More than ever, there is a need for strong evidence to better inform development professionals, policy makers, donor community and private sector investors. This abundance of research findings and evaluation reports now needs to be systematically reviewed, translated, contextualized, and disseminated to better inform policy makers and development practitioners to effectively transform African agriculture to increase incomes, reduce food insecurity, and put African countries on track to achieve sustainable agricultural transformation on the continent. Recommendations for policy action in sub-Sahara Africa have not been effectively communicated or implemented. There are few institutions and organizations actively engaging policy makers, development professionals, civil societies and community leaders.

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There is a disconnect between generation and creation of new evidence from agricultural and development systems research efforts and the translation of the same evidence into data-informed policy action. Policy makers struggle to find, collate, understand and apply the evidence to support their own decision-making needs, despite existing knowledge. These challenges are not insurmountable. With the right level of support and collaboration between researchers, evaluation experts and decision-makers, the translation of evidence-based research findings into actionable policy and programmatic guidance is an achievable goal.