Decision Support Research
To be of use in supporting policy formulation, research on the development and assessment of possible strategies to adapt food systems to the impacts of GEC should be elaborated in the context of the policy process. As the food security-GEC debate encompasses many complex and interactive issues, a structured dialogue is needed to assist the collaboration among scientists and policymakers.
This dialogue can be facilitated by using a variety of decision support (DS) approaches and tools, ranging from general discussions and mutual awareness-raising (including formal joint exercises such as scenarios construction and analyses) to simulation modelling, GIS and other tools for conducting quantitative analyses of trade-offs of given policy options. Application of this holistic DS process:
- raises awareness in the policy community of the interactions between GEC and food systems;
- identifies and communicates the options and constraints facing researchers and policymakers; and
- helps both researchers and policymakers assess the viability of different technical and policy adaptation strategies by analysing their potential consequences (feed-backs) for food security and environmental goals.
GECAFS DS research will bring together a number of different approaches: “Integration and Implementation” sciences to draw together and strengthen the theory and methods necessary to tackle complex societal issues and problems; research on how an adaptive management ethic and practice that supports the concept of sustainable development can be initiated and implemented in complex, regional or large-scale contexts; and the adaptive management approach for incorporating communications, analysis and scenarios development.
Such approaches will lay the foundations for delivering specific support for key policymakers at the national and regional levels. These approaches rely upon a strategy that begins with identifying the key stakeholders, includes a process of reflection to develop a common understanding of the problem, and then proceeds through a joint learning process. This involves scientific researchers and policy and policymakers working together so that the best available scientific information informs policy.
The figure below shows how the various components of GECAFS research (vis. on food systems and their vulnerability to GEC; adaptation options; scenario construction; and trade-off analyses) can be brought together in a structured dialogue between scientists and stakeholders. It also shows the critical aspect of joint agenda setting.
The various components of GECAFS research are brought together in a structured dialogue between scientists and stakeholders.
Key DS research issues are:
- what is the best way to determine the information needs of advisors to policymakers, resource managers and other stakeholders regarding GEC and food issues?
- how can DS best be developed to help analyse the socioeconomic and environmental tradeoffs of adaptation options?
- what is the best methodological approach to DS development to optimise communication with stakeholders?