Examples of Decision-Making Models

Decision-making models are methods available to decision-makers in order to make a choice. Successful decision-making assumes that every decision-maker in a team is clear about how a particular decision will be made. 

Knowing how a particular decision will be made can also help a team or the organization plan their meeting agendas more effectively and lead to a more collaborative team process.

There are a number of possible models for decision making ranging from least participatory to more democratic or decision making by consensus. Stein (2007) summarized these various models:

 

• Team leader decides and informs the team. This model may be appropriate for time-sensitive decisions or for decisions where the team is likely to support and implement the decision regardless of whether or not they have given inputs.

• Team leader gathers input from team then decides. This model may be helpful where expert opinion or input is needed from the team to make the best decision. The synergy of team discussion may lead to a richer decision but the team itself does not need to come to an agreement about the particular course of action.

• Consensus decisions. Consensus decisions include input from and acceptance by each member of the team. Consensus decisions have a very high level of team involvement and can lead to strong, and well supported decisions.

• Consensus with a fallback. This decision making model presets a course of action to be taken if the team is unable to make a decision within an appropriate amount of time. Of course, the time allocated for a particular decision will depend on the decision’s complexity, importance and the difficulty of implementation. The preferred fallback may be to the team leader, who considers the team’s inputs and then decides.

• Team leader sets constraints and delegates decisions to team members. Once team members know about any critical constraints, the team leader can delegate a decision to the team or a subgroup of the team. This decision-making model helps teams share the responsibility for decisions, can help the team and individual members develop decision-making skills, and allows the team leader to use his/her time in another way.

• A popular method is the use of “majority rules.” Majority vote can be an effective decision-making model for low-impact decisions but less effective in value-laden decisions.

The Importance of Planning in Education Management

What is Planning

Available literature (Hoy and Miskel, 1982; Patton and Sawicki, 1986; Lunenburg and Ornstein, 1991; Bateman and Zeithaml, 1993; William Garner, 2003; Victoria L. Bernhardt, 2006) states that planning is a conscious, systematic process during which decisions are made about the goals and activities that an individual, group, work unit, or organization will pursue in the future. It is the consensus of experts that planning is not an informal or haphazard group of decisions made in response to a crisis. Rather, it is a purposeful effort, directed and controlled by education managers but often drawing on the knowledge and experience of employees throughout the organization.

Planning is a decision-making process that requires expertise from different disciplines and necessitates cross-collaboration among different stakeholders. For example, the comprehensive education plan that an education sector adopts and implements for a country is not just the work of education policy makers, but that of a pool of education stakeholders that includes students, teachers, education officials, parents, and even the business and government sectors.

The planning process is also an organizational strategy used to respond to problems that beset the organizations. Planning is often equated to a problem-solving process that normally starts with problem definition and description, followed by various forms of analysis, which might include simulation and modeling, prediction and prescription of design, often involving the evaluation of alternative solutions to the problem.

Importance of Planning

One cannot overemphasize the importance of planning in an organization or in a sector like education. Planning is the process that clarifies for the organization or the sector the long-term direction. It defines the current state of the organization or sector and where it is going next. It also provides the focus for resources, energy and activity. It ensures continuous focus on educational priorities and clearly defines the sequence of events that must occur to implement the vision.

In education, for example, teaching is a highly complex, purposeful activity, and is intended to help pupils move forward so that they can add to their knowledge, understanding and skills. Spontaneity and creativity are useful attributes, but effective teachers must succeed in managing the classroom environment in order to maximize the opportunities for all pupils to learn. Although there always remains some place for the spontaneous, the intuitive and the serendipitous, planning is fundamental to creating an effective learning environment and ensuring that pupils make progress.

Education planning is also important in order to address the diverse learning needs of pupils. It is important to note that to maximize learning, it is imperative to consider individual differences in learning style, interest, motivation and aptitude. Teachers, therefore, should impart knowledge, understanding and skills in ways that suit learners’ abilities.

Differentiation is clearly linked with the principle of equality of opportunity. The opportunity to learn effectively is a right for all learners, and it is enshrined in most schools' mission statement and curricular aims and objectives. Differentiation is necessary to secure an effective curriculum. It puts the emphasis firmly on what is learned, rather than what is taught.

