HONEST PROSPER NGOWI; MZUMBE UNIVERSITY DAR ES SALAAM 1 Quality of Policy-relevant Research in the African Context: Participatory Policy Research Perspectives 1
Introduction and Context A number of researches are conducted on and in Africa Few policy-relevant research works in Africa There is inadequate participatory research practices Supply – rather than demand-driven policy researches dominate Results: Poor quality, little usefull policy researches Participatory policy research: Among solutions to improve quality and usefullness of policy research
Participatory Policy Research Involves policy researchers on one hand and policy makers and policy users on the other at all reseach cycle phases Is a policy-demand-driven rather than researcher- supply driven research process Lack of participatory research practices leads to poor quality and poor usefullness of policy researches
Towards Participatory Policy Research Towards Participatory Policy Research Involve researchers and policy makers and users at all reseach stages: –Conceptualization and development of research themes and topics –Call for research proposals –Evaluation of research proposals –Implementation of research: Questions to Dissemination –M&E of research processes and outputs –Disseminations: What, How, when, where: Policy-friendl?
Issues of Concern Participatory policy researches are short of supply Supply-driven rather than demand-driven research processes dominate Level of research funding may be among the causes of the problem
Ways Forward for quality and usefull policy research Dedicated efforts for participatory policy research processes/cycle are important Measurement of policy research quality should include its participatory nature Policy research funding should demand and provide for participatory policy research in the whole research cycle/value chain Walking the talks is the change-maker
The End Thank You