Development Entrepreneurs

O ne way to describe a Development Entrepreneur is someone who has decided that there is something in his society that needs to be reformed or improved, something that is worth investing so much of his time, energy, and resources. His drive may come from his professional trajectory, personal experience, or other sources. It is definitely not imposed on him; he has made the decision to work on this area with his own free will. He has “self-selected” himself for this path. (Booth’s book “Aiding Institutional Reform in Developing Countries: Lessons from the Philippines on What Works, What Doesn’t, and Why” introduces a trio of Development Entrepreneurs - Chikiamco, Tiamson, and Sta Ana - and shows how their professional interests brought them to the time and place to influence significant legislation.) DE’s select areas where they are able to grow professionally, where they can improve their competencies and capabilities.  Moreover, the DE is able to give a personal significa...

F riends from Bohol were telling me about how difficult it has been to get good, reasonably priced fish. “You must be kidding,” I replied. “You live on an island. You have fishermen. Surely they catch enough fish.” “Yes, they catch more than enough fish,” my friend said. “But they sell it to the high-end resorts in Mactan, which pays more. The tourists there get the best fish.” That got me to thinking about how connected and inter-related our Provincial value chains really are. For the last three years we’ve been involved in an effort to improve road investments by directing these to “Strategic Road Links” that connect key value chain locations for agriculture, tourism, basic services, and other sectors. 50% of the road project identified this way are in the National Government Agencies’ proposed budget for 2015. The other 50% are on the Regional Development Investment Program of RDC 7. Assuming that all of these projects would get funded and implemented on time, cheaper t...