Monitoring, evaluation and learning for more effective African science granting councils

Monitoring, evaluation, and learning are essential; they enable funders to assess the impact of research projects and other policy initiatives. These activities refine funded actions and methodologies and ultimately drive improved outcomes. All three activities, known collectively as MEL, involve actively collecting, organizing, processing, and analysing data, followed by thoughtful reflection on the results. Collectively, MEL is an iterative process that ensures scientific endeavours remain effective.

The Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI) puts a central focus on monitoring, evaluation, and learning. For science councils, MEL plays a key role in the alignment of funding activities with local and regional needs. This ensures value for money of funding and enables assessment of inclusivity goals. As such, it enhances the effectiveness of interventions. More broadly, this allows African science councils to ensure their work has more impact fostering sustainable development and empowering communities.

MEL can also guide decisions about who conducts research, when, and where collaborations should happen. Pan-African scientific projects promote collaboration and address regional challenges. Ultimately, they build a more impactful and resilient scientific landscape. However, without data on who is working on what and where different research infrastructure is located, promoting collaboration among scientists becomes challenging.

Initiative level MEL

The SGCI strengthens MEL capabilities within the participating 17 science councils. The Initiative also focuses on assessing its overall impact through MEL. It asks critical questions such as:

Is each part of the Initiative successfully delivering benefits? Is it working? What impact is it having? SGCI must be able to track and report on all the work being implemented. Monitoring, evaluation, and learning helps the Initiative do this and is now being weaved throughout the SGCI’s work.

With this aim, the SGCI redesigned its Initiative-level MEL approach in 2023. Since 2015, an external consultant managed MEL at the Initiative level. The new approach integrates MEL into the daily activities of implementing agencies and aligns Council-level MEL efforts with Initiative-level strategies. This coordinated approach aims to reduce reporting burdens on African science councils by streamlining external reporting requirements.

This enhanced MEL approach ensures key questions are addressed: How does behaviour change at the Initiative level reflect the shifts needed at the national Council level? How do the higher-level outcomes and impacts desired by the Initiative align with the goals of the individual Councils?

Monitoring, evaluation and learning to unify aims and objectives

As part of this realignment, the Initiative will implement a revised data collection and analysis strategy. Starting in 2024, a slightly updated technical report format will streamline data collection during routine reporting by the Initiative’s ‘collaborative technical agencies.’ These agencies support Councils in strengthening research management, evidence-based policymaking, strategic communication, gender inclusivity, and public-private partnerships, among other areas. This new system eliminates the need for duplicate online reports. A similar approach will be used at the Council level.

Furthermore, a stronger focus will be placed on identifying -through technical reports – ‘stories of change’ or examples and case studies of where the Initiative supported activities have led to systems level change or behaviour change within Councils or associated stakeholders (notably the research community they fund). Where data for these stories of change cannot be found sufficiently in the technical reports, semi-structured interviews will be held with key stakeholders including science council staff and relevant others in policy, academic and practice arenas.

Relevance of MEL

By the end of 2025, the SGCI aims to have contributed to ‘economic and social development in sub-Saharan Africa through strengthening national research, Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) systems. ’The revised MEL plan at Initiative level will monitor and evaluation progress towards this goal. It will allow Councils to more effectively make arguments for more funding, resources and decide where and how to utilise the funding they wish to disburse. In so doing, the Councils and the Initiative can ensure their activities are changing society and achieving national development goals as well as the broader sustainable development goals.