The need for change in the scope of Agriculture Research Evaluation: Lessons from Strides made in Southern Africa By Mariam A.T.J. Mapila and Choolwe Haankuku Paper prepared for the Perspectives in Impact Evaluation Workshop: Approaches to Assessing Development Effectiveness 31 st March to 2 nd April, 2009 Cairo, Egypt

2 Introduction  Agriculture research paradigm shift in Africa  Disparity between economic evaluation outcomes and realities on the ground  Low adoption of agricultural innovations  Better understanding of beneficiaries role in research process  Improvements in research- extension-farmer continuum  Donor fatigue

3 Paradigm shift 1. Changes in agriculture research processes Top down conventional processes Participatory research processes Innovative agricultural research process Intellectual participation of end users involvement of non-traditional research actors Source: FAO-Participatory Processes

4 2. Changes in Priority Setting exercises Paradigm shift cont’ Stakeholder perception (excluding end usersStakeholder perception (excluding end users Precedence methodsPrecedence methods Scoring of various objectivesScoring of various objectives Mathematical programming methodsMathematical programming methods Economic surplus methodsEconomic surplus methods Objective Subjective Combined methods that reflect both subjective and objective methods and which include end users

Paradigm shift cont’ 3. Changes in Evaluation of Agricultural Research  Brought about by:  Disparities between evaluation results and reality on the ground  Criticisms of current evaluation methods:  Economic surplus methods results are biased up  Attribution problems  Measurement of inappropriate parameters especially at the micro level (concentration on productivity) 5

6 Evaluate changes in capacities of all actors in the research process Capacity to conduct research and determine research agendas Capacity to analyze & interpret findings Capacity to network & ‘Innovate’ Assess productivity changes while accounting for: Population growth Environmental degradation Assess both macro and micro level productivity changes Offsets any output growth Paradigm shift – Evaluation

Assess Institutional distortions Continuity of research programs On smallholder outcomes Assess non-traditional research outcomes Marketing outcomes in addition to income outcomes Evaluate and document unforeseen negative consequences of agricultural research processes Evaluate and document short falls of innovative agricultural research processes shift cont’-Evaluation Paradigm shift cont’-Evaluation

  Human capital changes and ability to adapt technologies to local contexts   Social capital outcomes   Simulation analysis studies to assess potential impacts of macro level policy changes on rural households shift cont’-Evaluation Paradigm shift cont’-Evaluation

  Changes are taking place in agricultural research processes   Agenda setting   Process   Evaluation   Need for robust empirical evidence to establish:   If these changes are the desired one’s   If changes are bringing about the intended outcomes in the livelihoods of smallholders Conclusion

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