Six research programmes were in progress in 2025. Three focused on building research capacity and strengthening evidence ecosystems, primarily across Africa. The other three worked to generate policy-relevant evidence on food systems, clean energy transitions, and health care access, spanning Ethiopia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South-East Asia.
Complementary to the research initiatives, PEP continued to offer a free online training course to strengthen researchers’ capacity to integrate gender equality and inclusion (GEI) principles in their research.
Developing Capacity for Evidence-Informed Policymaking
Supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
PEP’s Building Sustainable and Synergistic Ecosystems for Evidence-Informed Policymaking (EIPM) initiative focuses on strengthening national systems that support the use of evidence in public policy. Supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the programme works across selected African countries to improve how research is produced, shared, and used within policymaking processes.
Rather than focusing solely on individual research outputs, EIPM takes a systems-level approach, examining the relationships, incentives, and institutional structures that shape how evidence informs decision-making. This includes engagement with government institutions, research organizations, and other stakeholders to better understand how evidence flows within policy ecosystems.
In 2025, activities continued to focus on country-level engagement and ecosystem strengthening, including collaboration with public institutions and national stakeholders. Through these processes, PEP supports efforts to identify barriers to evidence use, strengthen institutional linkages, and promote more effective integration of research into policy design and implementation.
The programme also contributes to advancing practical knowledge on how to operationalize evidence-informed policymaking in real-world contexts, with insights emerging from ongoing country experiences. These lessons are helping to inform both national-level processes and broader discussions on strengthening evidence ecosystems across the Global South.
EIPM reflects PEP’s broader commitment to ensuring that research is not only produced, but also embedded within institutional processes and decision-making systems, enabling more consistent and sustainable use of evidence in public policy.
🔗 Learn more about the EIPM initiative and country-level engagements
Supported by Global Affairs Canada
The Learning and Knowledge Management Project (LKMP) supports the generation, synthesis, and dissemination of policy-relevant evidence across PEP’s programmes and partnerships. Funded by Global Affairs Canada, the project plays a cross-cutting role in strengthening how knowledge is produced, shared, and used to inform policymaking.
LKMP focuses on enhancing both research quality and knowledge uptake, through activities that include impact evaluations, synthesis of research findings, and the development of knowledge products tailored to policy audiences. It also supports capacity strengthening efforts by equipping researchers and institutions with tools and approaches to communicate evidence more effectively.
In 2025, LKMP continued to support a range of research and knowledge management activities across PEP’s portfolio. This included ongoing work to consolidate lessons from completed projects, strengthen dissemination pathways, and enhance the accessibility of research outputs for policymakers and other stakeholders.
As part of this broader programme, a specific impact evaluation study in Bolivia was completed in 2025, contributing to PEP’s growing body of evidence on policy-relevant interventions.
Through its integrated approach, LKMP contributes to ensuring that research is not only produced, but also translated into actionable insights and effectively communicated, supporting evidence-informed policymaking across countries and programmes.
🔗 Explore LKMP publications and news
Implemented in partnership with the Global Education Analytics Institute (GEAI)
The Africa Fellows in Education Program (AFEP) supports the development of a new generation of African researchers working at the intersection of education systems and labour market outcomes. Implemented in partnership with the Global Education Analytics Institute (GEAI), the programme combines advanced training, mentorship, and research support to strengthen locally led evidence on education policy across the continent.
AFEP focuses on building analytical capacity and policy-relevant research skills, enabling fellows to design and conduct rigorous studies that address key challenges in education systems. Areas of focus include learning outcomes, education quality, access and equity, and the alignment between education and labour market needs.
In 2025, AFEP continued to support fellows through structured training, collaborative learning, and ongoing research activities. Fellows also engaged in peer learning and knowledge exchange processes, strengthening regional research networks and contributing to a growing community of practice in education policy analysis.
