Peter Cameron
and Roger Smith
The Tropical
Agriculture Association and Institution of Civil Engineers held a consultation
on 20 October, 2003 to consider research priorities for development research. The emphasis of the meeting was on a
multi-disciplinary approach to identifying researchable issues that will
require both policy and technological interventions, for this reason we chose
not to use the title “applied technologies”.
A report of
the Workshop has been prepared, and made available.
As representatives of the co-convenors of
the workshop, we make the following comments
1.
The workshop
clearly identified that research into natural resource management, including
agriculture in its widest sense and civil engineering, is an essential
requisite if the Millennium Development Goals are to be reached.
2.
The workshop
also recognised that links with other sectors, including health, education and
social development are important, and that any new DFID research agenda should
have a management structure which encourages appropriate inter-disciplinary
programmes and projects.
3.
The workshop
concluded that, in spite of the decline in the UK agricultural research and
education base, the UK still has much to offer in support of a DFID research
agenda. In agriculture and engineering,
Britain’s long standing membership and support of International research was
recognised world-wide.
4.
Whilst
recognising that UK aid is not tied to the provision of British goods and
services, every effort should be made to invest research funds in British
institutions, and to use the remaining British expertise. The workshop considered that DFID has an
important role to play in sustaining and increasing British expertise in research
on matters of global importance.
5.
The workshop
recognised, with regret, the decline in scientific and technical expertise
within DFID itself. The absence of a strong in-house cadre of agricultural and
engineering advisers raises concern that decisions taken in-house will suffer
from a serious lack of such expertise. The workshop applauds the present system
in which management of research programmes is commissioned to outside agencies
in the UK, and recommends that in the future a similar management structure
should be maintained.
6.
The workshop
encourages DFID to continue influencing and supporting the research agendas of
the CGIAR, FAO, the World Bank and the European Union.
7.
The importance
of levering additional funding and support from other sources, including the
private sector, non-government organisations and other National and
International agencies, is thus a priority issue. However, DFID is urged to re-examine its own priorities, and make
substantial additional funds available for research from its increasing aid
budget.
8.
During the
working groups of the workshop, eight researchable ideas emerged as priorities
that the consultation recommends should be addressed by the new DFID research
strategy. However, we are aware, and regret,
that these ideas are the result of a “top-down” process in which the
views of the intended beneficiaries has not been sought. We consider these to
be long-term, to require an international scale of effort and to be issues
where DFID can make a difference, impacting on the Millennium Development
Goals.
The
researchable ideas are as follows:-
A. Trade/Markets
The major
issues envisaged are:
-
Linking farmers to markets - revisit farmer groups/co-operatives to leverage greater
benefits from market engagement and policy influence; and study how
linkages/relationships in the smallholder/agricultural sector be
managed/structured to better provide smallholder access to input and output
markets.
-
Better understanding of commodity chains and competivity (quality assurance and standards, price constraints,
certification, organic, trace-ability, contract structures, price information,
transport costs, insurance).
-
Improve physical and institutional access at
local, regional and global levels – movement of goods, transport and road
infrastructure, cross border trading, regulations, levies in-country (road
blocks).
-
Align
agricultural research priorities to world-wide
and fair trade market access;
-
Develop/share
good practice of new models for strengthening
competitive success in local/global markets.
-
Understanding
and strengthening of the role of local, small/medium
towns as engines for market growth and services.
-
Explore impact
of trade liberalisation and slow pace
of WTO negotiations incl. impact on
small scale farmers and local markets.
-
Clarify the role of the public sector in support of
private sector trade and markets.
Promote social responsibility.
Support to
this area will have relevance to MDGs 1 and 8 with an impact on 3 and 7. Improved incomes will also have impacts on 4
and 5.
B. Sustainable Management of Land/Water/Environment
The major
issues envisaged are:
-
Sustainable
management systems for marginal
environments; maintain and increase productivity of rain-fed areas through pro-poor technologies
-
Smallholder
access to environmentally sustainable
production technologies (biopesticides, water, plant nutrition and soil
fertility management)
-
Mitigate
effects of climate change upon
livelihoods of poor; address improved understanding of impact of rising
temperatures on water availability, crop production, pest management and
adaptation to agricultural systems.
Strengthen use of monitoring techniques.
-
Understand and
manage the use of biodiversity for
poverty reduction.
-
Access and rights to land and water.
-
More rational use and conservation of water
resources (agriculture, food, industry, domestic use).
-
Understanding markets for environmental services;
decision support systems.
Support to
this area will have relevance to MDGs 1, 3, 7 and 8.
C. Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems
The major
issues envisaged are:
-
Role of agriculture in pro-poor development and post-conflict reconstruction – special
focus on smallholders; sustainable
intensification of agriculture (cropping systems) for higher productivity,
better food security and income generation.
