DFID Research Strategy (2008-2013). Consultations in South Africa
Abstract
This report presents in summary form the findings of the research consultation exercise undertaken in South Africa to inform DFID's research strategy for the period 2008-2013. The exercise entailed one-on-one interviews with 23 opinion leaders in various sectors of the broader research community in South Africa (listed in Annex 1 of the report).
The report documents the viewpoints of the respondents in DFID's four priority themes. It covers both the substantive issues raised in relation to research areas and the creation of an environment which is conducive to the undertaking of useful types of research. Finally, it considers what mechanisms and processes can promote the uptake of research findings in policy work and the integration of research findings into the work of civil society and applied development arena.
Important areas identified for the different research sectors are highlighted below.
Agriculture
- Assessment of the impact of changes in global and national agriculture over the past 2 decades on small producers
- Rural production systems (to involve multidisciplinary teams)
- Improvements in agricultural production
- Improvements in water security
- Innovations in water harvesting
- Development of an agricultural research agenda
Health
The real need identified by respondents for the killer diseases and
healthcare theme was to build the capacity of agencies implementing
HIV/AIDs and other health related programmes. Respondents noted that
South Africa has a rich tradition of research and good experience in
identifying research demands and priorities, but that the outputs are
not easily accessible to all stakeholders. There are insufficient
opportunities to share knowledge or to develop new areas of knowledge.
It was considered that funding of larger research projects is better as
the administrative costs are lower, there is the possibility of greater
contribution to knowledge development, and to developing research
capacity. Capacity building is key to a sustainable health research
system.
Respondents pointed out that DFID must not duplicate the work being funded by other donors, and that any programmes funded by DFID, e.g. against HIV/AIDs, must be aligned to the national strategic plant programmes and targets as well as to national research programmes and policy.
Governance
DFID could play a greater role in supporting policy-oriented research
at the state and non-state level, and for programmes and strategy.
Provision needs to be made in the budget for inclusion of stakeholders,
and all stakeholders and constituencies, particularly those who are the
ultimate users of the research, need to be included in the research
design process. The impact of un/employment on poverty should be a key
research question.
Climate change
Research is needed on enhancing the ability to cope with natural
disasters such as droughts and floods, and with high climate variability
in general. Gaps in current research include the impact of climate
change on the poor. There is a clear need for a coherent regional
strategy on climate change. The results of basic scientific research on
climate change need to be captured as higher-level policy-relevant
conclusions to stand a better chance of influencing policy makers.
Important issues include the impacts of responses to climate climate
change, such as the effects of an increase of the tax on airmiles or
food-miles on South African fruit producers whose main export market is
Europe, the issue of food versus fuel production, and the impact of
climate variability on food availability.
Climate change scientists feel very strongly about the need to set up what they refer to as a climate change interface capacity. This would be to enable the translation of the knowledge base for the purposes of communicating with a diverse stakeholder base. This task is not a one-way undertaking, but must be a dialogue between stakeholders and researchers, which is time and labour-intensive. It requires development work on communications, tailoring of products and messages, exploring the modes and means of transferance of findings and knowledge, as well as feeding back to scientists. One example of this in a different context is the UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP).
Recommendation
It is recommended that DFID's CRD considers making additional
resources available to host workshops that draw in sector and
cross-sector experts from South Africa and across Southern Africa to
engage in a series of 'DFID Development Dialogues', specifically
around research issues pertinent to DFID's four priority themes. This
report could be used to inform these dialogues that would constitute a
deepening, more continuous consultative process with partners in the
sub-region.
Citation
Ainslie, A.; Hassan, A. DFID ResearchStrategy (2008-2013). Consultations in South Africa. (2007) 52 pp.
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