Abstract only

This paper addresses the question raised in the conference title: why has impact assessment research not made more of a difference? Impact assessment research has been carried out for a long time, but we see that the research agenda of most institutions is not significantly affected by its results. What is going wrong? In this paper we will draw from lessons learnt from the development of Tradeoff Analysis (TOA) to help answer this question. Perhaps the most important lesson is that the integration of decision makers, other stakeholders and scientists into the process of impact assessment is a critical element in making an impact with impact assessment. In a companion paper, we address another key issue, namely, the need for suitable methods and tools to implement integrated assessments of agricultural production systems that account for both economic and environmental impacts. The TOA approach is based on the concept that, in order to be used by public policy decision makers and other stakeholders, impact assessment research must be integrated into a process that involves both the decision makers and the scientists engaged in the research. The TOA approach to integrated assessment begins by bringing together decision makers and scientists to identify quantifiable sustainability indicators that are judged to be relevant to assessing the impacts of a production system. This group also formulates hypotheses about relationships between these indicators (which may be either tradeoffs or win- win outcomes), and determines how information about these relationships can best be delivered to the users of the information (decision makers, interest groups, the general public, etc.). The next step in the TOA approach is to develop data and models that are capable of quantifying the sustainability indicators on relevant spatial and temporal scales. Among the critical methodological issues that must be addressed are the availability of suitable data, and methods for appropriately integrating disciplinary data and models into a coherent representation of the agricultural production system. The Tradeoff Analysis Model was developed to facilitate the process of data organization and model integration for application of Tradeoff Analysis. Does the use of TOA guarantee that impact assessments will have an impact? Our experience with developing and applying this approach in Latin America suggests that the involvement of stakeholders and the development of an operational tool that can quantify indicators selected by users can significantly increase the impact. However, there remain important barriers to the use of integrated assessment findings by decision makers and the general public. Scientific data will always be only one of many factors influencing political decisions. The political leadership and public institutions, especially in developing countries, are highly dynamic and the identification of sustainability indicators in the beginning of the research does not mean that those are the indicators the same institution is interested in. Moreover, social concerns about a technology's impacts may be evolving rapidly (as in the case of the use of genetically modified materials), so the relevant set of indicators may change over time. To illustrate these issues, we review how TOA was applied in Ecuador. Key concerns addressed were the economic, environmental, and human health effects of pesticide use, as well as longer-term soil conservation issues related to tillage and land use practices. We describe how research was formulated and how results from the impact assessment were communicated to local, regional and national interest groups; assess the degree of impact that this project had, and draw lessons from this experience for impact assessment research. We conclude that the integration of decision makers, other stakeholders and scientists into the process of impact assessment is a critical element in making an impact with impact assessment.

English

0310|R01CIMPU|AGRIS 0301|AL-Economics Program

Juan Carlos Mendieta

CIMMYT Publications Collection