Outcome harvesting is an evaluation approach used to identify, document, and analyze changes influenced by an intervention, even if those changes were not pre-planned. Unlike traditional evaluation methods that measure progress against predefined indicators, outcome harvesting works backward—collecting evidence of outcomes and then determining how an intervention contributed to them.
How does outcome harvesting work? #
The process typically involves six key steps:
- Designing the inquiry – Define what needs to be assessed and identify key stakeholders.
- Gathering data – Collect evidence of significant outcomes through documents, interviews, and observations.
- Substantiating findings – Verify the reported outcomes with independent sources.
- Analyzing contributions – Assess how the intervention played a role in achieving the outcomes.
- Interpreting and organizing – Categorize outcomes to identify patterns and key learnings.
- Using findings – Share insights with decision-makers to inform future actions.
Some advantages of outcome harvesting include: #
- Captures unintended outcomes: Unlike rigid frameworks, outcome harvesting uncovers unexpected changes.
- Works in complex contexts: It is useful in dynamic environments where cause-effect relationships are difficult to track.
- Enhances learning: It provides actionable insights for program improvement.
Limitations #
Although outcome harvesting has many advantages, it relies heavily on qualitative data, making it time-intensive and sometimes subjective. Verification processes are crucial to ensure credibility.
Outcome harvesting is a powerful evaluation tool for understanding real-world impacts, especially in complex or adaptive programs where outcomes emerge in unpredictable ways.
List of recommended resources #
For a broad overview #
How is outcome harvesting done?
This short tutorial by The Danish Institute for Human Rights gives an overview of how to use outcome harvesting for monitoring project and programme outcomes. The video has been developed in cooperation with DCA, Dignity, AADK and ACT CoS.
Outcome Harvesting: A monitoring & evaluation method for Social Accountability and Advocacy
This blog post by Tereza Kaplan for Civil Society Academia gives a brief overview of outcome harvesting, when it is used, and how to apply it to steer social accountability and advocacy initiatives.
For in-depth understanding #
This chapter by Genowefa Blundo Canto in Policy Evaluation: Methods and Approaches discusses, in detail, outcome harvesting as a qualitative approach to ex post evaluation of social change results.
Outcome Harvesting in Monitoring and Evaluation
This online course on outcome harvesting by Strategia Netherlands targeted at the Humanitarian and Development Community such as Non Governmental Organizations and the United Nations gives an in-depth understanding of outcome harvesting, discussing the purpose of outcome harvesting, along with its changing audience, social actors, users, its level of impact etc.
Case study #
This report published by the World Bank documents a stage one pilot to identify how outcome harvesting can be integrated with the World Bank’s results management approach, for learning during a program’s implementation and review stages.
This research article by Amy Beardmore, Matthew Jones, and Joanne Seal discusses the practical application of outcome harvesting, using the example of a place-based community well-being project, as a methodology for retrospective, responsive and collaborative evaluation in public health research.
