The evidence-to-policy conundrum and how to solve it

Does better evidence lead to better policies and programs? Massive amounts of reliable evidence, drawing on scientifically strong methods, including randomized controlled trials, mixed-methods approaches, and more, have been generated and disseminated in recent decades. A Nobel Prize has been awarded for that pathbreaking work. Yet the impact of that evidence – on what policymakers and program implementers think and do – has been far below expectations, even pitifully tiny according to some accounts. billion people.

Insights from the Development Evidence Portal – the Middle East and North Africa

Our latest piece in the ‘state of the evidence’ series – which interprets data by unpacking the studies in our Development Evidence Portal (DEP) – focuses on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. . The DEP currently includes 740 impact evaluations (IE) and 352 systematic reviews (SR) from the region, which is the second smallest amongst regions containing low- and middle-income countries (L&MICs). Interested readers are encouraged to further explore the DEP for additional data not covered in this blog.

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Latest blogs

The impact of aquaculture on productivity, income, nutrition and women’s empowerment: A call for evidence

Cem Yavuz, Shannon Shisler, Constanza Gonzalez Parrao 19 January 2021 blog

Although aquaculture production has seen increased growth in recent decades, the evidence around the impact of aquaculture programmes on the welfare and health of participants in the aquaculture value chain remains scarce. If you know of any studies, published or unpublished, that evaluate aquaculture interventions with a gender lens, do share these papers and supplement our search.

Expert panel: 3ie's new food system Evidence Gap Map offers a roadmap of the field

Paul Thissen 17 January 2021 blog

Expert policymakers and researchers joined 3ie for a panel discussion on the new gap map, highlighting the ways it can be useful and the findings that surprised them.

This new evidence gap map shows what we know – and what we don't know – about food systems interventions

Ingunn Storhaug, Charlotte Lane 11 January 2021 blog

Right now, 690 million people are undernourished and at least 650 million people are obese. Given these staggering statistics, it is imperative that we use the best available evidence to improve nutrition and food security across the globe.

Despite the hype, do not expect big data to replace traditional surveys anytime soon

Douglas Glandon, Ran Goldblatt, Maria Ruth Jones, Bilal Siddiqi 07 January 2021 blog

The COVID-19 pandemic has created new hype around the potential for new, ‘big’, data sources to revolutionize data collection, and change the landscape of evidence for policy. Non-traditional data sources - like satellite imagery, call detail records, and social media posts—do offer exciting opportunities to track and understand processes on Earth across space and time like never possible before.

Big Data in the time of a pandemic

Zeba Siddiqui, Francis Rathinam 07 January 2021 blog

With a significant number of active cases globally, the novel coronavirus represents an extreme public health challenge. The outbreak of the pandemic has led to stringent travel restrictions, making data collection a highly challenging task for the development research community.

2020 Hindsight: A year of what the evidence has taught us

Marie Gaarder 21 December 2020 blog

A little less than a year ago, at the start of what has become an infamous year, we launched a yearlong social media campaign called ‘2020 Hindsight: What Works in Development.’

Farmer Field Schools can improve yields, raise incomes, and reduce pesticide use

Paul Thissen 15 December 2020 blog

Interventions that raise agricultural productivity in poor regions have the potential to offer two benefits at once: increasing the food supply and providing income for farmers, who make up a majority of the world's poor.

Evidence Dialogue: Small nudges can help farmers adopt new technologies

Paul Thissen 11 December 2020 blog

These insights came from panelists on Thursday's 3ie Evidence Dialogue webinar, which brought together the lead researchers from three 3ie-supported impact evaluations on agricultural innovations.

World Toilet Day: building latrines is not always enough to get people to use them

Charlotte Lane 18 November 2020 blog

Today, on World Toilet Day, the UN counts 4.2 billion people as being without access to safely managed sanitation. Many of them were in India until the national sanitation drive, the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), made massive strides in reducing the number.

Subsidized seeds and fertilizer lead to higher agricultural yields and incomes

Paul Thissen 11 November 2020 blog

A majority of the world's poor live in rural areas and work in agriculture, according to the World Bank. Furthermore, hundreds of millions of people, including some of those same farmers, do not have enough nutritious food to eat.

About

Evidence Matters is 3ie’s blog. It primarily features contributions from staff and board members. Guest blogs are by invitation.

3ie publishes blogs in the form received from the authors. Any errors or omissions are the sole responsibility of the authors. Views expressed are their own and do not represent the opinions of 3ie, its board of commissioners or supporters.