Research impact as understood by two funders of agricultural research in South Africa

Impact literacy is the understanding of research impact in terms of a junction of three elements: ‘what’, ‘how’ and ‘who’. ‘What’ refers to impact endpoints, that is, the medium- to long-term impacts or even short-term effects that occur during or immediately after research. ‘How’ refers to the understanding of how impact is created, in other words the interactions required. ‘Who’ focuses on which stakeholders need to be integrated into a network of interactions to contribute to impact. This study focused on the ‘what’ of impact, specifically on the understanding of research impact by two funders of agricultural research in South Africa. Members of specialist committees at the two funding organizations were asked, through a survey, to rate several structured items mapped on a research impact classification scheme. They could also provide their own ideas on what impact is. Committee members from both organizations viewed research impact primarily as an effect on the individuals and groups in the industry that they represent. They generally did not consider research impact as an effect on researchers, nor did they place specific emphasis on the societal effects of research. The ‘what’ of research impact was found to imply a series of effects, where the different effects build on each other. Linking these effects to the ‘how’ and ‘who’ of impact will require the construction of impact pathways. Funders should take responsibility for pushing research results to a distal level by planning ‘who’ will do the push, ‘how’ it will be done and managed, and to ‘what’ final aim.