Reclaiming digital spaces: applying behavioral science to combat technology-facilitated gender-based violence
Access to the internet has increased significantly worldwide in recent years. In Kenya, mobile data subscriptions have reached 57.18 million, with over 42 million smartphones purchased in the country, according…
Unlocking community agency: Behavioral insights from Spark Microgrants’ Facilitated Collective Action Process
In Uganda, Óbumu is a concept that fosters unity in a community over shared goals. Rooted in African philosophy, it reflects the traditional African worldview in which community forms the…
The work is not done: creating new paths to an equitable world in uncertain times
There are many valid perspectives from which to criticise the development sector. A lot of the work in the space, for example, fails to achieve the intended expectations. One could…
Can dialogue foster active citizen participation in Kenya? Reflecting on the People Dialogue Festival
The People Dialogue Festival (PDF) was birthed as a follow up to the political truce between the former President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga which…
From a hashtag to a movement: the role of online information ecosystems in driving citizen engagement
The recent 2024 political protests in Kenya started out as an online exchange between different groups (primarily on X). Some Kenyans expressed dissatisfaction with the Finance Bill 2024. This bill…
Advocacy that matters to people: lessons on transforming advocacy messaging from our Low Cost Messaging and Testing guidebook
Communication shapes ideas and the flow of information and primarily involves two things, sending a message and receiving one. Effective communication takes both into consideration. When crafting a message to…
Building trust in government in a digital world
The World Bank GovTech Maturity Index, which measures how countries are digitizing public services, ranks Kenya as highly mature, the third in a four step ranking system. Kenya is already…
Redefining the civic engagement paradigm from participation to social acceptance: empowering civil society organizations to empower the people
Civil society organizations (CSOs) connect communities and the systems that govern them. The primary role, particularly of advocacy-based CSOs, should be to empower communities with the tools to advocate for…
Unpacking political protest: Q&A with Busara’s Gideon Too on Kenya’s #RejectFinanceBill2024
Gideon Too, Associate Vice President at Busara, provides insights on the current protests in Kenya against the 2024 Finance Bill. These have turned violent, with protesters being killed and abducted…
Money can’t move a ton of bricks: the real currency of economic life
You are driving on a road and are coming to a fork. The road splits into two: one a major motorway and the other a slightly smaller service road. After…
Making policy work for the people: how the new Indian government can use behavioral science for inclusive development in India
Over the past month, the focus in India has been on one particular kind of human behavior: voting. What would India decide? Now that the votes are counted and a…
Tafakari Yearbook 2024
  Yearbook You are not alone: human behavior under pressure Download PDF Busara SECTORBehavioral sciencePROJECT TYPEYearbookBEHAVIORAL THEMECollaboration| Community| Engagement OVERVIEW As an organization dedicated to behavioral science in pursuit of…
Meeting the mark: testing communication campaigns using the Low-cost Message Testing Guide
Precision is the tell of extraordinary marksmanship. However, it is preceded by numerous missed shots, form adjustment, choice of weapon, and the strength of character to keep shooting better. Precision,…
Pick and Choose: using A/B testing to refine campaign messages
Deciding which message works for a given audience should be considered an extreme sport given all the context, nuances, and innuendo you have to sift through to make that choice.…
Speaking Truth: how focus group discussions enrich communication campaigns
Conversations have an interesting effect on your mood, your thought process, and even your behavior. If the discussions are engaging enough, you might offer your own words of wisdom and…
Evaluating crowdsourcing behaviors in identifying online misinformation
Report Evaluating crowdsourcing behaviors in identifying online misinformation Download PDF Busara PARTNERUNDPSECTORGovernance|Political BehaviorBEHAVIORAL THEMEPerception| Accuracy| Bias OVERVIEW We conducted an experimental demonstration of the Healthy Internet Project (HIP) plugin…
Behavioral experiments in data privacy
Report Behavioral experiments in data privavcy Download PDF PARTNERCenter for Social and Behavior ChangeSECTORGovernancePROJECT TYPE Field and Lab ExperimentsBEHAVIORAL THEMEConsciousness | Urgency | Privacy OVERVIEW This experiment investigates the…
Participation Improves Collective Decisions (When It Involves Deliberation): Experimental Evidence From Kenya.
  Academic Paper Participation improves collective decisions (when it involves deliberation): Experimental evidence from Kenya. Download PDF SECTORGovernance RELATED CONTENT Sorry, we couldn't find any posts. Please try a different…
Vote Buying and Redistribution.
  Academic Paper Vote Buying and Redistribution. Download PDF Author text goes here SECTORGovernance RELATED CONTENT Featured A complicated relationship January 3, 2024 Featured Enhancing SRH Delivery through Human Centered…
Two truths and a lie: an experiment to evaluate behaviors in identifying online misinformation
‘Information pollution’, where facts and figures become a source of division in a society, has a huge impact on behavior, social cohesion, and public trust. When information is false or…
The engagement toolbox: four major engagement models to think about before any project
Milestones are a matter of perspective. For parents, five years is critical in the development of a child. It forms the foundation of your child’s learning, physical and emotional growth.…
5 reflections to strengthen civic engagement: context is king
Our determination to set up behavioral labs in non-WEIRD countries was driven by the idea that changing the context would change the results. This idea, supported by our equally curious…
Getting funding right in East Africa: top ten priorities for maximum impact
This is the first in a series of reflective thought pieces on our work in East Africa, especially as it relates to programming, partnerships and funding in the governance and…
Saving the children: how to create effective messaging to stop violence against children
In an experiment where people were asked to place numbers along a linear axis, many respondents placed a million, roughly halfway between a thousand and a billion (it really doesn’t go there).…
Give to Caesar: understanding taxpayer perceptions in Somaliland
As the saying goes — where there is a will, there is inheritance tax. Tax as the bane of existence has been a narrative that has been around since the…
Link, learn, laugh: improving loan repayment rates using behavioral science
When you’re giving grants to support marginalized and discriminated groups across two continents, the fact that there are similarities and learnings that can be cross pollinated cannot be ignored. Voice,…
Who even needs a pound of flesh: improving loan repayment rates using behavioral science
“Why, I am sure, if he forfeit, thou wilt not take his flesh — what’s that good for?” -Salarino, a bystander in the play The antagonist in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice is…
Giving aid in ways that empower: how narratives that convey dignity help achieve aid’s aspirations
Billions of dollars of international aid are given every year and anti-poverty programs are rapidly expanding in the context of COVID-19, with the most popular form of social assistance being…
Behaviorally informed communication to drive civic engagement
How can communication drive individuals to engage with issues affecting their communities? Active engagement in community issues is a critical driver of accountable political systems. Civic engagement can be measured…
