DAI Biodiversity Expert Jim Tarrant Speaks on Integration Panel

August 31, 2016

Jim Tarrant, Chief of Party of the Biodiversity Results and Integrated Development Gains Enhanced (BRIDGE) project, was a featured panelist at a recent discussion on the need for integrated development approaches. The panel—hosted by the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.—also included Jayce Newton, integration lead for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Center for Democracy Rights and Governance; Nanette Barkey, Director of Results & Measurement, Pact; and Salman Jaffer, Program Director, Social Impact.

“USAID has recognized the need for more results and impact on its development investments,” said Newton. “That’s why, increasingly, integration is vital to all of the work we do.”

(Photo credit: Schuyler Null, Wilson Center)

Tarrant said he believes integration is the way forward in development—and that it already is happening. “Integration is seen as a more costly and time-consuming approach, but we must consider the alternative,” he said, cautioning that “only a couple or few sectors ought to be integrated into a development project otherwise implementers run the risk of funding something that’s a mile wide and inch deep.”

Panelists agreed that integrated programs hold promise for delivering impactful and long-term results but that measurement is key. Tarrant said there needs to be “more collaboration for evidence-based research, monitoring, and reporting on results.”

DAI-led BRIDGE is engaged in researching and writing a number of case studies on results of integrated projects in various countries. This activity aims to analyze which factors and processes drive biodiversity integration in programing. BRIDGE team members work closely with the USAID Forestry and Biodiversity Office to support the Biodiversity Policy.