A taught curriculum may be broad, balanced and relevant, but this has little meaning unless these are also features of what is learned. Effective learning depends on the confidence and motivation of the learner. Confidence brings motivation and motivation brings achievement. The focus upon maximized learning, therefore, means we need to take into account whatever differences learners may present in the classroom. Thus, education planning requires teachers to think about what can be done to:

•  identify need;
• set learning objectives or learning outcomes;
• organize learning experiences;
• develop appropriate resources;
• assign tasks; and
•  assess achievement.

Issues in Cambodia's Garments Industry

2006

 

The garments and textiles industry is a rapidly rising manufacturing industry in Cambodia that raked in a high revenue rate of US$1.9 Billion in year 2004. To date, the garments industry is the country’s largest source of export revenues. A total of 270,000 rural-based garments workers are directly employed in the country’s 226 clothing factories, almost ninety percent (90%) of whom are women aged between 18 and 25 years. Cambodia’s garment industry accounts for 98% of its exports, a most promising industry after the country has been stricken by poverty while recovering from the vestiges of the Khmer Rouge genocide.

 Cambodia, being the newest member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), enjoyed free and ready access to the US and European markets, thereby embracing globalization and gearing up toward global competition. Cambodia, as a developing country, enjoyed being covered by the 1974 Multi-Fiber Agreement or MFA, a US protectionist measure safeguarding the US apparel Industry. The agreement that set the stage for a quota system limited the volume of garment exports from various countries. The MFA was drafted under the oversight of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

 

The end of the 40-year existence of the Multi-Fiber Agreement (MFA) in 2004 signaled the onset of free trade that has put Cambodia’s garment and textile industry at a relatively disadvantaged economic position. The phase out of the quotas left some countries dangerously exposed with few comparative or competitive advantages. The MFA was replaced by the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) since the former violated principles of fair multilateral trade by discriminating against developing countries especially in Asia. The ATC mandates a transitional and gradual phase out of quotas within a ten-year period by year 2005. 

In lieu of the MFA, the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) allowed the quantities of imports under quotas to grow annually. It is an agreement that implements the phasing out of quotas under the MFA.

For a country that has been under a communist rule for 25 years, integration into the free market opens Cambodia up to a new economic system where global competitiveness may mean alteration of work practices and institutions in relation to factory labor conditions and standards. Concurrently, Cambodia possesses very few competitive advantages such as cheap labor costs and the industry’s respect for workers’ rights. However, the threat of bureaucratic problems concerning widespread corruption and its dependence on total importation of raw materials for garments production may render the future of the industry quite bleak if these constraints are not finally addressed.

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E-Government experience in the Philippines

ICT in the Philippines started with the computerization efforts of the government in 1971 establishing the National Computer Center (NCC) by virtue of Executive Order 322. NCC was designated as the primary government agency responsible for directing IT application toward national development. Its functions include technical and professional ICT assistance to national and local government agencies, the ICT industry and civil society.

However, much of the Government efforts toward ICT development and utilization have been made within the past decade when more enthusiasm was gained partly from the belief that modern technology can transform the often negative image of the government. Such efforts provide the legal framework for ICT in the Philippines. These include the National Information Technology Plan 2000 (NITP2000), RPWEB, National Information Technology Plan for the 21st Century or IT21, the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP), 1999-2004 or “Angat Pinoy 2004”, and the Government Information Systems Plan (GISP).

In 1994, the government adopted NITP2000 and created the National Information Technology Council (NITC) as the central policy body on ICT matters in the country and tasked to coordinate the NITP2000’s implementation. For the first time, the government developed a comprehensive plan and strategies for the development of the ICT in the industry and the public sector.

In 1997, then President Fidel V. Ramos ordered the establishment of RPWEB as a response to the pressing need for viable and cost-effective communication and information exchange system for efficiency in intergovernmental communications and transactions. Specifically, RPWEB was aimed at directing all government agencies including local government units (LGUs) to undertake electronic interconnection through the internet.

