1. Sharing Evaluation Data with Stakeholders
KATE CUMMINGS / ILAB LIBERIA
Kate Marple-Cantrell
The Cloudburst Group

2. Introduction Sharing Findings
Communities that provided data may find some analyses informative and helpful in their own development efforts.
Address critique that research is ‘extractive’:
Include communities in research benefits
Build trust between researchers and communities
KATE CUMMINGS / ILAB LIBERIA
facilitates important community access to data they made possible through study participation
with this knowledge, communities can harness findings to realize local development goals and protect their interests
augment the research project by strengthening the rigor, relevance, and reach of such research
- programming adjustments
- increase confidence in results

3. Community Land Protection Program
Evaluation
Rigorous evaluation of community land protection model in three rural counties in Liberia (Lofa, Maryland, and River Gee)
Panel data: Baseline 2014; Midline 2017
Outcomes: Land governance, empowerment, tenure security, conservation
case study of sharing research results with local communities during rigorous quasi-experimental evaluation of a community land protection model in Liberia
fills this knowledge gap on the benefits of community land protection by rigorously investigating the effects of the CLPP model on improving tenure security, local empowerment, resource governance, and livelihoods at the household and community level

4. Getting Data Back to the Communities
Data Presentation Exercises
February-March 2018
Distribute information at town level
2-3 hour community meeting
Skilled facilitators translate statistics and guide discussion
Opportunity to interrogate, validate surprising research findings
Community can respond to results
KATE CUMMINGS / ILAB LIBERIA
data dissemination activity is designed to communicate important study findings about their customary communal lands and land governance that communities can integrate into ongoing efforts to secure property rights for community lands
Key consideration during the development of the plan for sharing this evaluation data with community stakeholders were that every town should receive a presentation to maximize the reach of the data sharing presentation, as most community members are unlikely to travel to another town to participate in the data sharing presentation.

5. Getting Data Back to the Communities
Develop Content
Iterative process between evaluation team, USAID, program designer (Namati), and program implementer in Liberia (SDI)
Craft appropriate strategies to communicate:
Basic statistics
Changes over time
BEN EWING / THE CLOUDBURST GROUP
overarching goal of this activity is for communities to have opportunity to learn about themselves, rather than focusing on our learning as researchers about communities
it is uncommon for residents of these towns to have any formal education. In fact, about a third of household survey respondents at midline (29%) had no formal education. Since all interested members of the community are encouraged to attend the data presentation exercise, finding a way to communicate information that is not didactic and that is clear to illiterate or innumerate community members is a key consideration.

6. Getting Data Back to the Communities
Interactive Presentation to Communities
Delivery of interactive presentation to participating towns (treatment and control):
Discuss 12 key data points from 5 main themes
Statistics customized to individual town
Discussion of each theme includes:
brief introduction about conditions on this topic
overview of changes in the community
open dialogue and reflection period
During the open discussion of each data point, highly skilled facilitators translate the statistics and guide the conversation
Community members have an opportunity to interrogate research findings in several important ways, providing comments, responses, and potentially the chance for validation of surprising research findings

7. Getting Data Back to the Communities
Visual Aid
Interactive visual aid poster with art work by local cartoonist to visualize key data points throughout presentation
Facilitates comprehension
Appropriate for audience with limited literacy
Complements activities employed by facilitator, such as ‘guessing game’ where participants state what they expect the finding to be
Laminated and can be drawn on by facilitator using whiteboard marker

8. Getting Data Back to the Communities
Delivering Presentations
KATE CUMMINGS / ILAB LIBERIA
Trained facilitators for 6 days and piloted exercise in communities where data collection was piloted

9. Getting Data Back to the Communities
Delivering Presentations
KATE CUMMINGS / ILAB LIBERIA

10. Getting Data Back to the Communities
Results and Feedback
Facilitators note details of meeting:
Attendance
Topics most discussed
Program Feedback
Evaluation feedback
Responses to findings
Next steps
Difficult topics
KATE CUMMINGS / ILAB LIBERIA

11. Getting Data Back to the Communities
Results and Feedback
Limited program or evaluation feedback
Able to validate some confusing findings
Communities eager to identify and take next steps
Assuage concerns of implementer
Example
Desire to continue progress through program stages Desire for CLPP follow-on / expansion Unsurprisingly, widespread desire for the passage of land reform Complicated women's rights landscape: some communities embrace women's rights but others do not. 

12. Recommendations and Conclusions
New methodology by USAID E3/LU will inform future data dissemination activities
Upcoming evaluation data dissemination in Zambia
Can be customized in many ways to suit needs of stakeholders
Valuable to control communities who also donate time to research effort
Better method for communicating results to local stakeholders (versus translating long / technical evaluation reports)

13. Thank you Kate Marple-Cantrell
For more information about the Community Land Protection Program evaluation and data sharing please visit: