International Development Practice Research Articles

Mixed-methods impact evaluation in international development practice: distinguishing between quant-led and qual-led models

ABSTRACT Despite being widely endorsed for more than two decades, the practice of mixed-methods impact evaluation (MMIE) remains confusing. This paper suggests that greater clarity can be achieved by distinguishing between quant-led and qual-led models of MMIE. The quant-led model gives most weight to variance-based epistemological approaches to causal attribution but can also incorporate process-theory approaches. The qual-led model relies mainly on a process-theory approach but incorporates quantitative data collection and analysis. After setting out the context, the paper sets out these conceptual distinctions. It then presents an illustrative case study of how the Qualitative Impact Protocol (QuIP) has been utilised within the two models. Third, the paper explores divergent support for the two models. We conclude with reflections on how wider recognition of the distinction between them can improve evaluative practice by deepening our understanding of multiple options for the integration of qualitative and quantitative aspects of impact evaluation. While mainly intended to be of practical relevance to those planning, conducting, and reviewing MMIEs, the paper is also relevant to wider concerns over the political economy of knowledge production and distribution.

Hegemonic Discourses Surrounding United States’ Leadership in Post-Ebola Development in Liberia

Abstract This study examines the hegemonic discourses surrounding USAID’s leadership in post-Ebola Liberia between 2015 and 2020. Using documents and critical discourse analysis, the study finds that USAID’s overarching goal of empowering Liberians, especially women, was primarily on humanitarian grounds. However, the study revealed the significant extent to which ideological and political economic assumptions influenced USAID’s prioritization of Liberia in the fight against Ebola in West Africa. These findings call for advancing research on the concept of national interest in international development discourse and practice, as well as the political economy of aid to sub-Saharan Africa from a neocolonialist lens.

Research Translation for International Development: A Literature Review and Framework for Evidence Use and Partner Engagement

Many research-to-practice approaches exist, yet fundamental differences in interpretation and uneven application of research translation approaches create a real challenge in generating research-driven solutions for development challenges. In this review, we aim to clarify the plethora of approaches to increase research uptake into international development practice and policy. Through a qualitative analysis of 93 articles, we identified four interrelated factors that differentiate research translation approaches. Building off the variation expressed across these factors, we propose a conceptual framework called the Research Translation Continuum. This framework illustrates the range of ways to produce useful evidence and the range of ways that academics and practitioners can collaborate. Our study makes a unique contribution by providing a conceptual framework for guiding research translation efforts in international development. We conclude that critical reflexive engagement is needed to situate, use, and produce evidence for development policy and practice.

Decolonising Southern knowledge(s) in Aidland

ABSTRACT South–South Co-operation (SSC) has become increasingly important in international development policy and practice as both alternative and complementary to North–South Co-operation. Crafted through the acceptance, appropriation, and instrumentalisation of a colonialist idea of an underdeveloped world, SSC has been historically defined as an expression of Southern solidarity, through which developing countries collaborate to achieve progress, modernity, and development. It is often claimed to involve mutually beneficial, horizontal exchange of resources between developing countries – particularly knowledge – and to foster decolonising practices. In this paper, I argue that while one of the starting points for SSC was opposition to North–South knowledge hierarchies, its legitimisation has been constructed through postcolonial power inequalities and new forms of authoritative knowledge that reiterate old hierarchies. Drawing on in-depth ethnographic research conducted as part of my doctoral studies, I show how the building and international legitimatisation of Brazilian ‘best practices’ – in the gender equality field – has produced a political economy of opportunities and mobility for these professionals; their professional pathways to Mozambique are indicative of the processes of production of Southern expertise and new knowledge hierarchies. I also discuss Brazilian development workers’ discourses about the relevance of Brazilian experiences to Mozambique. Theoretically, the paper is inspired by critical development theory with a feminist and postcolonial approach. It uses postcolonial literature, usually applied to relations between colonisers and former colonies, to look at how colonial discourses and discourses about Africa, the ‘Third World’, and the West historically intervened in the encounters between people from former colonies and continue to be activated. Specifically, I analyse imaginaries of ‘Southern’ and ‘developing country’ identity embedded in expertise claims.

NGOs, CBOs, and the contested politics of community-driven development in urban informal settlements

ABSTRACT Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in an informal settlement in Dhaka, this article examines the relationships, contestations and negotiations of power and control between non-government organizations (NGO), community-based organizations (CBO) and local leaders in the context of community-driven development (CDD) interventions. Findings suggest a shift in informal settlement residents’ perceptions and attitudes toward NGOs and CDD interventions where the previously documented distrust and lack of interest has changed to a more general interest to participate largely to draw on the power and influence in the community that CBO membership offers. Moreover, findings demonstrate how contestations and negotiations of power and control play out at various stages of engagement between NGOs, CBOs, and local leaders. These findings have important implications for international development practice, particularly for CDD, as they can contribute to addressing some of the current criticisms of the approach.

Exploring graduate students’ socialization to international agriculture: A mixed methods needs assessment

Internationalization of higher education’s agricultural disciplines is essential to account for agrifood system trends toward globalization and multiculturalism. Professional and academic associations can play a formative role preparing graduate students for their agricultural careers. Guided by socialization theory, this needs assessment explores graduate students’ perceived needs, expectations, and ideas to optimize engagement with associations focused on international agriculture. A convergent mixed methods design integrated and contrasted quantitative and qualitative data from an online survey—filled by 26 student participants—and qualitative data from a virtual fishbone focus group with seven participants. Students’ perceptions appear responsive to trends toward globalized food systems and demonstrate their desire for socialization to gain internationally focused capacities and connections to opportunities in a variety of global agricultural areas. Findings indicate associations geared toward internationally oriented scholarship and academics should expand to better encompass international development practice. Doing so would provide greater insight into practitioners’ priorities and facilitate alternative career pathways for graduate students interested in practice. Additionally, findings point to needs for student mentoring and communication efforts focused on equitable and inclusive engagement with first generation students and students in developing countries who may be financially inhibited from traveling for in-person socialization activities.

Ethical challenges faced by Korean development practitioners in international community development practices

Abstract Establishing development ethics is a rising concern for Korean NGOs with a relatively short history of engaging in international community development. This study explores the ethical challenges faced by Korean development practitioners. This study draws on in-depth interviews with 13 Korean development practitioners experienced in community development projects in Asia and Africa. The exploration of contexts affecting ethical practices suggests the influence of religion, professionalism and boundaries, neo-liberal and managerial culture. The findings of this study highlight the significance of reflective practices for development ethics by illustrating how development practitioners identified and constructed norms and principles through critical encounters with their emotions and challenges in practice. This study’s practical implications include drawing attention to emotions as a source of reflection by involving underpinning values and judgement. The importance of reflective practices warrants further exploration of building collective ethics to inform and challenge international community development practices.

The design and impact of professional development activities in a diverse international education reform context

With its aggressive education reform, multinational teaching workforce, and increasing implementation of Western-based approaches, Abu Dhabi provides a rich site for learning more about international policy-borrowing in educational improvement initiatives. This article uses survey and interview data from n = 35 Abu Dhabi public school teachers who participated in a combined total of 297 professional development activities over an academic year. The study examined the design and impact of the professional development activities and the relationships between design and impact in the Abu Dhabi context. The study offers implications for international professional development practice and insights into international policy-borrowing in education.

Reshaping how we think about evaluation: A made in Africa evaluation perspective

Background: The African development space is dominated by the Western hegemony that shapes the structural funding model, knowledge transfer and aid. Western hegemony defines the Western countries or development funders as superior to the aid receivers, without necessarily acknowledging the role of colonial history and racism that defined and influenced the underdevelopment of African countries. In the African context, the Global North uses liberalism as a tool to maintain hegemony; hence, there is no need to use colonial coercion as liberalism is self-reinforcing, self-legitimising and self-perpetuating. It absorbs counter-hegemony via its international institutions, economic interdependence and democracy.Objectives: This article examines how evaluation as a tool has perpetuated Western hegemony on the epistemological, axiological and ontological understanding of development in sub-Saharan Africa.Methods: The approach adopted in this article involved a traditional review of literature, analysis of tacit knowledge and personal experiences on evaluation practice in Africa.Results: Firstly, the article demonstrates that the theories and practice behind international development are based on colonial thinking and subjugation that permeate themselves throughout the conceptualisation, design and implementation and how results of development interventions are evaluated and viewed. Secondly, the article provides practical steps on how to decolonise international development and evaluations in Africa. The findings also show that evaluations should not be treated separately from the dominant forces that define international development. The evaluation field is a microcosm and an appendage of Western hegemonic influence on international development.Conclusion: The article concludes by advocating for the need to change the approach to international development and evaluation practice and emphasising the centrality of the worldviews and values of targeted populations by development interventions.

Исследование влияния кратности кислотных обработок на их эффективность на основе геолого-промыслового анализа

In international field development practice, the most common method of stimulating production from carbonate reservoirs is acidizing. Wells-candidates for geological and technical measures must meet certain criteria of technology applicability, which often necessitates repeated operations on the producing fund during the period of operation. Using the example of carbonate deposits in the Perm region fields the paper investigates the effect of the frequency of acid stimulation on its efficiency based on the analysis of changes in the technological parameters of wells and reservoir properties. It was found that repeated acid treatments are characterized by lower complexefficiency than primary ones. Based on the results of the analysis, a matrix was compiled, which allows for an express assessment of the prospects of acid treatment, considering its frequency and expected technological solutions.

Модель інтегральної оцінки цифрового врядування на місцевому рівні

Обґрунтовано, що концептуальні підходи глобальних індексів щодо оцінки розвитку цифрового суспільства та цифрового врядування будуть корисними задля розробки аналітичних інструментів, адаптованих до специфіки контенту цифрового врядування на місцевому рівні. Запропоновано власну модель, адаптовану до специфіки рівня територіальних громад з метою комплексного розуміння рівня цифрового врядування на місцевому рівні. З метою апробації розробленої методики здійснено оцінку цифрового врядування Вінницької міської об’єднаної територіальної громади впродовж 2014-2018 рр. Доведено, що авторська методика дозволяє провести системний аналіз стану цифровізації публічного управління та адміністрування на рівні територіальних громад.

Design principles for sustainability: Tearfund’s expanding international development approach

ABSTRACT This article introduces the role that design principles play in Tearfund’s expanding approach to international development practice. Mindful that development gains can be undermined by degraded environments, Tearfund now encourages a focus on taking steps towards greater ecological integrity alongside economic and social imperatives when working with poor and vulnerable communities worldwide. We explain the purpose and goals of the “design principles” and consider how they translate principles of sustainability into practice. We discuss how the design principles extend the faith-based international NGO’s work to conceptualise and operationalise holistic development more effectively, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Recognizing Determinants to Smallholders’ Market Orientation and Marketing Arrangements: Building on a Case of Dairy Farming in Rural Kenya

