Africa Evidence Gap Map

Overview

This EGM captures the evidence base for social and economic interventions, across all sectors, in Africa. The studies contained in this are drawn from 3ie’s Development Evidence Portal, which is the largest-of-its-kind repository of rigorous impact evaluations and systematic reviews in international development. Interventions are categorised according to the World Bank’s taxonomy of sectors, and outcomes are categorised according to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The map contains 1,267 impact evaluations and 634 systematic reviews.

Main findings

• There are large gaps in evidence on environmental and natural resource management, as well as infrastructure, urbanisation, and transportation. In particular, evidence is lacking on SDGs 12 to 14 (Ensure sustainable consumption and production, Combating climate change, and Conserve and sustainably use oceans).
• The health sector provides the largest evidence base. Approximately 70 per cent of both impact evaluations and systematic reviews in the map examine health interventions. About 46 per cent of impact evaluations and 78 per cent of systematic reviews examine outcomes related to SDG 3 (Ensure healthy lives).
• Evidence for Africa is heavily concentrated in the eastern part of the continent, with relatively little evidence from fragile contexts. Nearly half (46 %) of all impact evaluations conducted in Africa are from just four East African countries: Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, and Ethiopia. Evidence from countries classified as affected by fragility, conflict, or violence (FCV) is generally scarce.
• Consideration of gender and equity remains relatively limited, especially for systematic reviews. While about two-thirds of Africa-focused impact evaluations address gender and equity in some way, only half of systematic reviews do so. When studies address equity, it is typically by assessing interventions that target vulnerable populations; only about 10 percent of systematic reviews and 3 percent of impact evaluations adopt a gender- or equity-sensitive analytical framework.
• A synthesis gap exists for the information and communications technologies (ICT) sector. This sector includes 135 impact evaluations, but no systematic reviews. Impact evaluations in this sector most commonly examine outcomes related to SDG 3 (Ensure healthy lives; 83 impact evaluations) and SDG 5 (Achieve gender equality; 43 impact evaluations).

Implications for policy, programming, research investments

• While some gaps remain, there is a wealth of high-quality evidence in the health sector available to help policymakers and practitioners in Africa make evidence-informed decisions. Knowledge brokering efforts should focus on encouraging awareness and use of the existing evidence to inform health policy and programming.
• There is a need for greater investment in impact evaluations on key topics concerning protection of the environment and providing access to energy and other essential infrastructure.
• There is also a need to expand the geographic coverage of impact evaluations to a broader range of countries in Africa, to ensure that decision-makers can draw on localised evidence. Given the implementation challenges presented by fragile and conflict-affected areas, it is particularly essential to generate more evidence about how to deliver programmes effectively in these environments.
• High-quality systematic reviews on ICT interventions would provide much-needed synthesis of evidence in this fast-emerging sector.

Original map publication date: 23 October 2019
Current map date of publication: 23 October 2019

Online map citation:
International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) Achieving the SDGs in Africa: A cross-sectoral Evidence Gap Map [Online]. Available at: https://gapmaps.3ieimpact.org/evidence-maps/africa-evidence-gap-map