Exploring the effectiveness of development research with a monitoring and learning approach

Abstract

There is a growing demand for better understanding of the link between research, policy and practice in development. This article provides findings from a study that aimed to gain insights into how researchers engage with their non-academic partners. It draws on experiences from the National Centre of Competence in Research North–South programme, a development research network of Swiss, African, Asian and Latin American institutions. Conceptually, this study is concerned with research effectiveness as a means to identify knowledge useful for society. Research can be improved and adapted when monitoring the effects of interactions between researchers and non-academic partners. Therefore, a monitoring and learning approach was chosen. This study reveals researchers' strategies in engaging with non-academic partners and points to framing conditions considered decisive for successful interactions. It concludes that researchers need to systematically analyse the socio-political context in which they intervene. By providing insights from the ground and reflecting on them in the light of the latest theoretical concepts, this article contributes to the emerging literature founded on practice-based experience.

Acknowledgements

This article presents coordination activities of the National Centre of Competence (NCCR) North–South, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the participating institutions. We are grateful to our informants and collaborators for generously sharing their experiences with us. We express our sincere thanks to Claudia Zingerli for her careful reading and thorough comments on the article. We also thank the reviewer for the support in improving the article. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the funding agencies or other institutions.

Notes

1. The Research and Policy in Development Programme (RAPID) of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) is a programme that works at the intersection of research, policy and practice (http://www.odi.org.uk/work/programmes/rapid/default.asp; 02 July 2010).

2. Targeted research as defined by the SNSF means that researchers and potential users of research results should be closely linked to facilitate knowledge and technology transfers from research to policy and practice. For more details see http://www.snf.ch; 03 August 2010.

3. Collaborating NCCR North–South researchers came from the Swiss TPH (http://www.swisstph.ch/de.html; 29 July 2010) and the CSRS from Côte d'Ivoire (http://www.csrs.ch/; 29 July 2010). The non-academic partners were national and district veterinary and health administration and services as well as nomadic people. On the national level, the Chadian Ministry of Planning as well as the Ministries of Health and Livestock were involved. For more details on this case see Schelling et al. (2008).

4. Institutional Partners of the NCCR North–South researchers were the Centro de Investigación para el Desarrollo (CIDES), Fundación La Paz, Fundación para el Desarrollo Participativo Coumunitario (FUNDEPCO), OXFAM International, UNICEF Bolivia. See also Quiroga et al. (2008).

5. Servicio national de Meteorologia e Hidrologia SENAMI (http://www.senamhi.gov.bo/; 29 July 2010), Observatorio San Calixto (http://www.observatoriosancalixto.org/home.html; 29 July 2010).

6. For the mandate on natural resources to CDE, see http://www.cde.unibe.ch; 30 April 2010. For the health services offered by Swiss TPH, see http://www.swisstph.ch; 30 April 2010.

7. A practice-oriented component of the NCCR North–South are Partnership Actions for Mitigating Syndromes (PAMS). These are projects of limited financial scope and duration, implemented by NCCR North–South researchers in collaboration with local actors. For more details, see http://www.north-south.unibe.ch/content.php/page/id/228; 03 August 2010. See also Outcome Highlights: http://www.north-south.unibe.ch/content.php/page/id/315; 20 August 2010.

8. The partners of the NCCR North–South researchers in Nepal are Kathmandu University, Tribhuvan University, High Level Land Reform Commission, Ministry of Land Reform and Management, National Land Rights Forum, Nepal Institute of Development Studies and Community Self-Reliance Centre Nepal.

9. ODI developed a specific framework to map the political context. It differentiates between the political context, links, evidence and external influences (ODI 2004).