Smallholder commercialization is central to international development policy and practice. As a result, several arrangements to foster market linkages are being implemented. Especially popular are farmers’ organizations, which are believed to be owned, controlled, and financed by smallholders. As such, their design is considered inclusive given every household in a community is theoretically allowed to become a member, and the governance and management structure encourage participatory decision-making. However, even in the context in which farmers’ organizations are actively promoted, a notable proportion of smallholders may not be able to engage in market-oriented production or may opt for the existing alternative marketing arrangements, as dictated by individual households’ socioeconomic characteristics. Focusing on the case of smallholder farming in Olenguruone, Nakuru county, Kenya, where a donor funded dairy farmers’ cooperative marketing arrangement is promoted alongside existing marketing opportunities, the present research investigated the factors that determine smallholders’ commercial farming orientation and marketing arrangements. It employed a case study approach, combining both quantitative and qualitative research methods for a more complete empirical inquiry. The findings demonstrate that irrespective of the external support provided through marketing opportunities such as farmer organizations, smallholders’ engagement in commercial farming and marketing is dictated by the socioeconomic attributes and market perceptions that are heterogeneous among households in a smallholder community.

Not a care in the world: an exploration of the personal–professional–political nexus of international development practitioners working in security and justice sector reform

ABSTRACT This article explores the implications for international development policy and practice (specifically within security and justice sector reform) of the departure of those assuming caring roles, predominantly women who become mothers. More broadly, the article investigates how personal life stories impact the choices that we make in our professional lives, including where, when, and how we engage, in this instance, in international development, and the subsequent implications for the field. These choices (the personal) have an impact on policy and practice (the professional) and inform how knowledge is created, circulated, legitimized, and becomes expert knowledge (the political). This article thus explores the implications of an epistemic community being predominantly male (in part as a consequence of the lack of support for social reproductive work) for how security and justice in post-conflict environments are conceived and, ultimately, rebuilt. We reflect on our own engagement in such environments – as scholars and former practitioners – and draw on the life stories of international development practitioners to investigate the personal–professional–political nexus and the impact of narrow epistemic communities on how “security work” is done, whose security matters, and whose voices count.

Audit as Accountability: Technical Authority and Expertise in the Governance of Private Financing for Development

The paper examines the emergence of a new landscape of international development finance that is blurring traditional boundaries between public and private resources for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other global public goods (GPGs). In the SDG financing ecosystem, private actors are no longer passive bystanders in the development process but as active contributors to and investors in development projects and programmes. The paper argues that the emerging ‘private turn’ in the architecture of development finance represents a technology of governance that is rooted in the assemblage of international development policy and practice. This regime constitutes an emerging complex and often problematic framework of organising and managing countries’ access to external finance and establishing their terms of engagement with the broader global economy.

Innovation in development cooperation: emerging trajectories and implications for inclusive sustainable development in the 21st century

ABSTRACT In the past twenty years, innovation has slowly, but steadily, become an important presence in development cooperation discourse and practice. The ambitious UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda has accelerated this trend, providing a strong framework for the main argument in favour of an innovation agenda for international development: without new ideas and innovative solutions, solving the current global development challenges will not be possible. Although this innovation-push is in line with a wider predominant view of innovation as an inherently positive force of progress, that alone does not explain when, how, and why innovation becomes a key topic in the field. This paper seeks to fill this gap in the literature, providing an initial overview of innovation in development cooperation in the post-2000s. It argues, firstly, that innovation has always been part of international development policy and practice. Secondly, it links the recent strengthening of the innovation discourse to three trends in the systemic transformation of the field: the triumph of metrics-based agendas, the ICTs and digitalization revolutions, and the role of private sector actors. It concludes by critically assessing the implications of this narrative in changing the politics of innovation towards more inclusive sustainable development policies and practices.

Tourism and sustainable development in China: a review.

The adaption of the open-up reform policies in China some three decades ago has resulted in a rapid economic transformation of which the tourism sector has equally witnessed fast development. Therefore, the essence of this article is to review the evolution and expansion of the tourism industry in China and its obligation to observing international sustainable development policies and practices. Indications of the current policy regime, establishment, and institutions, sustainable development strategies to ensure continuity and availability of resources for future use, environmental sustainability laws and regulations, and promotional events for the development of the tourism industry are made available in this article. In effect, this article reviews how the activities of the tourism sector impacts on the environment. The findings show that China in its quest to be a world leader of tourists' destination has impacted negatively on the environment which by extension affect the economy and society at large. On the other hand, as a leading nation in the United Nations, China has in contemporary times adapted sustainable development strategies to help safeguard the environment. However, more needs to be done in the area of advanced technology and renewable energy.

