Presentation during IITA R4D week 2015 (23 - 27 Nov. 2015). By: Pamela Pali, Edidah Ampaire, Mastewal Yami, Laurence Jassogne, Marc Schut, Murat Sartas, Piet van Asten.

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Research in policy action: pitfalls and success
factors of high-level policy engagement in East Africa
Pamela Pali, Edidah Ampaire, Mastewal Yami, Laurence
Jassogne, Marc Schut, Murat Sartas, Piet van Asten
24th November 2015
(R4D Week 2015)

2. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Research in policy action: pitfalls and
success factors of high-level policy
engagement in East Africa
Pamela Pali, Edidah Ampaire, Mastewal Yami, Laurence Jassogne, Marc Schut, Murat Sartas, Piet van Asten

3. www.iita.orgA member of CGIAR consortium
Policy Challenges
Policies can make/break technology adoption
Policy formulation
• Lack of sufficient information/evidence to inform
appropriate policy planning
• Limited stakeholder inclusion
• Challenges of harmonization
Policy implementation
• Weak enforcement of policies, legal and regulatory
framework
CGIAR: demand for outcomes

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Key research questions
• How does research better link
and improve policy formulation
and implementation
– Crop intensification
– Climate change adaptation
– Mainstreaming gender
• Why is the implementation of
agri-food policies ineffective?
Rate of fertilizer use (kg-ha)
Mwesigye and Mbowa, 2015

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Policy research tools/methods
1. Policy and gender analysis
– Desk reviews of selected policies
– Literature review
– Key informant interviews with policy actors
at national, district and lower levels
– FGDs and key informant interviews with
farming communities
– Network analysis
2. Participatory stakeholder workshops -
at national and district level
3. Engagement with policy decision-makers
targeted engagement

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Constraints to policy implementation
Agenda Setting
Formulation
AdoptionImplementation
Evaluation
• Key Missing policies
• Limited capacity to formulate
• Limited actor
involvement
• Missing policies
• Confusion of mandates
• Delays in policy adoption
• Disconnect between
formulation and
implementation
• Lack of awareness
• Limited use of
evaluation results
• M&E is often missing
• Poor M&E data

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Formulation
National District Community
 Lack of synergy between the
diverse sectors
• Lack of gender & social
differentiation & practical
strategies to address gender
 District inadequately
included in formulation
• Engagement with gender
restricted to quota
system
 Locals excluded in policy
formulation
• Female participation further
reduced by limited
information & technical skills
Implementation
 Lack of implementation
structures across levels
 Weak enforcement of laws and
regulations
 Intensification, climate change
and gender issues treated as
cross-cutting issues
 NRM issues are not part of
performance evaluation
 Limited capacity to
interpret and implement
policies
 Limited access to policy
documents
 Locals not aware of
policies
 Lack of ownership, limited
compliance
 Political interference
Policy gaps across scale

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Policy gaps - examples
Policy
Year
process
started
Lead
Period
Support
partners
Status in Policy
Cycle
Has an
implementation
strategy
Agriculture
Policy
2010 3 years USAID At implementation
stage
Yes (adopted DSIP)
Land Policy 2001 Ministry of
Lands
Implementation
stage
Fertilizer
Policy
2010 > 5 years MAAIF,
EPRC,
AGRA
Policy Adoption
Stage
Yes
Seed Policy 2008 > 7 years MAAIF,
USAID,
PASIC
Policy
Development
Stage
No
Extension
Policy
- Non-
existent
World Bank
PASIC, USAID
Formulation Preliminary
discussions
• National Fertilizer Policy (NFP) – no framework to co-ordinate process of
fertilizer application with land investments
• NFP does not provide for strategies that enhance fertilizer use e.g. credit
Mwesigye and Mbowa, 2015

