updated: 11 February, 2008
pattern

Pro-poor policy dialogue for change
Learning note (draft)

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This draft Note relates to KSF1: Country relevance, commitment and partnerships
Version: January 2008

Core issues

Project design may call for a dialogue to address policy issues, legal or regulatory constraints that, if not resolved, would limit potential project benefits to the rural poor or jeopardise the replicability of investment approaches. Through a single, often localised, project IFAD can seldom lever major changes to national policies and change should be sought only when essential for project success. Where possible, financing should not be made conditional on policy change. However IFAD’s practical experience of pro-poor agricultural development can provide strong advocacy towards adjusting the application of policies and regulations, to the extent needed to ensure that project benefits successfully reach specific target groups. Dialogue may yield more substantial policy changes if IFAD’s advocacy is linked to similar pressures from other financing agencies or donors.

Whether acting alone or in alliances, policy dialogue should first create government appreciation of constraints and acceptance of the need for policy change. Such awareness may have initially been expressed in dialogue over IFAD’s Results-based Country Strategic Opportunities Programme (RB-COSOP), then be reinforced during the design of a specific follow-up project. Once dialogue has advanced to agreement on specific policy changes, these need to be formally adopted by both sides.

Proposals for policy dialogue should provide for analysis of the topics to be addressed, drawing as appropriate on consultations from community level upwards, rural diagnostic studies and socio-economic surveys, past IFAD experience, national background data, and the views of high-level administrators and other decision makers, legislators and government ministers.

Operational measures and procedures for implementation of the agreed dialogue are likely to cover mechanisms to ensure that all voices, from those of the most disadvantaged to powerful stakeholders, are represented in consultations and surveys; that there are channels for upward, downward and lateral communication of views and the formation of consensus; that there are appropriate alliances with other financing agencies or donors pressing for similar policy changes; that expected change outcomes are specified and who will formalise agreement or sign off on them is unequivocal; that there is an agreed agenda, a timetable and milestones for drafting and finalising agreed policy changes, backed by monitoring indicators and responsibilities; and that arrangements and funding for facilitating interactions and recording of outcomes are agreed and budgeted. 

Key tasks for design and review

  • Clearly identify and justify needs or opportunities for policy dialogue.
  • Analyse and clarify specific policy constraints to successful pro-poor development – for instance flag the overall importance of policy issues for poverty reduction or the sustainability of project activities; ensure the policy changes advocated correctly address the policy and institutional constraints faced by the target group. 
  • Avoid calls for policy changes that exceed those realistically attainable in the context of an investment project of the scale proposed; where possible exploit strategies to minimise policy adjustment.
  • Explore alternatives to national policy change, such as testing of provisional modifications on a pilot/local basis or for specific categories of beneficiary.
  • Review implementation proposals for completeness: ensure design documents do not have gaps relating to the implementation strategy, process and its management; that topics for policy change and potential allies in raising leverage are clearly stated; that allocation of human resources for dialogue is sufficient; that proposals include a credible timetable for implementation, milestones and M&E indicators for impact; and that responsibilities for closure of agreements on policy change and formal acceptance are spelled out.
  • Build clear links between policy dialogue and investment activities within the project. Provide for horizontal communication between local groups, forums etc., and vertical communication between dialogue at local, regional and national levels; include robust mechanisms to ensure that the poor are represented and their voices heard in each forum and at each level.
  • Integrate policy dialogue activities into the Key Files and Log Frame: specify indicators for impact, M&E strategy or economic analysis.

Sources of information and examples of good practice

IFAD-financed resources

IFAD project experience
Sources of expertise outside IFAD