Learning on the ground: reflections from three field visit journeys

Learning in development work often feels distant from actual projects. This is a challenge the Inclusive Green Growth Department (IGG) of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs wanted to address with their Regional Learning Journeys (RLJs). MDF Eastern & Southern Africa was engaged to manage the learning process, trusting our experience with participatory methods and reflecting on local knowledge. Together with staff from Netherlands Embassies across the world and policymakers in The Hague, we traveled to Kenya, Benin, and Egypt.

We visited projects in water, food security, climate, and energy. Interesting projects such as sand dams in Laikipia, school feeding programs in Cotonou, and hydroponics in the Nile Delta.

Seeing projects in action

The learning journeys focused on getting out there, letting participants talk to a Kenyan farmer about solar irrigation or walk through a Benin market to see fortified foods at work. In Egypt, watching hydroponic setups showed why scaling can be tough, a lesson clearer in person than on paper. It was practical, you could ask questions and hear answers right away, picking up details that reports or online sessions might miss. We kept the group talking on bus rides and in the evenings, around three pre-selected learning themes: system change, locally-led approaches and sustainability. This turned field observations, chats on the bus, and group discussion into joint reflections.

Turning observations into ideas

MDF ESA brought methods like Appreciative Inquiry, Fail Forward, and Sensemaking to shape what participants saw into useful insights. These were collected daily on digital tools, using our mobiles. After site visits, we’d ask simple questions, “What’s working? What isn’t?” Evening sessions were for digging deeper around the learning themes, sometimes with a giggle when we realized we’d all misunderstood something at first. It wasn’t complicated, just a way to help people process and come up with practical ideas. The embassies set the stage with the field visits, and MDF’s interactive approach made sure those experiences led to clear, practical and policy recommendations.

What stayed after the journeys

The journeys had their challenges, we saw strikes in Kenya, cramped busses on bumpy roads in Benin, and tired groups in all three journeys. But perfect execution wasn’t the goal, it was about giving teams from over 25 embassies lasting reference points. Now, when they talk water policies or nutrition programs, they pull from shared field moments… a collective wisdom that will hopefully stick. For MDF, iterating across the three journeys sharpened our approach and allowed us to innovate - transforming every bump into lessons that will shape better work ahead.