Southern Africa Community Visioning Learning Summit: Event Report

The summit was organized by the Program Cycle Support (PCS) Associate Award, in collaboration with the USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), to share community visioning experiences and discuss key themes and questions to inform the implementation of current and future Resilience Food Security Activities (RFSAs). The summit brought together participants from six RFSAs across four countries—Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe—USAID staff from corresponding Missions, the Southern Africa Regional Office, and the Design, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning and Zimbabwe Geographic teams in Washington, D.C. The agenda featured an overview presentation by BHA, presentations by three RFSAs, panel and breakout discussions on key themes, a field visit, and a marketplace session to share tools, tips, and techniques. The event evaluation had a 92% response rate (N=38), a representative sample from which to draw conclusions. Participants overwhelmingly agreed that the summit objectives were met. For the first objective—reach a common understanding of why community visioning should be prioritized—86% of evaluation respondents 'strongly agreed' or 'agreed' that this objective was met. The reasons participants agreed that community visioning should be prioritized included that it was a useful approach, that it was key to sustainability, and that communities need to be in the driver's seat to improve their wellbeing. The second objective—share and discuss partner challenges and successes with community visioning—was also met, with 97% of participants 'strongly agreed' or 'agreed' that this goal was achieved. Respondents appreciated the opportunity to share their processes, challenges, and successes and have "candid conversation". The third summit objective—identify opportunities to reinforce community visioning efforts—was also achieved, with 94% of respondents 'strongly agreed' or 'agreed' that this goal was met. Participants were very satisfied with the structure of the learning summit, citing the mixture of presentations, panel discussions, small group discussions, round-robin exchange of tips and tools, and the field visit as maintaining a good level of energy and engagement among participants throughout the three days. The varied formats also provided a range of opportunities for participants to exchange, enabling quieter voices to interact in smaller breakout discussions. When asked which aspect of the event participants found most valuable, many respondents specifically cited the opportunity for peer-to-peer exchange (16 of 33) and eight highlighted the field visit. Other common responses included the opportunity to share tools and the opportunity to get input from BHA on how it sees community visioning. PCS and BHA observed that building some flexibility into the agenda was very useful, allowing organizers to respond to participant priorities and organize a session according to the key questions and sticking points that arose during earlier discussions. The field visit was also highly valued, with 91% of respondents finding it 'extremely valuable' and 9% 'valuable' to informing thinking on community visioning. Reasons for the high rating include the opportunity to learn and assess community visioning on the ground and the chance to discuss and develop actionable recommendations. Overall, the Southern Africa Community Visioning Learning Summit was a successful event that met its objectives and provided a valuable opportunity for participants to share experiences, discuss key themes, and identify opportunities to reinforce community visioning efforts.