What we offer
At the core of our work, impact evaluations are rigorous studies that measure the effects of international development programmes. We focus on conducting impact evaluations on policy-relevant research questions where credible findings can drive decision-making.

3ie invented evidence gap maps, which provide a visual overview of existing and ongoing studies or reviews in a sector or sub-sector of international development. These maps help policymakers find the most relevant evidence for a given question, thereby improving decision-making.

Our synthesis products, including systematic reviews, integrate findings from multiple different studies which address a common research question. Because they look systematically across the evidence base to see what works and why, systematic reviews and other synthesis products are more reliable for decision-making than results from a single study used in an ad hoc way.

Often, policy decisions must be made quickly. To make sure that decision-makers get the evidence they need when they need it, 3ie has developed a set of helpdesk services and rapid evidence products. Our Rapid Response Briefs and Rapid Evidence Assessments draw from the latest high-quality research to answer policy questions in a fraction of the time of traditional evaluations or systematic reviews.

We work with governments and other organizations to build their capacities in evaluation and evidence-informed decision-making. In addition to providing trainings on a wide range of evaluation methods, we offer ongoing support services to ensure our partners have access to the most up-to-date evidence and evaluation tools.

3ie specialises in increasing access to, demand for and use of evidence by governments, parliaments, programme managers, civil society, programme participants and the media. We do this by emphasising the value of planning and engaging with stakeholders to ensure that evaluations and reviews are relevant and useful. We use robust and effective monitoring to measure evidence use so that we can convey evidence impact on programmes and policies with greater confidence.

Since 3ie was founded, transparency, reproducibility, and ethics (TRE) have been core considerations in our work. We have developed and refined tools and best practices to ensure our studies apply technically rigorous methodologies, transparently share design and analysis decisions, yield computationally reproducible analysis, and incorporate foundational principles of research ethics into design, implementation, and dissemination. 3ie’s Transparency, Reproducibility, and Ethics (TRE) Policy articulates this commitment to TRE best practices.
Evidence hub
3ie’s Development Evidence Portal is the largest-of-its-kind repository of rigorous evidence on what works in international development. This portal includes evaluations and synthesis of studies conducted in low-and middle-income countries. It combines records from 3ie’s Impact Evaluation and Systematic Review repositories, as well as, evidence gap maps.

These provide a visual display of completed and ongoing systematic reviews and impact evaluations in a sector or sub-sector, structured around a framework of interventions and outcomes.

Evidence impact summaries briefly describe how 3ie-supported evidence has informed and influenced decision makers. Each summary highlights verified instances of evidence impact.

We provide funding for replications, conduct in-house replication research and publish guidance on replication methodology. We also provide funding to original authors of 3ie-funded for preparing their raw datasets.

As part of our mandate as a knowledge producer and translator for our main audiences, we publish a range of knowledge products. These include briefs, impact evaluation reports, systematic review reports and summaries, replication papers, evidence gap map reports, scoping reports and working papers.

3ie’s Registry for International Development Impact Evaluations (RIDIE) aims to enhance the transparency and quality of impact evaluation research before it begins.
Our work
- Working with governments
3ie’s evidence programmes support studies to fill critical knowledge gaps in a sector, sub-sector or in an area with limited rigorous evidence. We fund studies under a specific theme or which address a particular question or set of questions in programme areas where our donors want to expand global public knowledge of what works and what does not.

To help address gaps in the understanding of what works and what does not, we fund a variety of studies across this programme area, including interventions focused on insurance, extension, land-use and forestry, and innovation and technology.

3ie supports impact evaluations, systematic reviews and evidence gap maps on education effectiveness that help answer the questions of what works, for whom, why and at what cost.

We fund the production of rigorous evidence on biodiversity and forest conservation programmes, environmental regulations, impact of sustainable fuels, climate change mitigation and adaptation.

3ie is supporting the generation of evidence in areas such as transparency and accountability in natural resource governance. We also fund the production of rigorous evidence on interventions to curb corruption, judicial and civil service reforms, land reforms, public financial management, conflict prevention and peacebuilding, decentralised governance and public service delivery.

We fund the production of rigorous evidence on interventions on HIV and AIDS, immunisation maternal and child health, nutrition and sexual and reproductive health through a number of evidence programmes. Evidence products from these programmes include replication studies, evidence gap maps, systematic reviews and impact evaluations.

We are supporting the generation of rigorous evidence in humanitarian contexts on interventions related to water, sanitation and hygiene, food security, multi-sectoral humanitarian programming and interventions targeting malnutrition.

We fund the production of rigorous evidence on the socio-economic and environmental impacts of public transportation by rail, bus and rapid transit systems, and essential services such as electricity and gas to expand access, foster inclusive growth, and combat climate change through sustainable systems.

3ie, in collaboration with India’s rural development ministry is working to generate rigorous evidence on the impact of the National Rural Livelihoods Mission.

We support policy-relevant studies that contribute to improving our understanding of public expenditure trends and improving the delivery of public goods.

We support impact evaluations to build the evidence base on the effectiveness of interventions that reduce the risks faced by the poor through participation in public works and employment programmes.

3ie’s has two major evidence programmes that support the generation and use of high-quality evidence for informing decision-making in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector

In alignment with our mission, 3ie promotes rigorous, efficient, and ethical use of innovative data sources for impact evaluations, including in those conducted by 3ie, by 3ie research partners, and in the global development community more broadly.

