Recognizing that stakeholders are key to its success, PCARRD recently conducted a stakeholders’ consultation to facilitate the preparation of its corporate plan (CorPlan) for 2011─2016.
Led by PCARRD Executive Director Patricio S. Faylon, participants included the Council’s Directorate; CorPlan Preparation Committee; consortium directors; representatives from national government agencies, private sector, and nongovernment organizations; and the Mandala Agriculture and Development Corporation (MADECOR) External Review Team.
The activity started with the MADECOR team taking stock of the 2005─2010 PCARRD CorPlan. The review covered only the CorPlan’s implementation from 2005-2008 and according to the team, the Council was successful in its execution. A presentation of the 2011-2016 CorPlan framework, vision, and mission then followed.
The consultation was split into three sessions. The first session was a plenary discussion of the concerns and priorities under the Council’s four banner programs, namely: knowledge and technology generation, research and development results utilization, capability-building and human resource development, and policy environment.
Discussion focused on poverty alleviation and food security, natural resources management and sustainable development, frontier and cutting-edge science, global competitiveness, and support to allied agricultural/ forestry services. Also taken up were the Council’s extension strategies, Information and Education Communication (IEC)/ Information and Communication Technology (ICT) platforms, strengthening personnel capabilities, and policy implementation, among other matters.
Session two was a facilitated group discussion wherein the participants were distributed among four technical working groups. The outcomes of each group were then summarized and presented in the third session.
Among the outcomes of the group discussion were the need for a clear, coherent, and strong socioeconomic research and development; development of capability for innovation; and enhancing capability for development.
Also surfacing was the need to rationalize the regional consortia’s programs and their structure as well to mainstream PCARRD’s new technology transfer initiative, the Pinoy Science and Technology (S&T) Services; and to include technology promotion and intellectual property management in programs. Further, suggestions on macro policies impacting the agriculture, forestry and natural resources sectors and financial reforms for S&T were noted.