Messages and meaning - Water Scarcity, Livelihoods and Food Security - page 203

Research for development requires dedicated people,
time and continuity to address the wicked problems
of water and food

Outputs from research for development can influence decisions that
affect outcomes
The CPWF developed a research for development (R4D) model to address
relevant development challenges (wicked problems) in six basins (Chapter 4).
In R4D, research outputs inform and support decisions leading to development
outcomes. Outputs consist of information and insights emerging from research
for use in engagement strategies for decision support or negotiation support.
These engagement strategies aim to influence knowledge, attitudes and skills
of decision-makers at large, and thereby influence outcomes, defined as changes
in policy or practice.
The CPWF R4D approach used theory of change (ToC) based on the
concepts of complex adaptive systems, learning selection and social networks.
ToC encompasses the causes and effects that link research activities to desired
changes in policy and practice. It describes the tactics and strategies, including
working through partnerships and social networks necessary to achieve desired
changes (Chapter 3). R4D uses time frames longer than those of individual
projects. R4D is “self-aware,” that is, practitioners learn from experience and
continually apply this learning to research design, implementation and use.
Using ToC in R4D enables research to focus not only on objectives for
change, but how change occurs, with whom, from whose perspective and how
it evolves. The objectives can be in terms of knowledge, relationships with
people and the environment, or individual and collective actions.
The CPWF conducted R4D on Basin Development Challenges (BDCs) in
each of six river basins, identified through a participatory, inclusive process.
Addressing BDCs allowed the CPWF to focus on specific relevant problem
sets in the context of the broader complex adaptive systems found in basins.

Research can and must inform development processes
The purpose of research on technical and institutional innovation is to provide
knowledge. In R4D, knowledge is intended to help inform engagement,
dialogue and negotiation. It should be credible and relevant. There are three
categories of knowledge from research:

• Knowledge on the nature of the problem or challenge being addressed;

• Knowledge on the design and performance of innovations; and

• Knowledge (ex ante and ex post) on the broader consequences of inno-

vations (Chapter 5).

Scientific research that is credible, relevant and grounded in regular engage-
ment with stakeholders is more likely to produce outputs that can be translated
into outcomes (Volta).