‘Sustainable’ Discourse: A Critical Analysis of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Sustainability is a catchphrase in contemporary theory and practice of international development. It has become an epicentre of development debate following the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 by the United Nations (UN). Many view the new set of goals as a significant step in the field of development, but scholars and practitioners still grapple with reaching a consensus on a common definition of sustainability. This article problematizes the notion and theoretical underpinning of sustainability. The author focusses on the discursive practices that played a dominant role in shaping the conception of sustainability, especially within the formation of the SDGs. Using the three-dimensional analytical framework of discourse studies outlined by Fairclough (1995, Critical discourse analysis, Boston, MA: Addison Wesley), the author interprets the text of the SDGs at micro level (discourse), meso level (discursive practices) and macro level (discursive events).

Global Consensus Frameworks, Standards, Guidelines, and Tools: Their Implications in International Development Policy and Practice.

In the present world, International Consensus Frameworks, commonly called global frameworks or global agendas, guide international development policies and practices. They guide the development of all countries and influence the development initiatives by their respective governments. Recent global frameworks, adopted mostly post-2015, include both a group of over-arching frameworks (eg, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction [SFDRR]) and a group of frameworks addressing specific issues (eg, the Dhaka Declaration on Disability and Disaster Risk Management). These global frameworks serve twin purposes: first, to set a global development standard, and second, to set policies and approaches to achieve these standards. A companion group of professional standards, guidelines, and tools (ie, Sphere's Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards) guide the implementation and operationalization of these frameworks on the ground.This paper gathers these global frameworks and core professional guidelines in one place, presents an analytical review of their essential features, and highlights the commonalities and differences between and among these frameworks. The aim of this paper is to facilitate understanding of these frameworks and to help in designing development and resilience policy, planning, and implementation, at international and national levels, where these frameworks complement and contribute to each other.This Special Report describes an important and evolving aspect of the discipline and provides core information necessary to progress the science. Additionally, the report will help governments and policy makers to define their priorities and to design policies/strategies/programs to reflect the global commitments. Development practitioners can pre-empt the focus of the international community and the assistance coming from donors to the priority sectors, as identified in the global agenda. This would then help governments and stakeholders to develop and design a realistic plan and program and prepare the instruments and mechanisms to deliver the goals.

The political vitality and vital politics of Césaire’s Discourse on Colonialism: A reading in light of contemporary racism

This article offers a contemporary reading from Latin America of Discourse on Colonialism, one of Martinican writer and political leader Aimé Césaire’s most important works, which is not well known in the Latin American context, despite the great relevance that his politics have in that region. It is one of the strongest interpellations of colonialism and racism as inherent vectors of capitalism and Western modernity and even could be considered as a precursor to critiques of international development thinking and practices. The article includes a short biography of Césaire, and goes on to address how Discourse offers a non-Eurocentric reading of European history, arguing that Nazism is not an outgrowth of or an exception in European history but the ultimate effect of a civilization that justifies colonization. It then describes Césaire’s post-war aspirations for decolonization as a possible third way forward for Europe, breaking with the binarism of capitalism/communism, and outlines questions involving the tensions in the demands for equality and recognition of differences, which stemmed from his involvement in the departmentalization of Martinique in 1946, and the problems that French universalism caused for this process. Rereading Discourse today, there is a distinct blind spot in its androcentrism, and in Césaire’s ignoring of Black women thinkers who were his contemporaries. However, the text still offers original and creative proposals that subaltern groups in Latin America (racialized groups, women, LGBTQ+) can use to observe elements of reality that colonizers and dominant groups are reluctant to acknowledge.