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E-discussion: Uptake Pathways
into Food Security Policy
There is a wealth of published research on food security
in Africa in general and on the current crisis in Southern
Africa in particular. Similarly, over the last twelve months
there have been numerous meetings, workshops, discussions
and debates on how to respond to the Southern Africa crisis
and how to ensure long term food security in the region. The
stakeholders involved in these activities are drawn from a
wide range of institutions, including governments, academic
institutions, non-government organisations (NGOs) and international
institutions. However, it is not always clear whether policy
is evidence based and how research and discussion workshops
can feed most effectively into the policy-making process.
The background resource for this discussion is a Working
Paper describing the results of an analysis of 50 case studies
where research has influenced policy. They were collected
as part of the Global Development Network Bridging Research
and Policy project . The full text is available through the
link above or a shorter web-based version of it is on the
GDN web site at: www.gdnet.org/subpages/rapnet/Case_Studies_Synthesis_Summary.html
Bridging research and policy does matter. Reducing poverty,
ensuring food security and meeting the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) - especially the target for the reduction of
undernourishment - will require improved policies in Southern
Africa. Research is one way for policymakers and other stakeholders
to identify which policies are most effective and how they
can best be implemented in different contexts. Though difficult,
the Forum for Food Security in Southern Africa will try to
draw valid generalizations and lessons from existing experience
and theory.
The Overseas Development
Institute has been working on how research could influence
policy process since 1999. The key questions is: 'Why are
some of the ideas that circulate in the research/policy networks
picked up and acted on, while others are ignored and disappear?'.
The answer seems to lie in a combination of several determining
influences, which can broadly be divided into three overlapping
areas: the political context; the credibility of the evidence;
and the intermediaries between policy and research communities.
In addition, international actors have a significant impact
on research and policy processes in Southern Africa. (For
further information, visit RAPID
programme website pages)
These issues are highly pertinent in the context of the food
crisis in Southern Africa. It is important to explore, alongside
the thematic discussions in this e-conference (especially
the policy processes theme), three sets of issues: how can
policy-makers move towards evidence-based policy-making; how
can researchers best use their findings in order to influence
policy-making; how can the role of intermediaries be be improved.
Addressing these issues would help facilitate long term food
security in the region.
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or full list of themes
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