Putting learning at the centre - Adaptive development programming in practice

‘Adaptive programming' responds to several key
understandings about development: that development
actors may not be able to fully grasp the circumstances
on the ground until engaged; that these circumstances
often change in rapid, complex and unpredictable ways;
and finally that the complexity of development processes
means actors rarely know at the outset how to achieve a
given development outcome – even if there is agreement
on the outcome of interest. Adaptive programming
suggests, at a minimum, that development actors react and
respond to changes in the political and socio-economic
operating environment. More substantially, a programme
may recognise from the outset that change is inevitable,
and build in ways to draw on new learning to support
adaptations. For some development problems, an adaptive
approach will involve experimentation, in particular where
the overall objective is clear but how to achieve it in a
given context is unknown or uncertain.
Being prepared to react to change may seem like common sense – and
indeed it is. However much development thinking and
practice remains stuck in a linear planning model which
discourages learning and adaptation, in part because
projects are seen as ‘closed, controllable and unchanging
systems’.