We set up our Replication Programme to address the need for a freely available global public good that helps improve the quality and reliability of impact evaluation evidence used for development decision-making. Replication is the most established method of research validation in science, yet it has not been fully embraced by the research community or development donors, leading to this gap.

3ie produces research – whether in-house or through grants or contracts – that clearly and precisely documents the data and methods used in the analysis and the materials used to conduct the study. We have experienced and highly skilled staff ready to support the transparent production of evaluations, systematic reviews, and other knowledge products. .

Fragility has expensive, long-term consequences and trying to build peace in situations of protracted conflicts is becoming the norm. In 2016, 1.8 billion people – nearly a quarter of the world's population – were living in situations of fragility. Social cohesion is widely considered important in building sustainable peace in fragile contexts.

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We work with various departments in the Philippines government to develop and fund rigorous evidence useful for policymakers. We also support capacity-building activities for Philippine researchers and support the impact evaluation management framework of the National Economic and Development Authority.

Working in collaboration with the Office of the Prime Minister, the primary aim is to improve developmental outcomes through evidence-informed decision making in Uganda. 3ie is currently supporting evaluation of government programmes around youth livelihood, family planning, public service delivery and local governance, and universal primary education.

3ie and the government of Benin are working on a a multi-year regional initiative that aims to promote the institutionalization of evaluation in government systems across eight countries in West Africa, including: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.

This is a five-year programme (2019-23) that is working on increasing the use of evidence by policymakers in Ghana, Pakistan and Uganda. In partnership with country governments, this programme aims to develop capacity and promote innovation in increasing evidence-informed decision-making. SEDI is funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Funding
- Open opportunities
View our current funding opportunities for evaluations, systematic reviews and internal replication studies.

About 3ie evidence impact summaries

Read how 3ie verifies and classifies evidence impact

Highlights

Evidence impact

The evaluation showed that farmer-to-farmer knowledge-sharing yielded positive results. These results informed two Ugandan policies: the Extension Guidelines and Standards in 2016 and the National Agriculture Extension Policy issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries in 2019.

Factors that contributed to impact

Early engagement with the Ministry allowed the research team to obtain buy-in for evaluation findings.
One of the principal investigators of the study had strong working relations with the Ministry, enabling her to effectively communicate study findings. She was also the chairman of the working group at Uganda Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services, the organisation that provided technical expertise in developing the guidelines for the ministry.
The evaluation findings were available in time for the Ministry to consider researchers’ recommendations for modifying Uganda’s agriculture extension guidelines and standards.

Title: Dissemination of new agricultural technologies in Africa: making extension work

Authors: Luc Behaghel, Jérémie Giginoux, Monica Karuhanga Beraho, Jane Kugonza, Karen Macours, Margaret Najjingo Mangheni, Judith Oduols

Status : Completed June 2018

Study findings shape agricultural extension guidelines in Uganda

Context

Public extension services have been used to tackle low agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa since the 1990s. However, traditional extension services have often been identified as expensive and ineffective. Similarly, there is limited coverage of the services, partly due to information problems and administrative challenges.

New approaches, such as farmer-to-farmer extension services, have spread rapidly in recent decades. In this approach, farmer-trainers are trained under the extension programme, and in turn they share knowledge and train other farmers on agricultural innovations. Though the approach has been widely adapted across Africa, there is limited rigorous empirical evidence on its impact, adoption of technology, farm productivity, and profitability and cost-effectiveness.

World Agroforestry Centre (earlier called the International Council for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF)) has been training volunteer farmer-trainers in Uganda on how to improve the feeding of their dairy cows, with the farmer-trainers then sharing this knowledge with their fellow farmers.

In 2013, 3ie collaborated with researchers from Makerere University, the Paris School of Economics National Institute of Agronomic Research (PSE INRA), ICRAFand National Agricultural Research Organisation, Uganda to evaluate the impact of ICRAF’s farmer-to-farmer extension on smallholders in dairy projects in Uganda through a randomised controlled trial. The evaluation provides results on an intervention that seeks to address some of the shortcomings in other approaches, such as elite capture, exclusion of disadvantaged groups and lack of farmer control of priority-setting for trainings.

Evidence

The evaluation found significant and positive effects of imparting knowledge through farmer-to-farmer training. The farmers in the treatment group reported an increased use of feeds, improved feeding practices and planting of more feeds on their farmlands. Milk production also increased by 20 per cent for the farmers who received training.

Qualitative findings suggested that the effect on profit was also positive.

Evidence impacts

Evaluation findings inform Agriculture Extension Guidelines and Standards

The government of Uganda passed an extension policy in 2016 that included the use of farmer-trainers as a strategy to improve extension service delivery. The evaluation also influenced the extension guidelines and standards in the National Agriculture Extension Policy published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries in 2019. The guidelines aim to establish a high-quality, well-coordinated agricultural extension delivery system to promote application of appropriate information, knowledge and technological innovations. These innovations are designed to promote food security, economic growth, the commercialisation of agriculture, the expansion of exports and the welfare of the population.

Suggested citation

International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), 2020. Study findings shape agricultural extension guidelines in Uganda [online summary], Evidence Impact Summaries. New Delhi: 3ie.

If you have any suggestions or updates to improve this summary, please write to influence@3ieimpact.org

Last updated on 13th November 2020