One of the significant challenges of researchers is their inability to inform government policy. In many cases, the two streams, policymaking and research, often do not meet. This has potentially negative consequences as policy decisions do not benefit from the available scientific evidence.
This paper traces the story of the successful efforts of a government research and development organization called the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development to bridge the gap between research and the policy process. Its mandate is coordinating, evaluating, and monitoring national research and development efforts in agriculture, aquatic, and natural resources.[1]
Policy Advocacy: The Missing Piece
Sometime in 2020, a unit within the Council called the Policy Analysis and Information Management Unit (hereafter referred to as the “Policy Unit”) recognized that its programs mainly focused on policy research without sufficient attention to policy advocacy or getting the research findings into the hands of policymakers.
To address this, the Policy Unit partnered in 2021 with an Australian-supported program called Coalitions for Change, implemented by The Asia Foundation. Coalitions for Change is a project that supports Philippine leaders and organizations in introducing policy reforms to foster developmental change. It uses the development entrepreneurship model as its framework for analysis and action.[2] As part of the program, Coalitions for Change established a Development Entrepreneurship Mentoring Program that provides strategic guidance to a select group of individuals and organizations.
The findings in this paper provide evidence that the partnership between the Policy Unit and Coalitions for Change shows significant progress and promising signs. The Policy Unit learned a set of principles and practices from Coalitions for Change and incorporated some of those principles and practices into their programs. Most importantly, the Policy Unit confidently moved from simply policy analysis to creating and supporting policy advocacy projects. As a result, the Policy Unit developed a new portfolio of 11 policy advocacy projects worth PhP 48 million (about A$ 1,222,000.00) in 2024. This is a dramatic change. Before the partnership, the Policy Unit did not have a single policy advocacy project in 2021. In addition, the number of staff at the Policy Unit has grown from 4 to 16 persons between 2021 and 2024 to manage the expanded program.
The Policy Unit and Coalitions for Change Partnership
As part of its mandate, the Policy Unit conducts, supports, and funds two types of projects:
1) policy analysis, which is limited to research and providing policy recommendations
2) policy advocacy, which includes activities for specific policies to be adopted by the government
Despite this, the Policy Unit could not implement any policy advocacy project. To address this shortcoming, the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development leadership encouraged the Policy Unit to implement policy advocacy projects. In 2021, unit head Mia Bernadette Arenas[3] led her team of four staff members to join the Development Entrepreneurship Mentoring Program.
At that time, the Policy Unit had just conducted a policy analysis project on biotech regulation,). In this project, they reviewed existing literature, interviewed stakeholders, looked for root causes of inefficiencies, reviewed processes, and recommended policies. The Policy Unit converted this policy analysis project to a policy advocacy project. Through a series of activities and rapid cycles of analysis and action, the staff of the Policy Unit learned some of the principles and practices of development entrepreneurship.
From Policy Analysis to Policy Advocacy
After the Development Entrepreneurship Mentoring Program, the Policy Unit emphasized policy advocacy projects over policy analysis projects.
For policy advocacy projects, the team incorporated Development Entrepreneurship tools into a standard DOST form (DOST-Form 2, for Basic/Applied Research). In this way, the unit integrated the DE approach in how their partners work. This form now includes:
- A description of the possible policy instruments
- Stakeholder analysis
- Advocacy strategies
- A Theory of Change
Promising signs
Since the Policy Unit completed the mentoring program in 2021, they have significantly expanded its internal and external policy advocacy project portfolio. They also supported four external policy advocacy projects. The subsequent year, 2022, saw four additional policy advocacy projects awarded. External collaborators executed two of these, while the in-house policy advocacy teams undertook the remaining two. In 2023, three more (internal or external) policy advocacy projects were approved.
The Policy Unit and Coalitions for Change conducted a Development Entrepreneurship training course to improve the policy advocacy project teams’ effectiveness. Five policy advocacy project teams attended online lessons during the training sessions and later participated in face-to-face workshops. For a complete list of projects, see Annex A. Before the Policy Unit joined the Development Entrepreneurship Mentoring Program, the unit was undertaking policy analysis projects only. As of June 2024, the unit is undertaking policy analysis and advocacy projects.
The Policy Unit is managing eleven policy advocacy projects with a cumulative value of P48 million (about A$ 1,222,000.00).
The unit hired new staff to manage the increased number of policy advocacy projects and workload. From four in 2021, there are now 13 staff members.
One of the policy advocacy groups has recently succeeded in its advocacy. The DIP Lab (Development Innovation and Policy Laboratory) group successfully pushed for the institutionalization of their work within the UP Los Baños structure.
There is high hope for the other groups. The PCAARRD unit believes that the explicit inclusion of practices and tools of development entrepreneurship, such as the theory of change, stakeholder analysis, and advocacy strategies, increases the likelihood that the gap between researchers and policymakers can be reduced.
Remaining Challenges
Much work remains to be done. The policy advocacy project teams are still working on their respective policies, even as the Policy Unit plans to let two more policy advocacy project teams undergo DE training. The Policy Unit must learn how they apply the DE principles, where they are encountering problems, and what could be improved in their advocacy work. This iterative learning process must continue until a policy advocacy project team can adopt its desired policy.
Annex A. The policy advocacy projects included
- Almaciga Team: Advocating Science-based Policy Reforms for the Sustainable Production and Consumption of Non-Timber Forest Products in the Philippines: The Case of the Almaciga Resin Industry;
- FMR 2 Team: Assessment of Policy Constraints to the Effective and Efficient Conduct of Public R&D in the Philippines;
- Project LEAD Team: Policy Advocacy for the Adoption of Ecotourism as a Local Sustainable Development Solution for Laguna de Bay’s Resource Use and Management;
- R4D: PESO SWaP Team: Payment for Ecosystem Services Outcome for Sustainable Water Provision in Barobbob Watershed, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines; and
- WILUP Team: Policy Advocacy for Enhancing the Science of Integrated Land Use Planning using Watershed Integrated Area Land Use Planning and Watershed Ecosystem Management Framework.
- Development Innovations and Policy Laboratory (DIP Lab) is an initiative on capability building towards “Innovative and Inclusive Policymaking for Development in the agriculture, aquatic, and natural resources sector.”
[1] https://www.pcaarrd.dost.gov.ph/index.php/transparency/about-pcaarrd
[2] For more information on development entrepreneurship, please visit: https://developmententrepreneurship.org/
[3] Senior Science Research Specialist.