Challenges in knowledge translation: A Global South perspective

By Fajri Siregar

How is knowledge translation the same between the Global South and the Global North? What are the particular challenges in the Global South? How should future support be focused in the Global South and what, in particular, can funders do?

Common knowledge translation mechanisms

The impact of the political system on the basic mechanisms of evidence use are quite alike globally. Whether one works in a country of the Global South or North, one needs to identify influential actors to engage, the right channels to lobby, the most effective means of communication, and the right policy that needs changing. In this sense, researchers all over the world face the same struggles.

There is also a growing trend in both the Global South and North to eliminate boundaries between the realms of science and the public. More events on research and science communication have been held in increasingly public settings, such as exhibitions and talk shows, often involving the use of technology and digital platforms. Knowledge translation in the Global South and North are increasingly driven by research and science, and a desire to promote evidence-use for better policy-making.

Specific challenges in the Global South

Knowledge translation actors in the Global South face significant challenges that set them apart from their counterparts in the Global North. These challenges are:

• weaker and less established institutions (such as scientific communities, scientific advisory systems, the civil service, the media, political parties, civil society, etc.)
• limited, if not unavailable, (public) domestic funding for research and communication
• political contexts dominated by patronage, informality and vested interests
• limited government capacity to use evidence.

Having to work within a less established and disjointed science and research ecosystem is probably the main challenge knowledge translation actors face and includes the absence of reliable, open and credible databases as foundations to undertake research across many sectors. Also, without the presence of other established research organisations, in or outside of academia, knowledge translation practitioners often find themselves isolated and working without strong allies.

This condition is further exacerbated by low public funding for research, as national budgets often prioritise spending for more basic services and infrastructure. This may well result in an over-dependence of researchers on international funding – a situation often used by authoritarian regimes to frame the involvement of development aid as a ‘foreign intervention’ in national interests, as has been the case in India, Indonesia, and South Africa, to name a few examples.

Another barrier researchers in the Global South often face is a political system strongly shaped by patronage and clientelism. Efforts to translate knowledge take place against the backdrop of political systems that favour the interests of a few elites who often make decisions behind closed doors with little room for the use of evidence. In other words, policy and decision-making are driven by political interests, especially in sectors with heavy economic interventions and short-term gains in mind.

Future support

Support is most strategic when it is aimed at improving the system rather than when it’s project-based. It’s important to actively consider the impact that the wider system will have and how to address it when designing or deciding to support knowledge translation efforts.

This requires a broader and more nuanced understanding of knowledge translation, one which gives greater attention to its function or purpose (eg., facilitating the use of evidence) than to narrowly defined activities or roles. In many instances, knowledge translation activities are undertaken by practitioners who occupy multiple roles due to an incomplete knowledge system, with institutional voids and missing roles.

Knowledge translation interventions that focus on narrowly defined supply-side, demand-side or intermediary actions are not the most effective: they don’t address system-level weaknesses and shortfalls. This understanding warrants a wider perspective on this matter, a more systemic one. These systems, which are shaped equally by cultural and non-cultural factors, are the main contexts currently influencing knowledge translation outcomes so it’s important that they’re understood.

What funders can do

Funders can:

1. Encourage their local partners to experiment and test innovative approaches, which can foster innovation and help grantees to move out of their comfort zones.
   Inclusivity can be achieved from the outset by involving knowledge translation practitioners in its identification process and allowing them to co-create the design of projects, including setting up relevant change indicators.
2. Intervene by supporting organisations that more effectively represent the needs of marginalised communities and populations.
   Funders should encourage grantees to communicate and engage with knowledge users from the design stages of their work by investing in the relationship-building process between the researchers and the users, including facilitating direct engagement among knowledge translation practitioners.
3. Set priorities when aiming for improved practice.
   This is where views may differ. But we suggest that funders should rely on partners’ and researchers’ own assessments of their contexts to determine how best to incorporate the knowledge translation function and purpose into their work.

Concluding questions

This blog post is based on a (mainly) qualitative research project, including 21 interviews with practitioners, funders, and other actors involved in knowledge translation practices (Siregar et al, 2023). Do our conclusions reflect your experience? Are there other factors that you would highlight? Would you recommend other actions?

To find out more:

This i2Insights contribution is based on the following two blog posts:

Siregar, F. (2022). Same goals, different hurdles: Understanding knowledge translation in the Global South. Transforming Evidence blog. (Online): https://transforming-evidence.org/blog/same-goals-different-hurdles-understanding-knowledge-translation-in-the-global-south.

Siregar, F. (2023). Research on knowledge translation in the Global South: Lessons learnt. Published in the On Think Tanks (OTT) blog series “Knowledge translation in the Global South: Reflections on the future”. (Online): https://onthinktanks.org/articles/research-on-knowledge-translation-in-the-global-south-lessons-learnt/.

These two blog posts are based on:

Siregar, F., Morales, M., LaFrance, J., Correa, J. and Mendizabal, E. (2023). Bridging text with context: Knowledge translation in the Global South. Primary research report, On Think Tanks (OTT); and Institute of Development Studies (IDS). (Online – open access): https://onthinktanks.org/publication/bridging-text-with-context-knowledge-translation-in-the-global-south/.

Biography: Fajri Siregar MA is based in Jakarta, Indonesia, and is a PhD student at the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Associate Lecturer at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta and a Fellow at On Think Tanks. His main research interests are the production and application of knowledge, especially within the social sciences. He is currently researching civil society-based knowledge production by non-government organisations (NGOs) in post-Suharto Indonesia.