Another collaborative program between the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) is on its way to develop a mixed method approach to impact assessment.
The program titled “Development of Mixed Method Approach to Impact Assessment of Philippine Research Projects,” was approved for implementation for two years starting in March 2018.
Relative to the Impact Assessment Program (IAP) of PCAARRD, the newly-approved program is considered a milestone after its first successful collaboration with ACIAR way back in 2007. PCAARRD greatly benefitted from this earlier collaboration since it helped institutionalize the IAP in the Council and helped enhanced the local capacities in conducting impact evaluation studies.
This newly approved collaboration was conceptualized after observing that R&D projects are becoming increasingly complex, multi- or trans-disciplinary and occur in dynamic settings. Both PCAARRD and ACIAR recognize the need for more holistic and multidimensional approaches in assessing the projects’ economic, social, and environmental impacts such as the mixed method approach. The approach will be more powerful in capturing impacts since it will combine predominantly quantitative and qualitative approaches in data collection, analysis and interpretation.
The collaboration is divided into three components: development of methodology, application and fine-tuning, and capability building. PCAARRD and ACIAR are co-investors in this activity wherein two projects are being simultaneously and jointly implemented by Filipino and Australian teams. The Filipino team is headed by Dr. Jose V. Camacho Jr. of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) and Dr. Fe M. Gabunada of the Visayas State University (VSU). Meanwhile, the Australian team is led by Ms. Alison Laing of Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO).
The methodology that will be developed will be applied and tested in three R&D programs implemented in the country namely: Landcare Program in Claveria, Misamis Oriental and Bohol Province; Mango Integrated Crop Management project in Davao del Norte; and Conservation Farming Villages in Davao del Norte and Negros Occidental.