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Linking research, policy and practice
Whether viewed from the perspective of development organizations and funders, or the ultimate beneficiaries of such programmes, investing in a strong knowledge base is critical in achieving development impact. A core part of this is ensuring that all policy decisions and actions have a sound empirical basis.
In practice, however, building sufficient capacity to access, adapt and utilize evidence-based research is quite a difficult undertaking. It requires investing both in core research and analytical capabilities (the evidence base) for effective development action, as well as a range of crucial, but often neglected, capacities that are needed to drive the research message home. These include how to: identify and understand the key stakeholders in the policymaking process; adapt to the dynamics of the political debate; get the timing right in disseminating research results; and communicate in a language that policymakers and practitioners can understand.
Featured Article
Lessons Learned from 25 Years of Food Security Research, Capacity-Building and Outreach
This document from Michigan State University contains an overview of the past 25 years of
research, capacity-building, and outreach by the university's Food Security Group (FSG). The paper
describes key elements of the FSG approach and examines the insights gained from research and
outreach, primarily in Africa, and their value to the U.S. Feed the Future Initiative in addressing
the major current challenges facing food and agricultural systems.
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- rural development
- africa
- casestudies
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- policy
- analytical frameworks
Recent Articles
Brazil launches online multistakeholder dialogues for Rio+20
25 April 2012
The Government of Brazil, as host of the June 2012 UN
Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), has opened nine online thematic
"Sustainable Development Dialogues" to generate ideas and set the stage for the civil society
discussions to be held in Rio de Janeiro from 16-19 June 2012, immediately preceding UNCSD. The
Dialogues are grouped under the following themes: oceans; food and nutritional security;
sustainable development for fighting poverty; sustainable development as an answer to the economic
and financial crises; sustainable energy for all; water; the economics of sustainable development;
sustainable cities and innovation; and unemployment, decent work and migration.
Women Leading Change: Experiences promoting women's empowerment, leadership, and gender justice
13 April 2012
Published in March 2012, this publication features, four case studies describing experiences
from Cambodia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Indonesia in promoting women's political and economic
empowerment and leadership. The case studies describe the context in which women live, what
leadership means and how to achieve it. Attention is given to working within existing institutions
and cultural norms, and also to creating new institutions. The final section summarizes common
lessons and considerations for future policy and practice aiming to promote women's empowerment and
leadership.
Moving beyond strategy to implementation: Africa Capacity Indicators Report (ACIR) 2012
13 April 2012
The African Capacity Building
Foundation (ACBF) launched the second of its flagship annual reviews on the state of capacity
development in Africa on 3rd April. This year's report is devoted to the theme of capacity
development in agricultural transformation and food security. One of the highlights is Ghana's
upgrading to the 'High' category of the ACI composite index. The composite index measures the
policy environment, processes for implementation, development results at country level and capacity
development outcomes. In 2011 there were no countries classified under the 'High' category.
Evaluation for equitable development results
01 April 2012
This wide-ranging publication aims to contribute to the international debate on how to achieve
equitable development results by conceptualizing, designing, implementing and using evaluations
focused on human rights and equity. It does so by offering a number of strong contributions from 27
world-level experts and senior officers in institutions and governments dealing with development
and evaluation. The authors also presented their contribution in a series of webinars that are
available for download on the
My
M&E web portal. The book complements an earlier manual “
How to
design and implement equity-focused evaluations,” published in 2011.
Empowering women pays
26 March 2012
The importance of women in Ghanaian cocoa
As support for agriculture climbs up the policy agenda,
the spotlight is increasingly focused on smallholder farmers. But one dimension of this is still
being regularly overlooked – the role of women on smallholder farms. Markets for agricultural
commodities are increasingly linked to the value chains of large food manufacturers and
retailers.
LenCD case stories database
24 March 2012
Case stories are an important and accessible way of
sharing experiences and learning lessons. Many organisations publish case stories on their
websites, but finding these stories has always required a good deal of research.
LenCD (Learning Network on Capacity Development), has been building up an index of case stories including material from the United Nations Development Programme, the Task Team on South–South Cooperation, SNV, the World Bank Institute, ECDPM, and other sources.
More than 500 case stories have now been catalogued and are searchable by country and by keyword on www.lencd.org/case-stories.
MoreOther Topics
Essential Readings
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Research, Policy and Practice, Capacity.org Issue 35 (December 2008)
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Simon Hearn and Nancy White (2009) Communities of practice: linking knowledge, policy and practice, Overseas Development Institute
More Web Resources
Featured Community
Evidence Based Policy in Development Network (EBPDN)
EBPDN is a growing professional network that emerged out of the Civil
Society Partnership Programme at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), UK. This programme aims
to establish a worldwide community of practice for think tanks, policy research institutes and
similar organizations working in international development, with a view to promoting more
evidence-based and pro-poor development policies. Information available on the EBPDN website
includes the latest resources in this area; a directory of training and advisory expertise;
discussion forums and a partnership brokering area.
Communities of practice on linking research, policy and practice
