Supply and demand is perhaps one of the most fundamental concepts of economics and serves as the backbone of a market economy. This concept is easily transferable to the governance of countries and institutions where the practice of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) serves as one of the most important tools for accountability, lesson learning and results orientation. The supply and demand of evaluation actors, institutions, systems and processes in Africa is critical for the improvement in good governance and achievement of development results.
When supply and demand are equal (i.e. when the supply function and demand function intersect) the economy or, by inference, evaluation as a contributor to good governance can said to be at equilibrium. At this point, the allocation of evaluation services is at its most efficient because the amount of services being supplied is exactly the same as the amount of evaluation services being demanded.
Mapping out what has been done in M&E by the institutions and organizations in Africa is a challenging task. This edition of Evaluation Matters showcases experiences from various stakeholders, focusing on peer learning and different views on building the supply and demand for evaluation at country and institutional levels.
Both this edition and the previous edition Q1 2018 of Evaluation Matters focus on the theme of developing a supply and demand for evaluation in Africa.
