances in differing development contexts. Incorporation of peculiar or specific local, national, regional needs and conditions is not only more likely to ensure success of current and future interventions but also offers key lessons on best practice approaches for improved programme design and implementation.

2. Integrating various information and data sources embraces the complexity of evidence-informed decision making

Systematically integrating evaluation evidence enables the development of a clearer picture of what works, under what conditions, and why. Evidence collation and synthesis allows for this complexity to be addressed through a detailed integration of diverse data sources offering a holistic view of resilience-building interventions. This perspective was particularly useful for understanding the multifaceted challenges and leverage points within food systems to avoid the pitfalls of isolated data points and ensure a more nuanced understanding of interventions performance. More importantly, the integration of evidence from various contexts and levels of intervention supported an improved understanding of the current needs for identifying useful recommendations for multi-sectoral interventions that address the root causes of vulnerability and leverage synergies between different areas of action.Bottom of Form  

3. Application of systems thinking in interrogating the evidence base

Lastly, examining evidence through a systems lens uncovers the connections essential for designing integrated interventions that address multiple vulnerabilities, rather than individually. This approach fosters a comprehensive understanding of how a robust and adaptive resilience system can be implemented across local, national, and regional levels. Particularly, by examining problems in this interconnected manner, we promote a systems approach that supports solutions that can address multiple vulnerabilities simultaneously.

To the EIDM community, in our efforts in championing and harnessing the full potential of evaluation evidence, we must integrate diverse data sources, prioritise local context, and ensure transparent reporting and systems approach to analysing evaluation evidence. Building capacity for evidence synthesis is a key contribution towards these efforts.

About the author: Samukelisiwe Mkhize is a Research and Learning Officer at the Centre for Learning on Evaluation and Results for Anglophone Africa (CLEAR-AA) based in Johannesburg. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in law and political science, Masters’ and Honours degree in Policy and Development Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Postgraduate Diploma (M&E) Stellenbosch University. She worked at various organizations across different sectors in South Africa, most of which were in the agricultural and water projects primarily in climate change adaptation and mitigation programmes. She also contributed to a number of evidence synthesis projects including Country Evidence Summaries and Thematic Synthesis on development interventions in the Southern African region.

Acknowledgements: The author(s) is solely responsible for the content of this article, including all errors or omissions; acknowledgements do not imply endorsement of the content. The author is grateful to Charity Chisoro and Siziwe Ngcwabe for their guidance in preparing and finalising this article, as well as their editorial support.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in published blog posts, as well as any errors or omissions, are the sole responsibility of the author/s and do not represent the views of the Africa Evidence Network, its secretariat, advisory or reference groups, or its funders; nor does it imply endorsement by the afore-mentioned parties


Related Content

Below is all the content from the Learning Space that have the same tags as this event.

