Development research is essential if we are to make progress towards achieving sustainable development goals, as long as we implement best practices to avoid the potential adverse effects of funding and promote its effectiveness.
Many donors fund scientific research activities to better address their development missions and strategic priorities. They aim to improve the effectiveness and impact of the projects they finance and to enhance public policies through a better understanding of contexts and sectoral dynamics. AFD is no exception. To ensure that the research results are of high quality, context-specific and rooted in local realities, it entrusts this work to researchers and institutions from and based in the countries and territories where it operates. This approach is theorised in an AFD policy paper.
Although legitimate, this need for ‘useful’ research work requires particular attention to (i) reconcile the agendas of donors with those of the research bodies they fund, (ii) overcome a potential mismatch of priorities with decision-makers, and (iii) balance the distribution of roles and responsibilities between research partners.
Drawing on its experience and discussions with its peers and partners, AFD has identified principles and best practices to improve its research financing methods. This blog presents the results of this process, focusing on 6 areas.
1. Working with research without distorting it, avoiding transforming researchers into ‘expert consultants’. To achieve this, it is essential to be familiar with research ecosystems but also to select teams according to their skills and research objectives, without imposing methodological constraints and taking care to co-construct the research questions. AFD, therefore, encourages calls for research proposals on broad themes. The sharing of intellectual property rights is also of crucial importance, as itenables researchers to pursue academic objectives independently of applied research goals.
2. Wherever possible, promote consistency between the objectives of the funder and those of local stakeholders. Several practices can support this effort, such as including local stakeholders on steering committees and ensuring that results are disseminated to the relevant communities and stakeholders. Assessing the impact of research projects on stakeholders and public policies contributes to this consistency, as illustrated by the research paper ‘What can we expect from research to inform public action?‘
3. Promote fair partnerships. By allowing partners to freely form research teams or consortia without any obligation to form North/South partnerships. This also involves ensuring fairness in the composition of these collaborations (by defining the roles and responsibilities of the various members and a balanced distribution of budgetary resources) and encouraging the application of the principles of fair partnership agreements, such as those drawn up by the UKCDR or the Research Fairness Initiative.
4. Broaden the range of research partnerships to encourage fruitful collaboration, particularly by including less visible or well-known institutions. To maximise the effectiveness of these collaborations, it is preferable to favour partnerships with research institutions rather than with individuals and to identify project leaders with strong coordination potential at the national or regional level. In addition, it is recommended to avoid subscription-based approaches (systematically calling on the same partners without exploring possible alternatives) and to simplify funding arrangements. To build the teams’ capacity and guarantee adequate financial support, the use of intermediary institutions specialising in funding and building research skills may prove strategic. This is the case with the ‘Strengthening research capacities in French-speaking Africa’ programme financed by AFD and implemented by GND.
5. Disseminate research results to a variety of audiences using appropriate and accessible formats. To this end, it is desirable to promote Open Access and the publication of results under an open Creative Commons licence (as AFD is doing) while ensuring that research is protected against the risks of predation. Other virtuous practices include funding the required translations, sharing data and networks, and promoting southern partners in publications.
6. Promote principles of ethics, inclusion and sustainability based on recommendations and guidelines provided by partner institutions, where available. Best practices include raising awareness of ethical issues among research teams and organising collaborative peer support activities. These initiatives strengthen cohesion and foster an inclusive environment within research teams, and encourage sustainable and ethical practices.
By taking these six issues into account, it is possible to finance research that is useful to funders’ development mandates while respecting the specific characteristics of the research world and promoting virtuous practices of partnership, alignment and local ownership. In line with these principles, it is important to debate and foster discussions around these issues in order to continue to enrich these practices.
