1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started in your field?
Thank you very much for having me. My name is Eduardo Bacolod. I was born in the Philippines on March 3, 1962. I have been a citizen of the United States of America since the year 2015. My professional career in the field of development planning and management has spanned over thirty-five years. This career started in the Program Planning and Development Division of the National Council on Integrated Area Development, the national agency created by the Government of the Philippines that served as the technical secretariat, inter-agency coordinating body, and umbrella organization for all the country’s integrated area development projects. Employment with the Special Concerns Office of the Department of Agriculture, and the Planning and Collaborative Programs Office of the Philippine Rice Research Institute followed. In the two national agencies, I continued performing planning and project development tasks, as team leader in most of the assignments. After I decided to leave my government service career, I worked as an independent professional. One of my accomplishments was putting together my two decades of experience in the publication of Modernizing Philippine Agriculture. It has two supplemental pamphlets entitled Model Farms for Agricultural Modernization and Model Agro-Industrial Infrastructure Systems. I believe these works are still very relevant today in the Philippines. In the year 2008, I moved to the U.S. I eventually started my international development journey. I got engaged in foreign assignments and project development transactions in countries such as Germany, Korea, Fiji, Bahamas, China, Philippines, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and other countries in Africa. A series of assignments that prepared the Fiji national agriculture sector policy agenda, which I translated into investment plan with corresponding fund generation strategies and training program, was one of the engagements. It was commissioned by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community and the Ministry of Agriculture of Fiji. My formal education and training are also closely aligned with my development works. I studied Agricultural Economics in the University of the Philippines Los Baños was trained on the job in integrated area development planning through the technical assistance by the United Nations-Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific attended international project management course in the Netherlands and pursued postgraduate studies leading to the degree of Master of Science in Social Development Planning and Management in the Centre for Development Studies of the University of Wales Swansea in the UK. I was a recipient of the British Chevening Scholarship award.
2. What inspired you to write your book?
The book that I wrote Business Models for Collective Governance mirrors my education and training, and more than 35 years of work experience. I have envisioned it to be the first of an international book writing series for promoting business models as a craft in national development planning. It is a compendium of business models in six major areas of development opportunities. The five areas, which include fund generation and investment facilities, integrated infrastructure, education and technical training, cooperatives, and community-based development of industries all converge into the sixth area, which is the most crucial one, the integration of business models for national development. The book supports my development hypothesis that the best solution to address motherhood problems that are always cited in international development such as graft and corruption, government inefficiency, climate change, insurgency, and lack of political will are innovative and scaled-up business models. However, the people must take the lead roles with accountability, while the government and international donor community merely provide the support mechanisms. To awaken the collective power in the people through the spirit of Collective Governance, innovative and scaled-up business models must be embraced. In this regard, the book outlines an alternative approach to invigorate new development thinking.
3. Can you walk us through your creative process?
The business model in the context of development planning is the whole system of building and maintaining development projects. It was the ancient rules of architecture that guided me in the creative process. The ancient rules state that every structure must derive figure, strength, and beauty. In this modern era, personal computers and smart phones, which possess the same architecture, serve also as my guide in the creative process. Both are operative instruments with hardware, operating system, and software or apps. As a whole, they have figure, strength, and beauty. Independently, each business model presented in the book is guided by the ancient rules of architecture or the personal computer and smart `phone architecture. The business models can be integrated in different combinations that collectively build geographic focused development agenda for a country, region, province, cities, and towns. How have I used the book? First, as a book series publication project for purposes of improving country-specific development planning and policy formulation strategies, promoting domestic and foreign investment, and enhancing academic and research collaboration, I have initiated to start the project in the South Pacific countries. It will be later replicated in priority countries in Africa, Asia, and South and Central America in partnership with a publisher. This book series project is one way of improving the quality of global development assistance with the end in view of mobilizing adequate capital resources. Second, we have used it as the main reference to prepare a model national development agenda we call Philippines 2030 Agenda. This people’s development agenda outlines appropriate business models and pragmatic approaches for addressing vital national development concerns and opportunities, Third, the book consists of certain chapters that could provide the primary solutions to current issues in the economy of the Philippines. Chapters that outline alternative approaches for rice self-sufficiency, onion price and supply stabilization, land transport modernization through an interconnected national cooperative bus line with bus assembly plants, and the creation of decentralized investment funds instead of a centralized one, like the Maharlika Investment Fund, are articulated in the book from initiatives we already laid out more than 20 years ago. Fourth, the hybrid rice milling district, which is Chapter 14 of the book is now under negotiation for funding and implementation in the US, Philippines, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Ecuador. Fifth, the national investment agenda models for countries in Africa that include Uganda and Tanzania have been formulated with the book as the principal reference. And sixth, I have used the book as a reference in building a template for a country-specific climate change investment agenda. The practical applications mentioned are just a very small fraction of the investment opportunities to be created based on the book. There are more applications with varying geographic scales in different countries of the world. With every business model presented as a chapter, at least there are two persons who have seen that my work can be used like a bible for development.
4. What are some of the biggest challenges you've faced and how have you overcome them?
The main challenge that the publication faces is the status quo in the international development world. There is a dichotomy that exists in the international development practices that is not given adequate recognition. One side of the contrast is the well-articulated accomplishments cited by the international development assistance community. After reading these accomplishments reported in the mainstream and social media, it may appear that the development problems in the world would be eliminated shortly. On the other side of the dichotomy is the fear mongering of development problems. Although the problems are real and important, there is no doubt that there is over analysis of the problems. As a result, experts are deployed to address every problem. This dichotomy has created a hardened status quo that is already difficult to penetrate by new development thinking. It has built a stagnant ecosystem that has failed to hit a slow-moving target we call development goal. Numerous successful small scale or pilot scale projects cannot be translated into large scale undertakings. Instead, we cannot deny the fact that global problems such as poverty and food insecurity are still prevalent despite technological advancements and successful projects. Realizing the dichotomy, my work aims to streamline and integrate fragmented development interventions that are trying to address even the smallest development problem in the world. The scaled-up business models can provide alternative structures and orders on how international and domestic capital and technological resources can be mobilized. These adequate resources can trigger development opportunities and build a more dynamic and self-propelling national and regional development ecosystems. With patience, I believe my book will gain recognition.
5. How do you stay motivated and inspired?
The main purpose of my book is to use it in promoting new business models that can provide an alternative to the status quo in international development. In line with this purpose, the recent common pronouncement by the World Bank and the United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change, which recognizes the slow mobilization of capital resources, has motivated me. I believe my initiative will find recognition too in line with global capital resources mobilization. While my works are spread using only our website, we still receive requests for collaboration from different countries. I feel that these development partners need guidance on business models that are worthy of investment. Most of them are receptive to innovations, particularly how they will gain access to investment facilities. The requests for collaboration are slowly being transformed into a network of partners that are willing to proceed with the implementation of the business models. For instance, we have consolidated the hybrid rice milling district into one funding request that covers seven countries through the network that could help one another by sharing resources, experience, and expertise. Finally, the book hopes that the strength of collective human wisdom will prevail to contribute to reaching global Abundance.
