Research for change : outcome mapping's contribution to emancipatory action research in Africa

Abstract

Although emancipatory action research has been practised for decades and continues to evolve, the method can benefit from the support of fresh approaches. Outcome mapping is an innovative planning, monitoring, and evaluation methodology recently conceived by Canada’s International Development Research Centre in partnership with others. This article sets out the ways the two approaches complement one another on the level of theory, and describes how they have worked together in the everyday management of a specific initiative: the Infant Feeding Research Project, which aims to reduce the rate of paediatric HIV/AIDS in southern Africa through enhancing the effectiveness of infant feeding counselling.