Earlier this year, I carried out the mid-term evaluation of the Sustainable Livelihoods Development Programme, an initiative supported by the Dutch Embassy in Mozambique that works with communities the buffer zone communities of the Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique, with an additional focus on women and youth.

Impressions from the field visit in Gorongosa, Mozambique.

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This assignment reinforced something I keep coming back to: Evaluation should not only produce findings for clients. It should also create learning for those involved. I highlight three observations:

Participants deserve more than to be data points

Participation is at the heart of how I evaluate. Not as a methodological preference, but as a conviction. When I design evaluation processes, I look for methods that invite people to reflect together, not just respond to questions.

In Mozambique, that meant spending time in group discussions with community members. We asked questions designed to provoke reflection. What stood out was that people did not only share their experiences; they also learned from each other in the process. That kind of immediate value is often overlooked in evaluations, and yet it can be one of the most meaningful things an evaluation can offer participants.

Informal moments can be important

The evaluation report will always be the main deliverable. But I made a point of visiting the Embassy to sit with the client in person.

I had just come from the communities where the team was still collecting data, so there was only so much I could share. But it was a good moment to reflect together on what I had seen and experienced. No conclusions yet, just a useful exchange, and the kind of conversation that formal reporting rarely makes room for.

When people recognise themselves in each other, shared ground emerges

A common thread in evaluations is that learning happens best when you have the chance to meet, engage, and discuss with each other. Though sometimes these settings bring out differences between stakeholders, they always highlight common ground.

My experience is that recognising similarities among participants creates a space where people find each other and feel safe. Learning is most profound in settings where participants feel heard and understood. That can create trust, belonging, and deeper learning.

Good evaluation produces rigorous findings. But the learning that happens alongside that, in group discussions, in informal conversations, in moments of recognition between participants, is part of the work too. At MDF, we see this as integral to what evaluation is for: not only to report on what has happened, but to help organisations and communities understand what they have learned and where that knowledge can take them next.

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