Addressing the Silo Mentality to Improve Program Accountability and Collective Impact in Development Assistance. An Action Research Inquiry.

This research examines the pervasive silo mentality that undermines program accounta bility and collective impact in public health, particularly in resource-constrained environ ments reliant on external donor funding. Grounded in complexity theory, power dynamics, and underdetermination, and informed by social construction and systems thinking, this study introduces the Complex Adaptive System in Development Assistance (CASDA) frame work to facilitate document analysis, interpret findings, and generate actionable solutions in rapidly evolving contexts. Using a multiepistemological analytical framework within three iterative cycles of action research, the study reviewed over 160 peer-reviewed publications on silo mentality and collaboration frameworks, alongside more than 51 multi-source documents—including program evaluations, audit reports, and articles—focusing on Mali and Uganda. These find ings were further contrasted with empirical evidence from extensive professional experi ence to assess the nature, effects, and responses to silo mentality. Findings highlight the entrenched and harmful nature of silo mentality, reinforced by pos itivistic, top-down approaches to evidence generation driven by dominant global institu tions. While evidence-based, these approaches often exclude socially constructed knowledge critical for addressing persistent challenges, including fragmented program ming, weak governance, entrenched corruption, poorly motivated health workers, and constrained access to quality health services. Public health progress remains overly de pendent on donor funding, leading to a proliferation of pilot interventions that fail to achieve sustainable impact. A multiepistemological perspective provides a novel understanding of these systemic chal lenges and stimulates innovative solutions. To address silo mentality and enhance collec tive impact, this research proposes adopting Reverse Programming as a complementary strategy. Reverse Programming fosters bottom-up synergies across fragmented interven tions by aligning outputs and outcomes from diverse development partners without re quiring major policy or behavioral shifts—barriers that have historically hindered sustain able change in development assistance. Supported by the CASDA framework, Reverse Programming underscores the need for prac titioners to evolve into scholar-practitioners capable of activating a context-specific collab oration framework. This research identifies six critical parameters for enhancing collective impact: (1) facilitating crucial conversations, (2) allocating resources to integrate multie pistemological perspectives and implement Reverse Programming, (3) prioritizing contrac tual over grant arrangements, (4) leveraging multiple sources of program, financial, and audit data, (5) establishing value chains from siloed results, and (6) empowering national audit institutions. This study offers innovative pathways to optimize development assis tance, bridging institutional and socially constructed knowledge systems to overcome sys temic barriers and advance context-sensitive collaboration for sustainable impact.