The Made-in-Africa Evaluation framework: A decolonial approach to program evaluation

The Made in Africa Evaluation (MAE) framework is a decolonial approach to program evaluation developed by African evaluators over the past 14 years. MAE may be appropriate to community psychologists who practice program evaluation or conduct research in Africa, but little is known about its implementation. We conducted a scoping review to map the existing literature on MAE, examine its core practice tenets, explore how its principles are currently being operationalized, and identify gaps in the MAE literature. Eligible articles (N = 53) included primary conceptual papers, case studies and seminal conference proceedings that were published between 2012 and 2026. Findings indicated a strong focus on the use of Indigenous methods and Ubuntu philosophy, African ownership of evaluation processes and findings, and social transformation aligned with African values. Major gaps include few case studies of applying MAE and limited guidance on applying Ubuntu ethics in evaluation practice. MAE's values align closely with community psychology's core values of community self-determination and collaborative action in pursuit of social justice. MAE holds promise to guide reflexive international evaluation practice within community psychology. Future research should explore how MAE is being applied and how it can be adapted across diverse practice contexts pertinent to community psychology.