Learning from the previous initiatives, the government launched IT21 in 1998, aimed at documenting the Philippines’ common vision and broad strategy to spur the country to global competitiveness through IT. The IT21 was designed to attain its vision under a three-phased action agenda:

• Phase 1 (1998 – 2000) or the period for consolidation and providing new impetus to initiatives was mainly concerned with building the infrastructure for businesses, government agencies, schools, families and individuals to have access to IT.
• Phase 2  (2001 – 2005) or the period for building on the momentum gained is quite within its target of enabling the Philippines to produce competitive IT products. Certainly, the Philippines today is one of the countries riding the wave of business outsourcing with foreign clients served with IT-enabled products and services ranging from global call center to 3D animation to software development.
• Phase 3 (2006 – 2010) or the realization of the vision of the Philippines becoming a Knowledge Center in Asia is on its way with IT education and training in the country becoming more and more globally competitive

Similar efforts were supported under the MTPDP, which contains some of the strategies and initiatives of promoting IT investments to improve the country’s technological stock. Some of the major initiatives stipulated in the MTPDP include (i) utilization of IT in business and trade; (ii) policy framework which includes the Republic Act No. 8792 or the E-Commerce Law passed in June 2000; and (iii) governance and institution development through judicious utilization of IT and institutionalizing reforms, administrative systems and procedures. The latter however has yet to be realized as majority of government units are still trapped in the traditional long, cumbersome, paper-intensive transactions.

In support to the MTPDP, the Information Technology and Electronic Commerce Council (ITECC) was formed in 2000. ITECC is the result of the merger of NITC and the Electronic Commerce Promotion Council (ECPC) which was a response to the country’s requirement for a coordinating body to enhance public-private partnerships for e-commerce development. ITECC was formed mainly to streamline and focus government initiatives in ICT.

Consistent with the initiatives and objectives contained in the MTPDP, the Government Information Systems Plan (GISP) was approved and adopted in 2002 as the overall framework and master plan for applying ICT in government. GISP specifically sets the enabling policy and institutional infrastructure and environment, as well as the direction, priorities, and benchmarks for computerization of key government operations and activities.

At the lower levels, agencies are now required to prepare their Information Systems Strategic Plan (ISSP) as part of their normal planning process. ISSP embodies a government agency’s overall strategic plan for the development and implementation of information systems, the use of IT and corresponding resource requirements. While agencies have their own initiatives under ISSP, GISP still provides the overall direction. Hence, ISSPs have to be consistent with the thrusts of GISP.
Currently, the government agencies are at various stages of implementing e-government in their operations. Some of the more developed e-government projects include:

• GSIS eCard. The Government Service Insurance System’s eCard is one of the more recent innovations by a government agency. The E-Card is a combination of G2E and B2C ICT application by serving as the electronic identification and claims card of GSIS members and as a savings account at a private bank (UnionBank) respectively. As an electronic ID, the card contains all relevant information on the card owner as regards to GSIS matters. With this card, members need not go to GSIS offices to file applications and claims for GSIS benefits. They can actually withdraw the amount claimed from any accredited ATM. 
• BOC EDI Gateway and Super Green Lane. The Bureau of Customs (BOC) electronic network allows companies to transact with BOC and make shipping declarations. The Super Green Lane intends to provide the top importers ship-to-truck release of goods.
• E-Census. The National Statistics Office’s (NSO) website and call center allow Filipinos to request for birth, marriage, no-marriage and death certificates electronically.

Some observations on privatized service delivery system in the Philippines

Privatization seems to be an ideal solution to our problem in water. Providers compete in a race-to-the-bottom bidding making them offer the best and most acceptable promises in improving our water service delivery. While such promises were very enticing, they proved to be superficial.

There are undeniable issues in privatization that are being overlooked. In fact the side effects of privatization can lead to more unfavorable outcomes for developing countries Philippines developing countries and they may be worse off than before. Below are general issues that can be observe in the privatization of our water sector.

Advantage only to the advantaged. Although privatizing the water sector is intended to benefit all citizens within the covered area, the reality is that the main beneficiaries of the reforms are those that are well-off. Privatization has resulted in increased cost in water of many Filipinos contradictory to the promised decrease in water bills.

The poor are at the disadvantaged end since the service is delivered at a higher price laying greater burden on them.

Shift in Values. Privatizing public services, critics claim, undermines public interest in favor of economic gains. This happens because providers are at the natural tendency to maximize their profits. Hence, values such as quality or customer satisfaction maybe overlooked. This very true in the case of our water sector. Since water is a necessity, the demand is relatively price inelastic and people will continue to consume anyway. Hence, private concessionaires, in attempts to maximize profits will increase their prices knowing very well that demand will not be decreased.

