Empowering Communities with Data: Participatory Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning

The Hunger Project
Ending Hunger Starts with People
4 min readApr 26, 2024

By Henry Chungu, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Officer, The Hunger Project-Malawi

As evaluators continue to seek the most effective methods for reporting evaluation results and the decolonization of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL), we at The Hunger Project are implementing a best practice that has yet to gain widespread recognition. Our Participatory MEL approach has enabled our organization to develop a more comprehensive understanding of existing quantitative data through sensemaking and has empowered community stakeholders to mobilize around community issues.

Equipping the community with information ensures the communities can make independent choices about their own development. The World Bank cites community-based participatory approaches as one of the contributions to the success of communities in setting their own goals as well as achieving them. Access to information by the community is one way that ensures the communities feel empowered to make right choices about their development path. The Hunger Project’s Participatory MEL approach ensures the rural communities are equipped to be drivers and consumers of MEL information rather than just subjects; hence our programming is indeed community-led.

During the AfrEA 11th International Conference held in Kigali, Rwanda in March 2024, I had the opportunity to showcase The Hunger Project’s distinctive approach to Participatory Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL). We hosted a three-hour workshop on “Empowering Communities with Data: Participatory MEL Techniques.” The primary objective of the session was to provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of Participatory MEL practices, featuring partner stories and showcasing our collaboration with Microsoft. . The workshop delved into various techniques utilized in our Participatory MEL initiatives, such as data walks and data visualization. The Hunger Project’s Participatory MEL ensures that community partners are active participants in producing and digesting the data, and not just sources of information. Community partners evaluate, we facilitate. It focuses on building partner capacity for analysis and problem-solving and builds commitment by integrating shared learning into program strategies.

Our Participatory MEL approach achieves its goal in three key ways. Firstly, it provides training to communities in fundamental MEL principles. This training enables them to grasp the basics of data collection and analysis for informed decision-making. Secondly, transparency boards are installed to prominently display data on output indicators, primarily collected by the communities themselves. This accessible information grants instant insight, eliminating the need to wait for meetings to stay informed about ongoing community projects.

Transparent monitoring in a community in Malawi

Community data presentation sessions serve as forums for communities to receive updates on the progress of all programs within the epicenter communities. These sessions often include data walk sessions, where comprehensive survey results, including outcome evaluations such as household surveys, are reported. Unlike the static nature of transparency boards, these interactive sessions allow community members to react to the information presented, facilitating the drawing of action points during the meetings. Furthermore, these sessions foster enthusiasm among community members, encouraging them to delve deeper into the results and understand the underlying reasons behind them.

After walking the participants through the theory on Participatory MEL, conference attendees had an opportunity to go through a data walk themselves. A Data Walk is an interactive method where stakeholders, including rural communities, engage in dialogue surrounding research findings about their community. Data charts are displayed on walls, akin to a museum exhibit, allowing participants to explore and discuss the information presented. I presented the results of baseline and endline surveys for our Meaningful Access Malawi Project, which is being implemented in partnership with Microsoft and connects women and people with disabilities to online resources. The participants appreciated how the data visuals make it easier for rural communities to grasp the results of an evaluation.

The Data Walk at the AfrEA Conference in 2024

Participants of the data walk proposed that we should also consider the potential drawbacks of using the internet. For example, we could explore whether increased access to the internet, facilitated by the project, has influenced the amount of time individuals devote to their economic activities. This critical examination of unintended consequences is essential for conducting a comprehensive evaluation of the project’s impact. By assessing both the positive and negative effects, we can gain a more nuanced understanding of its overall implications and make informed decisions about future interventions.

A example of how we visualize data for community data walks

During the Conference, one of the keynote speakers posed a thought-provoking question to evaluators: “Who is the intended audience for the knowledge we generate from evaluation studies, and what purpose does it serve?” He emphasized the importance of returning evaluation results to the communities they originated from and hinted that there were studies to find the best way of disseminating the results. For nearly eight years, THP has been utilizing the Data Walk approach to disseminate data and knowledge among our rural community partners.

The Conference prompted evaluators to confront and address power imbalances that have persisted since colonial times. Decolonization in the evaluation sphere involves questioning who holds decision-making authority, whose knowledge is prioritized, and ensuring equitable participation for all stakeholders. Decolonized MEL practices emphasize inclusivity and respect, valuing diverse forms of knowledge, actively listening to local communities, and collaboratively crafting solutions.

In our pursuit of decolonized MEL, how can we better incorporate storytelling and capture the most significant changes? Storytelling is a powerful tool for amplifying voices and experiences, particularly those of marginalized communities. By prioritizing storytelling in our MEL approach, we can ensure that diverse perspectives and narratives are authentically represented and contribute to the decolonization of knowledge production.

--

--