advocates africa evidence week informs learns news
Highlights from Africa Evidence Week: Day 5
2024-08-23 advocates africa evidence week blog informs learns news
Highlights from Africa Evidence Week: Day 5
  On this last day of Africa Evidence Week 2024, I reflect on the event and the twelve-year celebration of the Africa Evidence Network (AEN). This year’s objective was to showcase and pr...
Continue Reading
Highlights from Africa Evidence Week: Day 4
2024-08-22 advocates africa evidence week blog informs learns news
Highlights from Africa Evidence Week: Day 4
  We hope that you are enjoying Africa Evidence Week 2024 as much as we are! Day four of the 2024 Africa Evidence Week was filled with lots of excitement, imparting of knowledge, and learning....
Continue Reading
Highlights from Africa Evidence Week: Day 3
2024-08-21 advocates africa evidence week blog informs learns news
Highlights from Africa Evidence Week: Day 3
  Wow, Day 3 has come and gone; how time flies when we are having great conversations and meaningful connections! Just in the past three days, we shared fourteen blog posts, sixteen video...
Continue Reading
Communities of practice as a tool to enhance evidence capacities and collaboration in Africa
2024-08-19 advocates africa evidence week blog informs learns news
Communities of practice as a tool to enhance evidence capacities and collaboration in Africa
  The Africa Evidence Network (AEN) established communities of practice (CoPs) to advance its work in 2023. We aim to develop several CoPs that can serve as tools to enhance evidence capa...
Continue Reading
Harnessing Evaluation Evidence for Evidence-Informed Decision-Making (EIDM): Lessons from CLEAR-AA Experience on resilience building interventions
2024-08-19 advocates africa evidence week informs learns news
Harnessing Evaluation Evidence for Evidence-Informed Decision-Making (EIDM): Lessons from CLEAR-AA Experience on resilience building interventions
  In the face of persistent hunger and vulnerability in Southern Africa, where economic growth has yet to alleviate deep-seated inequalities, the challenge of building resilience is both urgen...
Continue Reading
From Environmental Health to Evidence-Based Policy: My Journey in Research and Development
2024-08-16 advocates afew2024 africa evidence week blog informs learns news
From Environmental Health to Evidence-Based Policy: My Journey in Research and Development
  Elise Hirwa Musabimana is a runner-up of the Africa Evidence Leadership Award 2024 in the Emerging Leader Under 35 category offered by the Africa Evidence Network. W...
Continue Reading
Promoting data and evidence use practice in local government: what we are learning from the E4D project in Ghana
2024-08-16 advocates afew2024 africa evidence week blog informs learns news
Promoting data and evidence use practice in local government: what we are learning from the E4D project in Ghana
  Mohammed S. Awal is a runner-up of the Africa Evidence Leadership Award 2024 in the Evidence Producer category offered by the Africa Evidence Network. We asked ...
Continue Reading
Building a Brighter Future Through Evidence: eBASE Africa's Work in Cameroon
2024-08-14 advocates africa evidence week blog informs learns news
Building a Brighter Future Through Evidence: eBASE Africa's Work in Cameroon
  Cameroon, like many African nations, faces complex social challenges that require innovative solutions. Policymakers need access to reliable data and effective tools to navigate these issues...
Continue Reading
Building small grants programs connected to policies and the needs of practitioners: the experience of the African Center for Equitable Development
2024-08-14 advocates africa evidence week blog informs learns news
Building small grants programs connected to policies and the needs of practitioners: the experience of the African Center for Equitable Development
  The African Center for Equity Development (ACED) launched the Programme de Petites Subventions de Recherche (PPSR), a pivotal initiative aimed at addressing food security and nutrition (FSN)...
Continue Reading
Capacity Development Program on Integrating Gender and Youth Data in Food Security and Nutrition Interventions in Africa: Use of EIDM approach
2024-08-14 advocates africa evidence week blog informs learns news
Capacity Development Program on Integrating Gender and Youth Data in Food Security and Nutrition Interventions in Africa: Use of EIDM approach
  Women and youth: essential pillars of African food systems In Africa, women and youth are essential players in Food Security and Nutrition (FSN), contributing to the availability, acces...
Continue Reading
Going Far Together: 4 Highlights about The Africa LEEPS Partnership
2024-08-14 advocates africa evidence week blog informs learns news
Going Far Together: 4 Highlights about The Africa LEEPS Partnership
Photo: Africa LEEPS partner organizations mapping out a vision for partnership at a launch workshop in Kigali, Rwanda, August 2023 The Africa Learning Together to Advance Evidence and Equity i...
Continue Reading
Les mutuelles de santé et la digitalisation des services de santé dans les pays en développement : Expérience du projet ISPV-Africa au Togo
2024-08-14 advocates africa evidence week blog informs learns news
Les mutuelles de santé et la digitalisation des services de santé dans les pays en développement : Expérience du projet ISPV-Africa au Togo
  Universal health coverage remains a global concern, particularly in developing countries where health systems have many weaknesses. In 2023, a WHO report1 on universal health coverage indi...
Continue Reading
Multi-Participatory Adapted Mosaic Framework: A Methodological Approach to Listening to the Voices of Children with Disabilities in Nigeria
2024-08-14 advocates africa evidence week blog informs learns news
Multi-Participatory Adapted Mosaic Framework: A Methodological Approach to Listening to the Voices of Children with Disabilities in Nigeria
  Globally, there has been an increasing trend in the call for incorporating children’s voices and participation in research. This trend can be attributed to the adoption of various inte...
Continue Reading
Mutual health insurance and the digitization of healthcare services in developing countries: Experience of the ISPV- Africa project in Togo
2024-08-14 advocates africa evidence week blog informs learns news
Mutual health insurance and the digitization of healthcare services in developing countries: Experience of the ISPV- Africa project in Togo
  Universal health coverage remains a global concern, particularly in developing countries where health systems have many weaknesses. In 2023, a WHO report 1on universal health coverage indi...
Continue Reading
Prioritising early learning research in sub-Saharan Africa for equitable learning outcomes
2024-08-14 advocates africa evidence week blog informs learns news
Prioritising early learning research in sub-Saharan Africa for equitable learning outcomes
  The African Education Research Database (AERD) has been updated with the latest 1,403 publications published between 2021 and 2022. This is as part of the commitment of the Research for Equi...
Continue Reading
Strategising for Success: Mental Health in African Education Systems
2024-08-14 advocates africa evidence week blog informs learns news
Strategising for Success: Mental Health in African Education Systems
  The World Health Organization projects that “the prevalence of mental health disorders in so-called sub-Saharan African countries is likely to increase by “130% due to epidemiolo...
Continue Reading
The EPA Center of Excellence: A Catalytic and Innovative Intervention for Evidence-Informed Policymaking (EIP) in Francophone Africa
2024-08-14 advocates africa evidence week blog informs learns news
The EPA Center of Excellence: A Catalytic and Innovative Intervention for Evidence-Informed Policymaking (EIP) in Francophone Africa
  EIP need more and more attention for achieving Sustainable development Africa stands at a decisive crossroads, facing complex and multidimensional challenges that demand informed solutio...
Continue Reading