Centralization of decision-making. Under traditional public service delivery, the people are being involved in the identification of their own needs and in the planning and design of the services they need. However, with privatization, people’s participation becomes unnecessary. This is because the provider is using its own resources to operate and thus solely responsible for its own self. Again, this characteristic of privatization undermines public interest.

Precision Agriculture: just enough is more

This article is based on the 2007 study “Assessing and Increasing the Readiness of Selected LGUs in CALABARZON for Precision Agriculture” by D. Medrana.

Just enough is more.

The farming sector took this principle to come up with Precision Agriculture (PA), a viable and holistic farming system to produce more with just enough resources.

PA relies on spatial information to identify the variability within a field, and manage such variability to optimize profit and production while minimizing the adverse environmental impacts.

With PA, farmers can vary input use and cultivation methods including the application of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and water; variety selection; planting; tillage; and harvesting to match the varying soil and crop conditions across a field (Srinivasan 2002). This would normally result in input savings and higher productivity.

PA also serves as a decision support tool by providing site-specific information like climatic condition, and the suitability of a crop or a cropping system in a given locality among others.
In a world where globalization has added intricacy to concerns on food insecurity and natural resource degradation, precision in agriculture can be viable development response.
Can we get a bit more precise?

 While PA offers tremendous farm productivity improvements, its adoption among farmers in the developing world is still very low. One contention is that its benefits may not be sufficient to justify the entailed cost of PA equipment.

Indeed, for Filipino farmers, most of whom are smallholders with an average farm size of 2.5 ha (IFAD 2006), the savings on inputs from PA may not be very significant as to cover the cost of modern tools.

Nevertheless, the principle behind PA is highly applicable in the developing world. But for it to be viable in the Philippines, it should build on the existing technology and resource endowments. Even the use of traditional and existing modern technologies in the Philippines in PA can attain some level of precision.

Hence, “Yes, we can get a bit more precise.”

Precision means benefits
In PA, greater precision means greater possibility of benefits. This means that developing countries, with their relatively lack of precision technology, can only attain a certain level of precision. But just how precise can we actually get?

This question is best answered by actual developing country experiences. For example, from 1997 to 2000, on-farm experiments at 179 sites in eight irrigated rice countries (Dobermann et. al. 2004) evaluated the performance of site-specific nutrient management (SSNM). SSNM was found to be most profitable at sites in China, Southern India, and the Philippines, with average profit increases ranging from US $57 to US $82 / ha per crop.

In the Philippines, precision is a principle highly valued by sugarcane farmers in the provinces of Negros, Tarlac, Bukidnon and Batangas, four of the Philippines’ largest sugarcane producers.
Precise information on soil types; slopes; elevation; land use; climate; and input-output records such as fertilizer, irrigation, variety, planting, and harvesting dates, pest and diseases guide sugarcane farmers in making critical farm decisions.

The maps produced by the geographical information system (GIS), a component technology of PA have also become useful references in making lease agreements.

Given its potential benefits to the agriculture and natural resources sectors, PA could be one of the most effective strategies to achieve sustainable development in the third world. Developing countries may not get as precise as the developed countries, but at least, some level of precision earns some level of additional benefits. (D. Medrana, S&T Media Service)

References:
Dobermann, Achim, Simon Blackmore, Simon E. Cook, Viacheslav I. Adamchuk. 2004. Precision Farming: Challenges and Future Directions. A paper published in "New directions for a diverse planet," proceedings of the 4th International Crop Science Congress, 26 Sep – 1 Oct 2004. Brisbane, Australia. Published on CDROM.

IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development). 2006. Geography, agriculture and the economy of the Philippines. An article posted at the Rural Poverty Portal, http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org last accessed February 2007.
Srinivasan, Ancha. 2002. Precision Agriculture, Modeling and Land Use Planning. Institute for Global Environmental Studies. Japan.

Decentralization in the Philippines

The end of the Second World War saw the Philippines’ foundation of a new era in the field of governance. For the first time, after four decades of foreign administration, the Filipinos had the chance to govern over themselves as a free nation.

However, like most of the newly established republics during that era, the Philippines had to deal with harsh political, economic and social transformation. And despite the clamor for a decentralized form of government, nation building and national recovery required a more centralized structure.

The calls for public sector efficiency, the democratization of political system, and the changing economic landscape, nevertheless, have triggered significant developments toward self governance within the last 50 years of the 20^th century. These include Local Autonomy Act of 1959, the passage of the Barrio Charter and the Decentralization Act of 1967 which are “incremental national legislations in response to the clamor for a self-rule concept” (UNESCAP 2003).

