Research and Policy in Development

Aim for the bulls eyeHow to maximise the impact of development research

John YoungOverseas Development Institute, UKj.young@odi.org.uk

Research and Policy in Development

Agriculture in Africa

“The whole life of policy is a chaos of purposes and accidents. It is not at all a matter of the rational implementation of the so-called decisions through selected strategies”

Clay & Schaffer (1984), Room for Manoeuvre: An Exploration of Public Policy in Agricultural and Rural Development, Heineman, London

Research and Policy in Development

Chronic Poverty in Uganda

Kate Bird et al, Fracture Points in Social Policies for Chronic Poverty Reduction, ODI WP242, 2004 (http://www.odi.org.uk/publications/working_papers/wp242.pdf)

Research and Policy in Development

Health Policy in Tanzania

“The results of household disease surveys informed processes of health service reform which contributed to a 43 and 46 per cent reduction in infant mortality between 2000 and 2003 in two districts in rural Tanzania.”

TEHIP Project, Tanzania: www.idrc.ca/tehip

Research and Policy in Development

An Analytical FrameworkThe political context – political and economic structures and processes, culture, institutional pressures, incremental vs radical change etc.

The evidence – credibility, the degree it challenges received wisdom, research approaches and methodology, simplicity of the message, how it is packaged etc

External Influences Socio-economic and cultural influences, donor policies etc

The links between policyand research communities – networks, relationships, power, competing discourses, trust, knowledge etc.

Research and Policy in Development

DELIVERI - Indonesia• Decentralised Livestock Services

in Eastern Indonesia• 5 years (originally 10)• Public Service reform (in livestock sector)• Action-research + institutional development

+ policy reform• Surprisingly successful: “The DELIVERI programme has

developed some useful models of institutional change in the context of decentralisation, making a government service more responsive to the needs of local people”1

1 DFID Country Strategy Paper for Indonesia September 2000

For more information see: www.deliveri.org

Research and Policy in Development

Political context• 1963 - 1995 centralised & bureaucratic

• Policy “maintained” by senior bureaucrats

• Services “delivered” by bureaucrats

• Services “received” by farmers

• Participation & decentralisation in Repelita VI

• Senior champion

• Long DFID involvement & successful pilot

• Gradual budget squeeze

• 1998 economic crisis → Political crisis

• Sudden decentralisation → huge demand for new policies and practice

Research and Policy in Development

Evidence• Radical new idea (in Indonesia)• Specific concerns (legal / welfare /

corruption / quality / professional)• Preference for word-of-mouth or

sophisticated visual information • Baseline study to illustrate need +

evidence from elsewhere• Practical action-research + good M&E • > 20% “investment” in communication:

hands-on engagement, visits, leaflets, video, multimedia

Research and Policy in Development

Links• Senior internal champion• Steering Committee• Farmers & Service staff working together• Informal networks through peers• The K20• Planning Bureau Department of

Agriculture• Rakontechnis• Other Programmes (P4K, SfDM)• The media

Research and Policy in Development

Luck• Timing:

– REPELITA VI– Financial Crisis

• Misunderstandings– about implications– about “quality management”

• People and personalities– Donor– Dept of Livestock Services– Department of Agriculture

Research and Policy in Development

Conclusions• Policy processes are complex.• It is possible to understand enough…• to make sensible choices.• There are many well-known strategies and tools.• It is neither rocket-science nor fine art.• But it needs a systematic approach…• and work “outside the research itself”…• and enough resources.

Research and Policy in Development

Further Information / Resources• ODI Working Papers

• Bridging Research and Policy Book

• Meeting series Monograph

• Tools for Policy Impact

• RAPID Briefing Paper

• RAPID CDROM

• www.odi.org.uk/rapid