Evaluation of Danida Support to Development Research (2008-2018)

This evaluation, commissioned by the Evaluation Department (EVAL) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (MFA), was conducted between June and December 2019 to help shape Danida’s future support to development research. It is intended to help Danida and relevant stakeholders to support, conduct and encourage high quality, useful research that strengthen capacities and knowledge for development in priority countries for development cooperation support. Overseen by an independent commission, the evaluation encompassed grants of just over DKK 1.99 billion for 378 projects executed in 49 countries – including 12 among some of the most fragile in the world – through seven major funding channels over a period of 11 years, from 2008 to 2018. Responding to 20 evaluation questions and guided by four evaluation criteria, the evaluation combined a mixed methods and systemsinformed design with four major components and 15 different methods that included case studies in Ghana, Uganda and Vietnam. The systemic nature of the evaluation was highlighted by the strong focus on factors that have influenced the performance of the portfolio and its contributions towards development impact. Eight guiding principles and a quality assurance process in line with accepted evaluation standards helped to enhance the credibility of the evaluation. The evaluation experienced some limitations that affected the depth to which certain analyses could be done – primarily lack of consolidated portfolio and trends data, lost institutional memory and insufficient time for intensive systematic portfolio analysis and impact tracing.