Evidence Cycle and the Annual RFS Pause and Reflect

The Bureau for Resilience and Food Security manages a very large portfolio and generates a vast amount of evidence on a yearly basis. Despite past efforts, the Bureau had been unsuccessful in formalizing an introspective exercise to take stock of evidence generated, identify learning, and propose recommendations that influence the decision-making processes of the Bureau.

Given the collaborative nature of the exercise, and the requirement for evidence based learning, many of the CLA principles were adopted from the design stage of the Evidence Cycle. The core team adapted the design to the recommendations received during the consultation process with technical staff and leadership, and took advantage of the culture and processes already in place to ensure best results.

This work resulted in a Bureau-wide Pause and Reflect, a set of presentations from each Center and Office on their main evidence, as well as learning and 48 action recommendations for the Bureau (from all Centers and Offices, including five which were jointly created by two of the Bureaus technical Centers).