1. National Food Policy Capacity Strengthening Programme Presented at the Workshop on INFORMED POLICY MAKING FOR FOOD SECURITY: Research in support of the National Food Policy 5 and 6 December 2007, Dhaka Preliminary Report: An Evaluation of Selected Research Organizations in Bangladesh Stanley R. Johnson FAO Consultant

2. Outline of Presentation Introduction Selected Findings Possible Guidance for the NFPCSP Agreements/Contracts Recommendations

3. Introduction Objectives of the Evaluation Relevance of research focus on food security Quality and quantity, availability, and capacity of technical staff Quality and timeliness of delivery of research outputs Links with other research centers, national and international Record of joint work with other institutions, national and international

4. Introduction Methods Survey of research organizations Follow up questionnaire E-mails and calls for added information Access to web pages, annual reports, publications, brochures and other materials

5. Introduction Organizations Surveyed Academic 3 Government 3 NGOs9 International2 Specialized1 __ Total 18

6. Introduction Types of Visits Surveys with directors and senior staff Usually with a NFPCSP staff member Organizational representatives visited were very willing to answer questions and share impressions on food policy issues Many of the organizational representatives as well provided example publications and other materials

7. Introduction Table of Information Supplied Most provided organizational brochures Most had web sites Most supplied example publications Most supplied vitas of key researchers Few had annual reports Few had journals or other periodic internal publications

8. Introduction Areas Food Policy Research Needs in Research Organizations Production and availability Physical and access Economic access Utilization and nutrition Cross cutting issues Other areas

9. Selected Findings Areas of Food Security Policy Research Production and availability 14 Physical and social access 11 Economic access 11 Utilization and nutrition 9 Cross cutting issues14

10. Selected Findings Staffing Directors and management (1 to 4) Professional and technical (1 to 110) Support staff (2 to 470) Consultants (0 to 300)

11. Selected Findings Stylized Characteristics Organizations affiliated with the university had large numbers of faculty available to work on projects International NGOs and government organizations had great variation staffing patterns (largely related to budget) NGOs separated into two groups, again on budget, but in general used larger numbers of consultants Generally, newer organizations had higher ratio of consultants to regular staff We have gone back to the organizations to be sure we have the workforce appropriately classified

12. Selected Findings Approximate Annual Budgets ($) Nine with $35,000 or less Four with $200K to 450K Two with $4 to 5 million One with $20 million One Greater then $20 million One not available

13. Selected Findings Publications Peer reviewed (journals, books, chapters) 0 to 144 Research reports0 to 180 Other documents0 to 52 Other materials (magazines, videos, dialogue documents, etc) Many

14. Selected Findings Characteristics of Publications University, government organizations and International NGOs had more journal articles National NGOs had more books and chapters in books, perhaps reflecting a different market for information locally National NGOs had larger numbers of more popular types of publications—designed apparently to influence policy

15. Selected Findings Self Reported Priority Areas Total research areas1-5 Production and availability 7 Physical and social access 3 Economic access 12 Utilization and nutrition 4 Cross cutting 9 Note some had only one priority

16. Selected Findings Self Reported Priority Areas Under the cross cutting area environment was mentioned by many organizations Local governance was mentioned under several of the research areas Many of the national NGOs have programs underway investigating community safety nets for the poor Investigations of changes in the agricultural research and extension system are gaining importance

17. Selected Findings Collaborations Internal1 to 35 External1 to 5 One not available Perhaps the variance is related to not giving explicit instructions—but the collaborations are substantial

18. Selected Findings Collaborations Few collaborations involved organizations actually working together on funded projects Collaborations with donors were largely related to funding relationships Little opportunity for donors to select among organizations systematically for perspective projects, or to engage the organizations jointly in projects

19. Possible Guidance on Food Security Policy for the NFPCSP Monitoring systems have four major components –Availability at the market or national level –Household availability and intake –Anthropometric measurements –Rapid response approaches Interventions, focus, design and evaluation

20. Agreements and Contracts Basic Elements Terms Itemized duties Exclusive relationships

21. Contracts and Agreements Leadership Models Bid for total responsibility Bid for limited responsibility Advisory committee Advisory committee, appointed lead Task force Select a core set of organizations Consortium, with a possible stake in finance

22. Contracts and Agreements Organizational Performance Authority Accountability Responsibility Capacity to organize and lead Capacity to place and manage contracts Ability to carry out needs assessments Capacity to communicate monitoring results

23. Contracts and Agreements Table and Definitions of Terms Define carefully the meaning of each type of leadership model Define carefully the meaning of each the criterion for contract performance Make a two way table with the above mentioned terms on the axes and “score” the leadership models against the criterion for contract performance Tabulate scores and develop better definitions of terms—learn from the exercise, iterate

24. Recommendations Leadership Role Better and integrated national surveys Reduce the attention to “one off” projects Tighter tying of institutes in contracts Invest in data sets that are public goods Require institution to work with large data sets Greater enforcement of food quality Enhance seminars linking researchers government and donors Shared views with donors about research priorities

25. Recommendations Ways to Support Leadership Host training sessions, if the leadership option is adopted Encourage joint bids for leadership role Carefully itemize duties/use the model presented Term of contract for lead should be several years Post not pre qualification, to lead and for individual contracts

26. Recommendations Training General training for bidders for next contracts (explore different contracting systems) Training for leadership contract bid, however awarded Training for researchers and government officials to go to government or other organizations that have good monitoring systems

27. Recommendations General Budgets of research organizations were small relative to contract size in the first tranch—extend periods of contracts Give greater preference to organizations that do not include consultants as principals in bids Develop contracts to add value to the research organizations Assist directors in anticipating the issues rather than reacting to FAO and other donors

28. Conclusion It has been a pleasure to meet with and better understand the food policy research organizations in Bangladesh I hope that this report leads to improved involvement of the research organizations in setting the agenda for food security policy research Comments appreciated