Call for Entries for partner R4DE implementing institutions

2024 SUSTAINABLE CHALLENGE AWARD

A Challenge that Makes a Difference to the Community

BACKGROUND

The Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR), is the lead coordinating agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA) for agriculture and fisheries research for development (R4D). It has been supporting and collaborating with different institutions and agencies to generate knowledge and develop technologies that will ultimately benefit the lives of the Filipino farmers and fisherfolk. With these R4D programs and projects funded by the DA and the bureau through the years, attainment of impacts and levels of scale needs to be documented and analyzed. One major entry point of R4D outputs are farming and fishing communities who are identified as the end users of technologies and innovations. Hence the “Sustainable Challenge Award” is conceptualized to give recognition to the implementing agencies and communities exemplifying technology development, utilization, adoption and sustainability; thus gaining benefits from it.

The award is a competition among the partner implementing agencies of BAR for their R4D interventions and outcomes in the assisted community. Qualified agencies to join the search are DA regional field offices, DA-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) regional offices, DA national agencies, and state universities and colleges (SUCs) that conducted these works toward agriculture and fisheries modernization and industrialization. The entries to this award are documentations of success stories of the overall performance of the implementing agencies on its R4D in the communities adopted and scaled by its intended beneficiaries.

Objectives

The Sustainable Challenge Award aims to recognize the R4DE implementing agencies for their notable and outstanding accomplishments featuring R4D works that further enable adoption and scaling of technologies in farming/fishing communities.

Specifically, it aims to:

1.      Recognize notable R4D works which resulted to technology/ies with high impact on the lives of Filipino farmers and fisherfolk;

2.      Incentivize agriculture and fisheries research-implementing agencies for their undertaking that created improvement in the lives of farmers and fisherfolk and;

3.      Inform the public and key stakeholders of generated knowledge and proven technology/ies relevant and beneficial for the agriculture and fisheries modernization and industrialization.

Selection

The top three entries of the R&D Institutions on their assisted and sustained agriculture and fisheries community will be selected as finalists/winners.

Guidelines

1.      The challenge/search is open to all DA national agencies and regional field offices, BFAR regional offices, and SUCs. Only one (1) entry is allowed for each institution.

2.      The institution can create their respective In-House Committee to screen, evaluate, and nominate their institution’s entry following the general set criteria for evaluation:

a.  Scope and level of adoption of technologies

b.  Improvement of productivity and profitability

c.  Empowerment of the community 

3.      The institution should have conducted the technology interventions that have assisted/benefited a community of farmers/fisherfolk from 2017 and completed until 2021. Hence, the technology interventions transferred by the implementing institutions should have been independently sustained by the partner-community after the project duration. 

4.      Each entry consists of the narrative report and video documentation with a catchy title.

Narrative Report
Use this template for the narrative report.

Specifics

            No. of pages:                Minimum of 15, maximum of 20

            File format:                   PDF (max file size is 100MB)
            File name:                     Agency-Name_Narrative-Report

Content
The content should answer the following questions:

·        What was the problem, issue, or concern that needed addressing?

·        How did the R4D activities address the problem, issue, or concern?

·        What were the outcomes of the technology adoption?

·        What are the significant developments and improvements after the adoption of the research-generated technology? (Please support claims with qualitative and quantitative data)

·        How did the partner-community sustain the technology interventions introduced to them? (Please provide evidence of continuity in terms of social, technical and institutional, economic, environmental, and political)

Video documentation

Specifics

Aspect ratio:                16:9
Resolution:                   at least 1080p HD
Total running time:   Minimum of 3 minutes, maximum of 5 minutes
File format:                   MP4 (max file size is 1GB)

           File name:                       Agency-Name_Video-documentation

Content

The video should coherently present the sustainability progress indicated in the narrative report. Ideally, it should contain testimonies of the farming/fishing communities (both cooperators and adoptors) and other partner agencies (if any), as well as their activities. Brief discussion of the rationale and technology interventions may be included, but should not comprise more than 15% of the total running time. 

5.      Entries must be submitted with an endorsement from the head of the institution on or before 15 October 2024 to https://forms.gle/MY9MWa1HfxQvyrxV6. 

Evaluation

1.      Selected DA-BAR officials/staff and external evaluators will serve as Panel of Judges for the desk evaluation and on-site/field validation.

2.      A desk evaluation of all entries received shall be conducted to determine the top three entry finalists following the criteria and percentage score below. 

3.   The top three finalists will be subjected to on-site field validation and/or interviews (physical or virtual upon agreement and availability) by the panel.

Awards

The top three entries with the highest scores will receive a certification of recognition and cash prizes.

            First prize      PhP 50,000

            Second prize PhP 40,000

            Third prize    PhP 30,000

Each winning entry will receive a PhP 3M research grant for CY 2026 implementation. This shall be a one-year developmental project for the community submitted as entry, or in an expansion/upscaling area. Prizes are subject to withholding tax per RA 10963.

For more information:

Knowledge Management and Information Systems Division

ikm@bar.gov.ph