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What are we doing?
• Knowledge generation
and dissemination
• Multistakeholder policy
action platforms
• Policy engagement -
Targeting specific groups
• Zonal investment
planning =>district
development plans
• Systems approach to
gender
Linking planning
and
implementation
National Alliance
 Public sector
 Civil society
 Academia
 NARS
 Farmer organizations
 Private sector
District Alliance
 District Departments
 NARS
 Farmers’
organizations
 International research
centers
 Academia
 Civil society
 Local leaders
 Farmers
 Private sector

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A systems approach to gender
Level Gender difference/constraint Opportunity/Solution
Plant • Preferences in plant characteristics • Technology packages that match
preferences
Plot • Access to & ownership of productive
assets
• Policies that offer rights to asset
ownership& access
Farm/Household • Intra-household decision-making &
roles
• Joint decision-making
Community/
landscape
• Cultural norms and perceptions
• Access to knowledge and services
• Equitable access to knowledge &
information
Markets • Access to market information,
transport, mobility & negotiation power
• Collective action?
Extension
delivery service
• Capacity needs • Gender responsive service delivery,
targeted capacity building
Policy • Gendered differentiated needs and
constraints not acknowledged in
policies
• Lack of gender budget in plans and
programs
• Acknowledge gendered
differentiated needs in policies,
plans and strategies

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Lessons learnt
 Get high-level buy-in before engaging with mid- or
low-level government staff,
 Carefully consider, understand and accommodate
the incentives structures (e.g. allowances,
protocols) when working with government actors.
 Always ensure that the government actors feel
ownership and control over the process and
outputs. Research should support but not to lead
the discussion.
 Ownership can only be achieved if science
communication is ‘simple and accessible’ to
participants in the policy debate,

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• Keep message simple:
The scientific language used by researchers is ill-understood and not in
a reproducible simple format required by stakeholders.
• Be quick and responsive:
The need to balance the lengthy research process taken to generate evidence with short
term policy needs and opportunities available
• Be opportunistic:
Policy processes are often not linear, but can suddenly stagnate, move or divert based
on public debates, (shifting) political power interests and donor investment. Researchers
need to be more opportunistic and forthcoming if they wish to achieve policy outcomes.
Pitfalls

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• Innovation: Scientists can improve
their research impact by being
embedded in the policy process
• Up-scaling: policy makers should
not just be handed evidence but
should be an integral part of the
research process
Conclusion

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Selected research outputs
Blogs
 https://ccafs.cgiar.org/blog/does-uganda-sufficiently-address-gender-inequalities-climate-policies#.VbZoBSqqqko
 http://ccafs.cgiar.org/blog/scenario-guided-environment-policy-planning-makes-headway-tanzania
 http://ccafs.cgiar.org/creating-future-scenarios-inform-new-environment-policy-tanzania
 https://ccafs.cgiar.org/blog/meeting-platform-better-policy-creation-kicked-gear-uganda#.VeVuG_mqqko
 https://ccafs.cgiar.org/blog/getting-uganda%E2%80%99s-agriculture-plans-ready-climate-change#.VebzO_mqqkp
Videos
 CCAFS web site: Video gives a fresh look at scenario-guided policy planning in East Africa
 CCAFS Youtube channel: Scenario-guided policy planning in Uganda and Tanzania
Policy briefs:
 https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/56517/retrieve
 https://www.ifpri.org/publication/gender-and-climate-change-adaptation-uganda-insights-rakai.
 https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/58460/retrieve
Press Release
 http://ccafs.cgiar.org/scenario-guided-policy-development-uganda-context-climate-change
 http://www.iita.org/2015-press-releases/-/asset_publisher/CxA7/content/stakeholders-call-for-better-policies-for-more-
efficient-water-use-in-griculture?redirect=%2Fhome#.Vi4yOr95DIU
Draft manuscripts in the pipeline
• Yami et al. Power and participation constrain agricultural policy-making processes in Uganda, submitted (revisions)
• Ampaire et al. Governance and local institutional arrangements for climate change adaptation in Uganda: bridging public
policy Implementation Gaps

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Thank you!