Researchers and funders recently convened in Cape Town, South Africa, for the fourth annual conference of the Population and Poverty (PopPov) Research Network. The meeting brought together the world’s most prominent researchers on population and economic development, with a particular emphasis on African researchers and others conducting research in Africa.
“Until recently, population policy has been a seriously neglected issue in the development landscape,” says Rachel Nugent, CGD deputy director of global health, who serves as network coordinator. “The PopPov Network has been working to address this by documenting the links between population policy and economic results—for women, families, and countries.”
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“Research supported by the network, including findings presented at our recent conference in Cape Town, will give national and international policymakers a much stronger understanding of how to use population policy to achieve their hoped-for economic outcomes,” Nugent added.
The network grew out of a 2005 report by CGD’s Population and Development Working Group chaired by CGD president Nancy Birdsall. The report suggested a research agenda to better establish causal links between population dynamics and economic outcomes at both micro and macro levels, as well as to improve data and methods of analysis.
The CGD report helped to spur the creation of the network and a four-year, $27 million research program. Funders include the Hewlett Foundation and the research councils of the UK, France, Norway, and the Netherlands. The Network has since expanded to include 60 projects, mostly in Africa, and about 200 researchers, mostly economists and demographers (researchers active in the network include David Weil, Paul Schultz, Nava Ashraf, Esther Duflo, and CGD non-resident fellow Duncan Thomas).
Nugent has held a key role in developing the network since its inception. She facilitated its creation, worked with the funders to set directions of the research program, participated in peer review to select researchers, and determined how to use the research to influence policy.
This year’s conference showcased the maturity of the PopPov Network and of its potential to influence population policies and programs in Africa. The agenda included a policy panel, chaired by Jotham Musinguzi, regional director of Partners in Population and Development, that featured the Ugandan minister of finance and planning, Ephraim Kamuntu, and former Zimbabwean finance minister Simba Makoni. Each noted a rise in evidence-based policymaking in Africa on population issues and specific ways to introduce research results.
Nugent is optimistic about the evident connection between research and policy. “Four years of network-building is paying off in reaching a common understanding of what we know, and what important gaps remain,” she said. “In Cape Town, we began to see how we can influence policymakers with this new understanding.”
Presentations on randomized research methods (for example, comparing conditional cash transfers and non-conditional cash transfers), longitudinal studies with new and enhanced data sets, macro simulation models, and mixed methods are expected to further advance research design and implementation, already a hallmark of the network’s success.
“I’m delighted that we have been able to attract some of the very best researchers from the global North and from Africa and involve them in collaborative research with a clear focus on how population affects economic well-being,” Nugent said.