It also became apparent to many legislators and politicians that much of the country’s seemingly intractable problems stemmed in no small measure from the government’s highly centralized structure (Quizon et. al. 2003).

Hence, a significant development was the enshrinement in the Philippine Constitutions of 1972 and 1987 of the Government’s policy to create:

“a local government code which shall provide for a more responsive and accountable local government structure instituted through a system of decentralization with effective mechanisms of recall, initiative and referendum..”

Further, the Constitutions provide that the Congress shall:
 

“..allocate among the different local government units their powers, responsibilities and resources and provide for the qualifications, election, appointment, removal, terms, salaries, powers, functions and duties of local officials and all other matters relating to the organization and operation of the local units."

The 1987 Constitution further provided that local government units, as political and territorial subdivisions, “shall enjoy genuine and meaningful local autonomy to enable them to attain their fullest development as self-reliant communities and make them more effective partners in the attainment of national goals.”

In keeping with these legal mandates, the Philippine Congress passed the Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991 (LGC). The LGC was the country’s biggest attempt at decentralization primarily because of its four outstanding features. First, it puts the responsibility of basic service delivery on the shoulders of the local government units (LGUs). Second, it grants the LGUs considerable regulatory powers. Third, it increases the financial resources of the LGUs through increased internal revenue allotment (IRA). And fourth, the code recognizes and encourages the active participation of civil society in the process of governance (Brillantes 1997).

These features, however, make the LGC also seem ambitious. While the devolution of responsibilities and powers from the national government had started since the onset of the LGC, the LGUs had not much time to prepare. And while several provinces and municipalities seem to perform fairly well in areas like local administration and delivery of central government functions, much work is needed to prepare the rest for the devolved functions and responsibilities.

One specific area that many LGUs have yet to build capability for is LFPM. The fiscal decentralization afforded to LGUs by the LGC has made sound LFPM very important in Philippine local governments. Specifically, this function is crucial for all LGUs as the quality of their service delivery would heavily rely on their ability to generate and manage resources effectively. Especially for the poorer provinces and municipalities, LFPM is a daunting challenge. T

he solution, nevertheless, lies in the active participation of the civil society, which is an inherent feature of the LGC. This feature recognizes the important role of the civil society and provides a strong foundation for a vibrant participatory governance. Section 3 of the LGC specifically states that the “participation of the private sector in local governance, particularly in the delivery of basic services, shall be encouraged to ensure the viability of local autonomy as an alternative strategy for sustainable development.” This provision supports bottom-up, or community-based planning wherein both the local government and its constituents influence and share in the control over development initiatives, decisions, and resources that affect them.

Source: D. Medrana, et. al (unpublished)

The Philippines needs greater investment in Science and Technology.

Over the past decades, countries, especially the more advanced ones saw that the fruits of their continuous innovation process can have significant contribution towards their economic development. Specifically, the high level of Science and Technology Activities (STAs) has fueled their bid for economic and social progress. The rapid economic growth achieved by some countries in the 1990s, for instance, can be characterized as driven by rapid creation of knowledge and technologies.

In the case of Philippine agriculture, success stories resulting from science-based knowledge or technologies are not lacking. The achievements of Masagana 99, the breakthrough in mango flower induction, and the tilapia sex reversal technology are among the more familiar examples of such stories.

Nevertheless, many of what have been achieved in the past were not without struggles for financial support from the government and other donors. Together with economic decline, funds for STAs have dramatically decreased. Fund shortage has persisted through decades and has even worsened in the recent years that today, government investment in agriculture S&T and S&T as a whole is nothing short of dismal.

Clamor for increased investments in agriculture S&T is gaining renewed momentum as the country’s economic and social standing continue to worsen. Considering that 75% of the rural poor and more than a third of all working Filipinos are dependent in agriculture for income and employment, investing in agriculture S&T is one of the most direct strategies for decreasing poverty and promoting equal opportunities for socio-economic growth. However, this poses a strong challenge before the now much smaller public funds and may jeopardize budgets for other sectors.

Precision Agriculture

Precision Agriculture

excerpt from D. Medrana (2007)

Concerns for increased agricultural production and sustainable environment in the developed world have led to the inception of Precision Agriculture, a holistic farm management approach that relies on spatial information to optimize profitability and productivity while minimizing the adverse environmental impacts.

