Preliminary Report: An Evaluation of Selected Research Organizations in Bangladesh

1. National Food Policy Capacity Strengthening Programme Preliminary Report: An Evaluation of Selected Research Organizations in Bangladesh Stanley R. Johnson FAO Consultant 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

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

3. IntroductionObjectives 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. IntroductionMethods • 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. IntroductionOrganizations Surveyed • Academic 3 • Government 3 • NGOs 9 • International 2 • Specialized 1 __ Total 18

6. IntroductionTypes 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. IntroductionTable 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. IntroductionAreas 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 FindingsAreas of Food Security Policy Research • Production and availability 14 • Physical and social access 11 • Economic access 11 • Utilization and nutrition 9 • Cross cutting issues 14

10. Selected FindingsStaffing • 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 FindingsApproximate 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 FindingsPublications • Peer reviewed (journals, books, chapters) 0 to 144 • Research reports 0 to 180 • Other documents 0 to 52 • Other materials (magazines, videos, dialogue documents, etc) Many

14. Selected FindingsCharacteristics 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 FindingsSelf Reported Priority Areas • Total research areas 1-5 • 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 FindingsSelf 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 FindingsCollaborations • Internal 1 to 35 • External 1 to 5 • One not available • Perhaps the variance is related to not giving explicit instructions—but the collaborations are substantial

18. Selected FindingsCollaborations • 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 ContractsBasic Elements • Terms • Itemized duties • Exclusive relationships

21. Contracts and AgreementsLeadership 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 AgreementsOrganizational 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 AgreementsTable 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. RecommendationsLeadership 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. RecommendationsWays 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. RecommendationsTraining • 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