Kenya is set to host the first Africa Monitoring & Evaluation conference in a bid to facilitate dialogue among stakeholders on research and evaluation agenda and priority setting to influence policymaking and governance.
The conference dubbed Evidence to Action (E2A) will be held in Nairobi at the United States International University (USIU), from July 26th to July 27th 2018 in partnership with the International Center for Evaluation and Development and Campbell Collaboration, Agriculture Technology Adoption Initiative (ATAI).
The conference is aimed at identifying effective ways research and evaluation findings can be utilized for evidence- based policy making and action.
The Conference will also bring together a high calibre of experts drawn from national, regional and international organisations, providing a platform for researchers, academia, private sector executives, M & E experts, development agencies, farmer organizations, civil society players and policymakers to share experiences.
Prince of Netherlands, Prince Pieter -Christiaan of Orange – Nassau is expected to attend the conference though yet confirm.
Treasury Monitoring and Evaluation Director Samson Machuka says despite the growing interest in and demand for research and evaluation (R&E), R&E has not played its role to its full potential.
“There is a lot of research in Africa, but it is not used to inform policies and decision-making processes. While the value of research and evaluation is increasingly appreciated on the continent, determining what evidence to use for decision-making – and how to use it – has been a challenge,” said Machuka.
He says there is need to strengthen the connections between research, evaluation and evidence-based policies and practices in sub-Saharan Africa.
“We see a lot of Counties in Kenya going for benchmarking outside of Kenya, but we have so much research in this country, they do not need to go anywhere and waste resources,” he said.
According to Elsevier, a global information analytics business, Africa contributes less than one percent of the World’s research.
However, the firm says the continents’ research reveals promising developments and strategies for continued improvement.