The programme contributes to a deeper understanding of how education systems can better support skills development, school-to-work transitions, and inclusive economic participation, particularly in the context of rapidly changing labour markets.
Through its integrated model of training, mentorship, and research, AFEP strengthens both individual researcher capacity and institutional ecosystems, reinforcing PEP’s broader commitment to locally led research and evidence-informed policymaking.
🔗 Learn more about AFEP and participating fellows
Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI) online training
Supported by the International Development Research Centre.
PEP offered a free-to-use, self-paced, interactive, bilingual online training course to strengthen researchers’ capacity to integrate gender equality and inclusion (GEI) principles in their research. The course emphasizes the African experience, drawing on the expertise of primarily Southern-based experts, and focuses on GEI-related concepts, analytical frameworks, methodologies, data gaps, and strategies for inclusion.
This course consists of 17 modules divided into two parts: a Core GEI Program with seven mandatory modules and ten additional modules tailored to specific research interests.
By the end of 2025, over 600 people had completed the course and received certification.
🔗 Learn more about the course and its content
Thematic Evidence for Development Policy
Led by PEP, in partnership with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and World Food Programme (WFP) Ethiopia. Supported by the International Development Research Centre under the Catalyzing Climate Resilient, Inclusive, and Sustainable Procurement (CRISP) initiative.
The initiative focuses on strengthening home-grown school feeding systems in Ethiopia by examining how procurement and cooking models can be designed to be more inclusive, efficient, and sustainable.
The research team is exploring how school feeding programmes can better link local agricultural production with public food procurement systems, while also improving the delivery of meals to students. Particular attention is given to identifying approaches that support local producers, enhance supply chain efficiency, and promote sustainable cooking practices.
In 2025, ongoing research and engagement activities continued to examine the policy and implementation challenges associated with scaling home-grown school feeding models. This includes understanding how procurement systems can be structured to better integrate smallholder farmers, as well as how operational models can improve both cost-effectiveness and nutritional outcomes.
Through this work, CRISP contributes to broader policy discussions on food systems, education, and local economic development, highlighting the role that integrated policy design can play in supporting both agricultural livelihoods and social protection programmes.
🔗 Learn more about this initiative
Rural renewable energy MSMEs operating to modernize agriculture in Sub Saharan Africa and South-East Asia
Implemented in partnership with Environment for Development (EfD) and supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) under the Clean Energy for Development: A Call to Action (CEDCA) initiative.
The Rural renewable energy MSMEs operating to modernize agriculture in Sub Saharan Africa and South-East Asiainitiative explores how renewable energy solutions can support inclusive agricultural development in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Uganda and Vietnam. The programme brings together research and policy engagement to examine opportunities and constraints in clean energy transitions.
Focusing on how renewable energy can support agricultural value chains and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), the research activities examine the barriers that limit adoption of clean energy technologies, as well as the policy and market conditions required to enable sustainable and scalable solutions.
In 2025, ongoing research and engagement activities continued to explore the intersections between energy access, productivity, and entrepreneurship, with a particular focus on rural and underserved contexts. The work highlights the importance of aligning clean energy interventions with local economic systems, ensuring that energy access translates into tangible development outcomes such as income generation, business growth, and employment opportunities.
Through its involvement in the broader CEDCA initiative, PEP contributes to broader discussions on how to design inclusive and context-responsive energy policies, reinforcing the need for evidence that reflects the realities of developing economies.
🔗 Learn more about the country projects on the programme page
PEP is supporting a team of local researchers to assess the effectiveness of a new contribution system, tailored to the economic capacity of households, to increase access to equitable access to health care services in Ethiopia.
The research team based at Jimma University is working in collaboration with the Ethiopian Health Insurance Service (EHIS), the government institution in charge of implementing this new policy initiative. Working with PEP experts specializing in experimental impact analysis, the team undertook mid-line data collection and analysis, and began the second round of the programme implementation.
🔗 Learn more about the research design and expected results on the programme page
