Many thanks for sharing the document and for the opportunity to comment. I looked at the guidelines from the perspective of an evaluator with limited knowledge of the CGIAR system embarking on a new evaluation.
For someone in my position, the guidance provides accessible background on the CGIAR approach, definitions, and so on, and useful links to other relevant materials. The guidance overall provides an interesting conceptual framework in Ch 3, a flexible guide in Ch 4, and compendium of methods and questions that would also be useful in other evaluation contexts.
It’s challenging to design a streamlined approach to look at impact over extended timeframes of a such a wide range of research outputs. There is perhaps too much emphasis on uptake via formal academic publications. This is somewhat balanced by the efforts to look at impacts in real time in systems research and there are some excellent (CG) examples of multidisciplinary studies in this regard. I didn’t see any reference to use of evaluation case studies. These proved useful in grounding an earlier CGIAR programme evaluation I was involved with and captured pathways to development outcomes that may not be reflected in formal literature or project reporting.
Sarah Humphrey
IndependentMany thanks for sharing the document and for the opportunity to comment. I looked at the guidelines from the perspective of an evaluator with limited knowledge of the CGIAR system embarking on a new evaluation.
For someone in my position, the guidance provides accessible background on the CGIAR approach, definitions, and so on, and useful links to other relevant materials. The guidance overall provides an interesting conceptual framework in Ch 3, a flexible guide in Ch 4, and compendium of methods and questions that would also be useful in other evaluation contexts.
It’s challenging to design a streamlined approach to look at impact over extended timeframes of a such a wide range of research outputs. There is perhaps too much emphasis on uptake via formal academic publications. This is somewhat balanced by the efforts to look at impacts in real time in systems research and there are some excellent (CG) examples of multidisciplinary studies in this regard. I didn’t see any reference to use of evaluation case studies. These proved useful in grounding an earlier CGIAR programme evaluation I was involved with and captured pathways to development outcomes that may not be reflected in formal literature or project reporting.