Stories as Data

For millennia, stories have been told throughout the world but those of us who live and work throughout Africa know the specific meaning and importance of storytelling on this continent. Throughout Africa, stories don’t only transmit information, they also preserve culture, connect communities, and validate experiences.

Now through the use of Causal mapping, a technique that visually represents and analyses cause-and-effect relationships described in narratives, stories are taking their rightful place as a key asset in monitoring and evaluation work. So this blend of old and new is proving to be quite powerful.

Recently, we were privileged enough to be part of a panel organised by Causal Map at the UK Evaluation Society (UKES) Conference in Glasgow alongside other esteemed organisations working in evaluation.  It was an important conversation. Panelists discussed how to use stories both as input as part of the gathering phase as well as outputs in presenting findings. AI-supported causal mapping one powerful tool used to synthesise narratives as part of an evaluation. One quote that emerged from this discussed captured this perfectly:

 “Evidence gives stories substance; Stories give evidence meaning” UKES, Glasgow, 2025. 

We loved this as we feel that the recognition of stories as data feels well overdue.

Putting it all into practice – A Love Alliance case study

Southern Hemisphere founding partner, Dena Lomofsky together with Causal Map, presented a case study of a project for Love Alliance. Love Alliance is an initiative dedicated to improving health and rights outcomes for marginalised communities in Africa.

The program is complex, running across nine African countries and is building a movement for HIV prevention at national, regional and global levels. The programme pursues multiple objectives: coalition building; key population advocacy; community-grant making; shifting power to southern leadership. A key objective of Love Alliance is to ensure that Global HIV Prevention Processes are informed by the Lived Experience of people affected by HIV across Africa. 

Adding further complexity, the target groups are people operating in highly restrictive contexts and belonging to marginalised communities such as people who use drugs, sex workers, transgender people, and members of the gay and lesbian community.

In this context, AI-supported causal mapping made a significant impact.The team was able to input large amounts of narrative data from reports and qualitative interviews and focus group discussions into Verifiable AI which is an engine designed to process narrative data transparently and reproducibly. The system enabled low-level coding of each causal claim and produced an extensive causal map of the program’s dynamics. Sub-maps and sub-stories for each country allowed the team to zoom in and out and compare findings both deductively and inductively against the official Theory of Change. Every causal link is cited and can be used directly in contribution analysis

Stories are fractal

Stories are fractal as patterns and insights repeat and reflect one another at different scales, from individual experiences to national programs. Once mapped, knowledge graphs and models which blend evidence and narrative can be queried and used to generate further insights and stories.

Pic above: Drivers of Change in Northern Uganda – A Causal Map produced for AgDevCo

What begins as spoken word becomes structured data and evidence. When emerging patterns are visualised, connections between territories and target groups become clear. This deepens our understanding of both their commonalities and their unique contexts.

A future-fit approach to evaluation

What emerges from this is a perfect blend of old and new, stories have always been one layer of evidence for us as evaluators working in Africa but using Causal Mapping to codify and synthesise stories allows for scale and gives gravitas to the voices of the people within these target groups. At Southern Hemisphere, we are constantly evolving not what we do but how we do it and who we do it with. Our partnership with Causal Map has not only expanded our toolkit to include causal mapping but has energised us and reaffirmed our commitment to centering human stories in evidence-based evaluation

About Causal Map
Causal Map empowers organisations, researchers and evaluators to collect, visualise and make sense of causal claims. Combining powerful qualitative analysis with intuitive mapping tools, Causal Map helps you uncover the relationships and pathways that drive change. Whether you’re exploring theories of change, evaluating impact, or facilitating learning, Causal Map makes your data come alive. Learn more at www.causalmap.app

About Southern Hemisphere.

Southern Hemisphere is a Cape Town-based, female-owned social development consultancy working across Africa and beyond. For 25 years, we’ve strengthened the impact of development projects through applied research, monitoring, evaluation, learning, program design, and strategy. We continue to partner with experts and organisations to augment our work and co-create approaches that drive meaningful social change.