Abstract
Background: Most evaluation in Africa is rooted in dominant neoliberal Western approaches. Imported Western evaluation frames may lack multicultural validity and can lead to wrong conclusions and poor development outcomes. They may also reinforce subjugation and cultural hegemony through neo-imperialism and colonisation of the imaginations of those concerned. The Made in Africa Evaluation (MAE) concept has received attention in recent years as a way to address this challenge. As a relatively nascent construct, however, interested scholars and professionals continue to seek to define and operationalise MAE more effectively.Objective: The objective of this study is to provide a working definition of MAE.Methods: We used the Delphi technique to solicit informed views from expert evaluators working in Africa. We interviewed two additional experts to triangulate and test the validity of those findings. We also tested the Delphi derived definition of MAE through the analysis of six illustrative evaluation reports. Finally, we asked the same panel of experts to complete a survey aimed at clarifying next key steps to advance the construct.Results: The results of our efforts to elucidate a concise definition of MAE yielded the following definition: Evaluation that is conducted based on African Evaluation Association (AfrEA) standards, using localised methods or approaches with the aim of aligning all evaluations to the lifestyles and needs of affected African peoples whilst also promoting African values.Conclusion: We posit that this working definition, however tentative, has the potential to influence the practice, study, and teaching of evaluation in Africa.
Highlights
The field of evaluation in Africa is at a critical juncture as it faces new scrutiny and questions about its responsiveness to context and its sensitivity to the needs and realities of the continent’s populations (Chilisa & Mertens 2021:241–253)
Chilisa (2015) and members of the African Evaluation Association (AfrEA 2007) have employed these questions to prompt the development of a Made in Africa Evaluation (MAE) framework
Each idea presented above is considered central to each of the statements. These animating ideas as represented in the central ideas/codes form a working definition of MAE: Evaluation that is conducted based on AfrEA standards, using localised methods or approaches with the aim of aligning all evaluations to the lifestyles and needs of affected African peoples while promoting African values
Summary
The field of evaluation in Africa is at a critical juncture as it faces new scrutiny and questions about its responsiveness to context and its sensitivity to the needs and realities of the continent’s populations (Chilisa & Mertens 2021:241–253). In 2013 during AfrEA’s conference in Yaoundé, Cameroon, there were very many views of MAE espoused by thought leaders without a common agreement on its meaning. In her landmark 2015 synthesis paper, Chilisa explored the concept’s history, meaning, and application by examining the consensus (and dissensus) amongst some expert evaluators in the field. This article, commissioned by AfrEA with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, picked up the thread from Chilisa and Malunga’s (2012) Bellagio conference paper on the same topic She discussed, for example, the centrality of relational epistemology, methodology, and axiology in MAE, as well as the importance of context. As a relatively nascent construct, interested scholars and professionals continue to seek to define and operationalise MAE more effectively
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