Research-Policy Linkage in Ethiopia: A Focus on Selected Ministries/Government Agencies and Research Institutions

Abstract

This study tries to describe and explore the status of research policy linkage in selected government ministries/agencies at the federal level in Ethiopia. It also attempted to describe the major factors that contribute to the current status of the linkage. Qualitative tools of data collection such as semi structured interview and review of relevant documents were used to collect data. Interview was administered to thirty interviewees from research institutes and government organizations. The findings show that the research-policy linkage is not satisfactory. Factors such as the non-participatory nature of the government, absence/lack of proper linkage between researchers and policymakers, ineffective communication and dissemination strategies, and lack of relevance to local context of the researches produced were identified as contributing to the weak research-policy linkage that was observed. The research also found out that researchers face different challenges such as low demand for research, inadequate incentive/motivation strategy, poor information management, diminishing research grant, absence of strong linkages among stakeholders, lack of awareness among the public, etc. The study also found out different problems that face policymakers in accessing and using research findings. The problems are related to issues such as lack of time, poor communication and interaction between researchers and policymakers, lack of quality and relevance in the researches, accessibility problems, and lack of reading culture. 

Key words: communication/dissemination, in-house research, linkage, policymakers, researchers