Enhancing Innovation in Agricultural Research and Development (ARD)

The project aims to enhance innovations in policies and programs under the national Research and Development, Extension Agenda and Programs (RDEAP) 2016 – 2022. Specific objectives are as follows:

1. Identify critical gaps and needs in ARD in relation to innovations for the advancement of RDEAP and Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization Program.
2. Support DA participation in the Policy Accelerator Leaders Program, Knowledge Management Program, and other related learning events.
3. Benchmark innovations in ARD in the Philippines vis-à-vis innovations in the Southeast Asian Region.
4. Draw policy and program recommendations to enhance innovation in ARD.

The Project Team will review the RDEAP 2016-2022 and the updated Agriculture and Modernization Plan to determine the critical gaps and needs in ARD. From the analysis, the Project Team will map-out areas for innovations in terms of policies and programs to upscale ARD and its impact to agriculture and fisheries sector. The Project Team will also conduct key informant interviews with various stakeholders in ARD, namely, the Department of Agriculture and its attached agencies, local government units, state universities and colleges, private sectors, cooperatives, NGOs and farmers' organizations with the end in view of mapping the necessary innovations along the value chain and supply chain.

For the participation of DA-BAR in the Global Innovation Policy Accelerator (GIPA), the innovations system of the United Kingdom (UK) will be considered for adoption to the Philippine setting. The GIPA Leaders Programme is an in-depth, high-intensity targeted professional development programme for a small, cross-system cohort of innovation policy leaders. The Leaders Programme aims to build a network by working closely across a national system and where individuals build a strong supportive network of capability to be drawn on in the future. It also provides support in developing a prototype and pilot a new innovation programme or policy - similar to a start-up programme, where participants get structured support to embed new ideas and ways of developing effective innovation policies. The project will support the whole process of DA-BAR participation in GIPA as well as the knowledge management and other related learning events that goes with it.

The Project will also conduct benchmarking visits in selected Southeast Asian country to assess existing innovations in ARD policies and programs and compare it to the mapped-out assessment conducted in the Philippines. The proposed countries for consideration in the benchmarking visits include Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. These are the countries which would also send participants to GIPA.