-
Exploring new social/economic/environmental gains
as alternatives to agriculture e.g. multi-functionality, eco-tourism and carbon
credits.
-
Holistic
approach to food security based on
sustainable production and post-production operations; analyse interaction
between food security and agricultural diversification; drought cycle
management (including food/emergency aid/development linkages); contribution of
livestock incl. small stock and fisheries.
-
Role of export crops in poverty reduction and
national economies.
-
Recognise the
importance of agriculture to poverty reduction and growth in Africa.
Support to
this area will have relevance to MDGs 1 and 7 and will also impact upon 3, 4, 5
and 8.
D. Rural/Urban Planning for Better Development Outcomes
The major
issues envisaged are:
-
Build better linkages between micro and macro policies;
strengthen decentralised structures and
governance at local levels.
-
Support local economic development and define
new models of service provision (including role of small towns); improving
governance, institutional structures and meaningful professional organisations
for farm and non-farm enterprises.
-
Understanding urbanisation and causes for
migration including coping strategies; Analyse the interaction between
labour markets and livelihoods interaction.
-
Better management of physical and infrastructural
resources (local government/small town); integration of waste management
and recycling of by-products; promotion of urban food markets and production;
village scale processing of bio-fuels.
-
Impacts of energy policy changes on poverty;
develop a poverty credit from oil and gas extraction from developing countries.
-
Pro-poor strategies for urban development (particularly for slum dwellers) to
improve health.
Support
to this area will have relevance to MDGs 1, 7 and 8.
E. Public/Private Partnerships for
Service Delivery
The
major issues envisaged are:
-
Improved,
affordable and sustainable infrastructure
services working for the poor: health; education; micro-finance.
-
Improved
provision of transport infrastructure and
services to support input and output markets and foster labour movement.
-
Establish
effective pro-poor demand/delivery
services (e.g. information, organisations, markets, finance).
-
Promote corporate social responsibility to
improve public/private governance at national/regional level.
Support to
this area will have relevance across all of the MDGs.
F. Reducing Vulnerability of Poor People
The major
issues envisaged are:
-
Support HIV/AIDS coping strategies; importance
of need for labour productivity improvement; understand importance of
nutrition.
-
Guide nutrition strategies: support nutrition policy formulation and implications to
public policy and investment; identify effective ways to improve the
nutritional status of various groups of poor e.g. improved protein content of
diets.
-
Innovate in risk analysis and management e.g.
commodity and weather insurance, new models for social credits.
-
Address housing policies in rural and urban
areas.
-
Empowerment;
strengthen the voice of the poor into policy debate through civil society.
-
Understanding peoples’ perceptions/behaviour related to hygiene and health to make
delivery more effective (Indigenous technical knowledge, perceptions, social
marketing); and establishing benefits of sanitation through social change.
Support to
this area will have relevance to across all of the MDGs.
G. Conflict and Disasters
The major
issues envisaged are:
-
Good practices for resolving conflict over the management of resources;
understand and strengthen access and rights to assets; learn from good practice
in overview of natural disasters and non-governmental systems (e.g. Mexico –
private insurance with farmer beneficiary compensation).
-
Examine how
best to develop indigenous professional
groups and to identify and strengthen local community support groups.
-
Strengthen
research on development of small island
states taking into account their unique features of vulnerability.
Conflict and
disasters is a cross cutting issues in terms of impact on the MDGs.
The major
issues envisaged are:
- Strengthen the means to transfer in-country research to users including off–station adaptation and use of participatory approaches. Recognise need for and secure long-term support.
- Strengthen international co-ordination of research including linkages with users/clients.
- Develop models and processes for good practice validation, sharing and mainstreaming into investment and policy; capture and learn lessons from ongoing development practice including project management; develop new models for linking technical and policy research.
- Secure a continuum of research through to development.
- Improve means to access information and technology. Develop decision making tools (e.g. energy sector).
- Understand interaction(and the research implications) between the factors influencing the achievement of the MDGs e.g. impact of interventions in the water sector on health, poverty etc.
Support to
this area will have relevance to MDGs 1, 3 7 and 8. Improved incomes will also have impacts on 4 and 5.
The above
eight areas are of equal priority. Area
H potentially interacts with others and is supportive of their effective
implementation. This large agenda requires more investment than is currently
envisaged by DFID, and its success will depend upon leveraging substantial
support from other funding agencies as well as the private sector. DFID must
learn from past projects, and establish what existing knowledge is available on
the area/topic to be researched. In addition, the indigenous knowledge of local
people that the research is designed to assist, must be understood, valued and
used as a base from which to develop appropriate technologies or interventions.
Our two
organisations are pleased to have been involved in this workshop, and offer our
further support to DFID during the development of this research strategy and
its implementation.