Precision agriculture (PA) was first introduced in the United States during the 1980s as a response to environmental problems resulting from agricultural activities like the use of chemical fertilizer and pesticides (Liu et. al. 2003). Over the years, the developments in information and communications technology (ICT) such as satellite imagery and global positioning system (GPS) have led to the expansion of PA’s applications and to its further development into what it is today in the developed countries – an integration of new and emerging technologies (e.g. GPS, geographical information system, variable rate farm input applicators, remote sensing, and telecommunications) to identify and manage the variability (e.g., soil nutrient requirement, pesticide requirement, and yield potential) within a field to improve production, increase profits and minimize the environmental impacts.

Specifically, PA, through its associated technologies, enables farmers to vary input use and cultivation methods including application of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and water; variety selection; planting; tillage; and harvesting to match the varying soil and crop conditions across a field (Srinivasan 2002). This would normally result in input savings and higher productivity. Also, PA serves as a decision support tool by providing site-specific information like climatic condition, and the suitability of a crop or a cropping system in a given farm among others.

The two main PA benefits often cited in literature are very much relevant to the developing countries’ concerns. Such benefits are (i) the increase in agricultural production (from improved crop/farm yield) or reduction in input costs which address food security issues brought about by large and fast growing population; and (ii) the sustainability of the environment and natural resources as a result of systematic use and/or reduction of chemical inputs in agricultural production and sustainable management of soil and water resources in agriculture.

From a global perspective, PA has strong positive implications on the world food scenario. It is specifically a very promising tool for increasing agricultural and food production. Since increases in agricultural land area for food would not suffice the expected increase in world food requirement, the necessary increases in production should come from crop and/or farm yield improvements, which PA may effectively deliver. Considering that at least about 50 million people will be added to the world’s population every year up to 2020, precision agriculture would definitely play a very important role in increasing food production, especially in the developing world where majority of such population growth is expected to occur.

In terms of sustaining the environment, PA may prescribe good agricultural practices (GAP) through the precise recommendation of chemical inputs only at levels required. It can also prescribe reasonable farm practices, those that comply with existing environmental policies, so that farmers within a locality would be led towards practicing sustainable agricultural production.

Intellectual Property Protection: Some Implications

The principal public policy rationale for protection of intellectual property is that it provides direct, socially beneficial incentives to innovate, while also facilitating further innovation by mandating public disclosure of the patented technology (Pardey, et. al., 2003). This indeed encourages innovators and R&D practitioners to pursue research as they are ensured to fully benefit from the fruits of their work. This stimulates further innovation as other researchers collect new insights from the diclosed IPR-protected technologies.

IP protection also have positive implications on the economy, as experienced by many. Industries are developed from new IPs creating opportunities for income and employment. Japan for instance, has a long list of successful business start-ups emerging from new technologies that were protected. There is the Toyota Group, Matsushita, Sony, and Honda to mention a few. Moreover, IPR ensures that the infrastructure necessary for the growth of industries and other sectors are protected.

There are arguments, however warning on the downside of IP protection in the developing world. Among the most debated issues is the access to affordable medicines in the developing countries. As IP rights are strengthened all over the world, the prices of medicines are likely to increase limitng the poor's access to medicines. In this case, the social cost of IP protection seems to have exceeded its benefits. Some experts believe that for the developing countries, stronger IPR is not necessarily better, at least in the short run.
 
References:
Pardey, D., B.D. Wright, C. Nottenburg, E. Binenbaum, and P. Zambrano. 2003. “Intellectual Property and Developing Countries: Freedom to Operate in Agricultural Biotechnology.” In Research at a Glance posted at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), http://www.ifpri.org/divs/eptd/dp/papers/eptdp70.pdf

Rich countries: not ready for fair trade?

Due to inequitable global trading policies, which are dominated by rich countries, the gap between the developed and developing countries has become wider.

In previous trade negotiation rounds, the developed countries’ defensive interests in the agriculture, textile, and apparel sectors among others have limited liberalizing concessions in these areas. While they are aggressively pushing for liberalization of some important sectors like manufacturing and services in the developed countries, they are not ready to go beyond modest agricultural liberalization measures.

