Integrated ex ante and ex post impact assessment in the generation of agricultural technology: cassava in the Atlantic Coast of Colombia.
Janssen, W. G. and Lynam, J. K.
In: Proceedings of the ISNAR/Rutgers Agricultural Technology Management Workshop. New Brunswick, N.J. (USA). 6-8 Juy 1988. Methods for diagnosing research systems constraints and assessing the impact of agricultural research :Vol. 2. 1990. p. 217-244.
1990
บทคัดย่อ
Initially, strategies of technology development are based on ex ante judgements of potential impact, but information that arises as the technology is developed allows the chosen strategy to be readjusted. Consequently, impact assessment and technology development become integrated in a continuous interaction between social and technical disciplines, requiring scientists with economic as well as sociological skills to become involved. Their main role starts out as identifying constraints and opportunities for new technology, estimating potential impact, and designing methods for technology dissemination. As the technology-development effort evolves, their role comes to involve the revision of potential impact and of the development strategy, based on continuous monitoring. The present paper elaborates the concept of ex post and ex ante impact integration, describes possible impact assessment methodologies, and illustrates these with data from a joint CIAT/DRI project in the Atlantic Coast of Colombia. In this project, a cassava-drying industry was established, involving changes in production technology and the introduction of new processing and marketing methods. Ex ante analysis stressed the benefits of the project to the small farmer, while the monitoring effort measured distributional benefits and readjusted the project strategy. The continuous impact assessment allowed increased goal orientation and improved distributional and total effectiveness of the project.