Same Forest, Different Trees: Understanding Indigenous, Culturally Responsive, and Made-in-Africa Evaluation Approaches

As evaluation continues to evolve globally, there is growing recognition of the need to move beyond dominant, approaches toward more context-responsive, inclusive, and equitable frameworks. Three key approaches have emerged prominently in this shift: Indigenous Evaluation, Culturally Responsive Evaluation (CRE), and Made-in-Africa Evaluation (MAE).

While these approaches are often discussed interchangeably, they are conceptually distinct, each rooted in different epistemologies, histories, and power dynamics. Indigenous Evaluation centers community sovereignty and lived knowledge systems; Culturally Responsive Evaluation focuses on adapting evaluation to diverse contexts and populations; and Made-in-Africa Evaluation seeks to re-anchor evaluation within African philosophies, values, and development realities.

Despite their differences, these approaches share a common purpose: to challenge extractive evaluation practices and promote more inclusive, contextually grounded, and transformative systems.

This session seeks to unpack these approaches, explore their intersections and divergences, and provide clarity for practitioners navigating these frameworks in real-world contexts.