Meanwhile, talks stalled at the Doha Development Round of the WTO due to failure of reaching an agreement over opening up agricultural and industrial markets in various countries and also on cutting farm subsidies in rich nations. Most rich countries, with their apparently stronger bargaining power in the negotiation tables, have missed every deadline on reducing market distorting mechanisms and barriers to trade.

It is therefore a challenge for the developing countries, to strengthen their position in the negotiation tables, similar to how the G20 developing nations posed a strong stance in the Doha round.

Biofuels and Food Secutiry: A Balancing Act!

The biofuels era has arrived. More and more countries are now joining the world bandwagon in the search for sustainable sources of energy. In the Philippines, a lot of farmers are shifting to biofuel crops for supposedly higher income. Income per hectare of biofuel crops is said to be better than a hectare of food crops like corn and rice, but authorities have yet to come up with a more reliable estimate on this. Be that as it may, the farming sector is showing so much excitement about biofuel crops like Jatropha, sweet sorghum, sugarcane and cassava.

While farmers are in an eager state, development advocates are not – and for valid reasons. If conversion of food production lands into biofuel plantations continues, food security would be jeopardized. Right now, food self-sufficiency issues crop up across the globe. If food areas are reduced in favor of biofuels, more people around the world would go hungry. A balancing act on biofuels and food must therefore be on top of every country’s policy agenda. In some countries, advocates are pushing for limiting the conversion of agricultural food lands. Still, others are advocating for non-competition of biofuel and food crops by limiting the former in non-agricultural, sloping and marginal lands.

The development community plays a significant role in helping pull off their balancing act through information, education and communication on the economics of biofuels and through sustainable development interventions / assistance.

Food Safety: A Development Strategy

In recent years, food safety has earned a greater degree of socio-economic and policy importance. Greater interest is placed on food safety as part of development efforts among countries. The heightened interest is partly a result of greater recognition of the strong links between safe food and human well-being.
Recent data reveal a growing number of food-borne ailments and food contamination. The poor are especially most vulnerable to such risks. Without good health, the poor populations could not perform economic activities that allow them to earn some income and buy food. Without safe food, the risks are high especially for the poorer populations.

Interest in food safety is also a reflection of the changing consumer demands and the new imperatives of international trade. Importing countries have put in place quality and safety standard to be complied with by all food imports. And disruptions in the international trading activities of many developing countries have increased due to failures of meeting such food quality standards. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (2004), the major causes of rejection of Asian food exports include unacceptable pesticide residue levels in fruits and vegetables, antibiotic residues in seafood and poultry, pathogens in seafood and mycotoxins in crops.

New Paradigm of Agricultural Research and Extension in the Philippines

The Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) of 1997 offers some corrective measures on the gaps left by the Local Government Code (LGC) of the Philippines as far as agricultural research and extension delivery is concerned.

AFMA involves the state colleges and universities (SCUs) in agricultural extension. It mandates the SCUs to assist the LGUs by improving their effectiveness and efficiency in extension delivery through capability-building and complementary extension activities. These include technical assistance, training of LGU extension personnel, improvement of physical facilities, and extension cum research and information support services. It also provides for the "development of national extension system that will help accelerate the transformation of Philippine agriculture and fisheries from a resource-based to a technology-based industry." It attempts to pursue this by defining the roles and encouraging the participation of the LGUs, SCUs and private sector in agricultural extension.

Private sector contribution is encouraged especially the participation of farmers and fisher folk cooperatives and associations and others in the private sector in training and other complementary extension services especially in community organizing, use of participatory approaches, popularization of training materials, regenerative agricultural technologies, agri-business and management skills (Saliot 2006).

Article by: D. Medrana, 2008
References:
Saliot, Asterio P. 2006. Philippine Agriculture and Fishery Extension System: Lessons Learned and the Way Forward after Fifteen Years of Devolution. A presentation material at the 15th UP Diliman Governance Forum held on October 19, 2006.

Privatization Waves in the Philippines

Privatization in the Philippines is taking place in three waves:

The First Wave
The first wave of privatization took place in 1986 and 1987 when the country was faced with serious financial problems aggravated by the presence of non-performing assets and bankrupt agencies. These properties were mostly foreclosed and sequestered by Government banks but which left millions of loans for the Government to also assume payment. These included assets regained from the deposed President Ferdinand Marcos and his friends and relatives. Faced with a crisis, the Government decided to dispose such assets by reselling to private parties.

