Beyond the Buzzword: A Framework for an Indigenous Relational Evaluation in Traditional Communities in Ghana

Abstract

The notions of indigenous knowledge and cultural philosophies are becoming ubiquitous in many social inquiries and evaluation is no exception. Nonetheless, the pursuit to making evaluation impulses embedded in indigenous philosophies relevant in evaluation activities is yet to succeed. Thus, the article discusses the indigenous relational philosophies, approaches and practices of evaluation. Using qualitative research approaches, the study interviewed 43 indigenous development leaders and other local representatives in three local government areas in Ghana. Utilising evidence synthesis approaches through a triangulation process, the paper realised that indigenous knowledge and other cultural ethos were distinct in community-based development evaluation process. The study grasped that there is an elusive intersection between indigenous and contemporary evaluation paradigms. It was observed that former has principles such as community spirit, mutual trust, self-organisation, relational patterns or networks, “ubuntu” ideals, consensus building, collectiveness inter alia that can complement the latter for effective and efficient evaluation of community development programmes and social policies. The article identified key indigenous elements and other indigenous relational assessment patterns to design an indigenously driven relational evaluation framework. The evaluative competencies embedded in indigenous philosophies are vast, thus, a call for future research is proposed.