Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/P008127/1
Eco-system services and multi-dimensional poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa: Co-producing demand-led evidence syntheses to inform policy-making
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Dr Y Erasmus, University of Johannesburg, Anthropology & Dev Studies
- Grant held at:
- University of Johannesburg, Anthropology & Dev Studies
- Science Area:
- Atmospheric
- Earth
- Freshwater
- Marine
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Unknown
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Environmental Risks and Hazards
- Global Change
- Natural Resource Management
- Pollution and Waste
- Science Topics:
- Biodiversity
- Ecosystems
- Environmental protection
- Human ecology
- Earth & environmental
- Governance in LICs
- Social policy and Development
- Sociology and Development
- Poverty and measurement
- Spatial Planning
- Environmental governance
- Research approaches
- Abstract:
- This project aims to support the use of eco-system services evidence to inform policy-making that is more relevant to the realities and multitudes of people living in LMICs and their complex use of eco-system services. By generating practical tools, supporting capacity, and increasing research demand and awareness, this research aims to influence the behaviour of decision-makers in order to support pro-poor eco-system services policy-making in Sub-Saharan Africa. It uses evidence synthesis, evidence mapping and systematic review methodologies to provide answers for policy and practice across the region. The first step set out in the research will be to understand the nature and extent of the evidence-base generated by the ESPA programme in relation to eco-system services in LMICs, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa. We will go on to search comprehensively for research evidence from the region to produce a systematic evidence map. This will be the basis for a user-friendly evidence interface to enable an active dialogue between decision-makers in government, NGOs, and researchers. This evidence interface will be tailored to inform decision-making in a policy context and allow policy-makers to critically interrogate the gaps and policy-relevance of the existing research evidence. We will launch the evidence interface at a high-level meeting of senior African environmental policy-makers, the International Biodiversity Research and Evidence Indaba. As a result of this stakeholder engagement, we will agree four demand-driven syntheses, which will then be produced during the remainder of the project. These four pieces of more focused work will synthesise evidence to answer four specific questions in the region as prioritized by our government partners. These have been preliminarily scoped with government colleagues as follows, but will be refined in consultation with stakeholders: i) what works in the management of ecosystems services in drylands in the region, ii) how best to provide effective governance of ecosystems services in low income countries, iii) what guidelines and decision-making tools are available to support decision-makers and do these include multiple dimensional measures of poverty? and iv) how can research methodologies be better aligned to decision-makers' needs? We will engage in an active process of co-production with government colleagues to answer research questions (iii) and (iv). That is, these two evidence syntheses will be produced by an active collaboration between the research team and government colleagues. This will include direct mentoring, applied learning, and on-demand capacity-building. It will allow us to not just synthesise insights on decision-making tools and applied research methods; but to also adapt and develop new decision-making tools and to enhance policy-makers' understanding and appraisal of the existing evidence-base. The project will therefore leave eco-system service policy-makers in Sub-Saharan Africa with two tangible tools to support their decision-making. The first tool refers to the evidence interface, while the second refers to the jointly-produced (or adapted) decision-making tool, which is assumed to be more policy-relevant and by design of the synthesis will pay particular attention to multi-dimensional poverty measures. This work will be led from the University of Johannesburg by their Evidence to Action team, with support from specialists in evidence synthesis (at University College London's EPPI-Centre), from international leaders in understanding multi-dimensional poverty in Africa (from the Southern Africa Social Poverty Research Institute - SASPRI), and from specialists in eco-systems services (including the South African National Biodiversity Institute - SANBI). Last but certainly not least, this proposal has been driven by colleagues from South Africa's national Department for Environmental Affairs, and their recognised priorities across the region.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/P008127/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Directed - International
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- ESPA
This grant award has a total value of £177,064
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| DI - Other Costs | Exception - Other Costs | Indirect - Indirect Costs | DI - Staff | Exception - Staff | DI - T&S | Exception - T&S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £1,007 | £9,073 | £51,135 | £5,932 | £96,863 | £807 | £12,248 |
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