The Swahili evaluation approach: Content and guidance for doing development evaluation

The Swahili evaluation approach: Content and guidance for doing development evaluation

Blog Article

Background: African development evaluation stakeholders express discontent with Euro-American evaluation methodologies and advocate for formulating evaluation theories and approaches rooted in African wisdom and values.Objectives: This article focuses on generating wisdom and philosophical insights from Swahili proverbs, constructing a robust philosophy of evaluation and using emerging theoretical and methodological insights to guide development evaluations.Method: Forty-five Swahili Fruit Juices proverbs were analysed to uncover their philosophical insights and implications for development evaluation practices.Results: Based on established philosophical insights, the evaluand is a single but multifaceted phenomenon; knowledge about the evaluand is possible through close and trusted relationships with people who have experienced it; adequate learning about and production of the credible history of the evaluand is possible in well-established humane relations; and the credible information and evidence on aspects of the evaluand are generated in well-managed processes of inquiry and assessment.

These philosophical beliefs form the core of the Swahili evaluation approach, providing valuable guidance for development evaluators in selecting and engaging legitimate stakeholders, managing #5 KALI MUR 6X evaluation processes effectively, utilising diverse forms of knowledge and assessment criteria, and facilitating co-generation, co-learning, and co-validation of findings and reporting on project or programme successes, failures, and lessons.Conclusion: The philosophy of evaluation underpinning the Swahili evaluation approach provides adequate guidance on the what, why and how of conducting development evaluations.Contribution: This research contributes to the proverb-based approach to developing African-rooted evaluation theories and approaches by offering lessons on generating and applying philosophical insights to inform and improve development evaluation practices.