The Second Wave
The second wave started in 1990 with the privatization in the power sector. The projects that were implemented under the privatized scheme of Build-Operate and Transfer met with considerable success. Hence, similar schemes were replicated in other areas following the expansion and improvement of RA 6957or the BOT Law. Various delivery schemes were employed in areas of infrastructure such as roads, seaports, airports, water and even Information Technology.

The Third Wave
This is the current stage of privatization in the Philippines. Under this stage, there are additional areas where privatization schemes are being adopted. These include housing, health, postal services, and pension funds.

New Public Management (NPM)'s Agenda

New Public Management (NPM), an innovating public management concept pursues “a government that works better and costs less" with its agenda:

• NPM pursues “a government that works better and costs less" with its agenda:


• Decentralization


• Marketization


• Desegregation


• Competition and markets


• Efficiency strategies


• Reduction in size of units / downsizing


• Proper management practices


• Consumer orientation


• Performance measurements

Perhaps the most definitive characteristic of the “new public management” is the greater salience given to what is called the three “e’s” - economy, efficiency and effectiveness as opposed to other values of government activity such as accessibility, openness, fairness, impartiality, legitimacy, participation, honesty and rationality.

Marketization: A Development Concept

Marketization, as a management / organizational concept is the adoption of market principles to public management. In the context of service delivery, Marketization means letting the service be delivered by competing market players for profit / incentive providing consumers a range of choices on the service they need. This will require the government to let private providers to compete with the traditional government providers or even better, let the private providers compete while the governments take on the role of facilitators enabling the market to function properly.

A major focus of marketization is the concept of competition which is necessary for the market to function well. Moreover, competitive environments provide innovation and continuous improvement, maximizing benefits while preventing price-gouging. With this, many consider marketization of public services as a potential solution for some of the weaknesses and problems in the traditional bureaucracy.

One of the ways of marketizing public services is contracting or more popularly known today as outsourcing. It can be observed that today’s governments are increasingly interested to outsource their services to non-governmental entities. This is not so surprising because outsourcing has had significant positive results to some of the public services. The benefits from such schemes include cost reduction, greater flexibility, access to skills, and innovation.

Marketization Models in Germany

Competitive powers have increased in the public sector of Germany over the last decade. This has been caused by the worldwide mainstream of neoliberal thinking and NPM. Two major forms of competition can be observed – non-market/quasi-market competition and the market competition. Related activities which fall under these two types of competition follow a number of trends.

One trend is the autonomization and corporatization of public entities, particularly at the local level. Over the past 20 years, more governmental units such as schools, hospitals, cultural organization, infrastructure, water or energy, maintenance and cleaning have moved from being an integral part of the Government toward a more autonomous status. The objective was to gain separate legal status and be able to enter the market.

Another trend is the benchmarking or performance measurement activity in the German public sector, predominantly at the local level. The aim was to establish a set of performance indicators that are related to the different products / services of the local bureaucracies. Such indicators are important such that in the absence of market competition, local governments compete on the basis of the set standard of performance and they are evaluated on the basis of these indicators. It is this kind of "competition by benchmarking" when public sector reformers in Germany speak about competition.

The introduction of internal markets into public sector organizations is another trend that has emerged in Germany. This model proposes a service level agreement between internal service units within a government agency. It is presumed that both the provider and the providee will negotiate on the terms and fees in the delivery of a service thereby simulating a market within the organization. This is what is referred to as "internal market."

Development Concept: Marketization of Public Services in New York

New York was one of US cities that first realized the benefits of sourcing out private providers to perform jobs that were once exclusive to the state government. The 1995 Governor Geroge E. Pataki remarked that "competitive bidding between the public and the private sector can lower costs and provide more efficient deliver of services."

Indeed, New York experienced efficiency gains since marketizing some of its public services. For example, it spends about 3 million dollars annually on highway maintenance, bus transit subsidies, mental health facilities, motor vehicles record keeping, human resource management, prisons, and welfare and Medicaid administration. In just these areas, about 5 to 50 percent efficiency is estimated to be achieved. Such gains can be translated into hundreds of millions of dollars every year and it can be larger when other areas are considered for outsourcing.

Since 1995, the state has contracted out services in areas including janitorial and custodial work, facility design, warehousing, courier and package delivery, sate bakeries and warehouses, and management of park concession stands at state parks. One of the felt benefits that the state government had from marketization is that it is now operating with 20,000 less payroll employees than a decade ago.