A comprehensive mapping of DOST Caraga's FY 2024–2025 portfolio and 60 RDI Centers against the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, demonstrating the breadth and depth of the region's contribution to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
DOST Caraga's combined portfolio of projects and RDI Centers addresses all 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This universal coverage reflects the cross-cutting nature of science, technology, and innovation as enablers of sustainable development across economic, social, and environmental dimensions.
SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) is by a wide margin the most extensively addressed Sustainable Development Goal in DOST Caraga's portfolio, with virtually all 122 projects contributing to this goal. This near-universal alignment is entirely consistent with the nature of DOST Caraga as a science and technology agency whose core mandate — supporting industrial development, technology innovation, and STI infrastructure — maps directly onto SDG 9's three component targets: building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and fostering innovation. The SDG 9 alignment, while comprehensive, also highlights the need to ensure that Caraga's industry and innovation programs are inclusive by design, reaching marginalized communities and small-scale enterprises rather than concentrating benefits among already-competitive firms.
SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) is the second most-aligned SDG, addressed by approximately 64 projects. This reflects the employment dimension of the SETUP program — each enterprise modernized under SETUP represents an employment retention or upgrading commitment — as well as the labor market development components of LGIA programs such as IGNITE, TechConnect, and the multiple agricultural business incubators. The portfolio's SDG 8 contribution encompasses both formal employment creation (through enterprise growth) and informal sector workforce improvement (through SETUP's engagement with micro-enterprises that employ informal workers).
SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) is addressed by approximately 28 projects, reflecting DOST Caraga's significant programmatic emphasis on food innovation, agricultural technology, and fishery development. The SARAI Plus Project (satellite-based farm advisories), the Food Innovation Centers network, the Caulerpa seaweed farming program, the cassava development initiative in Dinagat, and Project FARM all contribute directly to food security outcomes. DOST Caraga's contribution to SDG 2 is notably differentiated by its technology-mediation approach: rather than direct food provision, the portfolio focuses on productivity-enhancing technologies that reduce production costs, minimize post-harvest losses, and improve nutritional quality of food products.
SDG 13 (Climate Action) is addressed by approximately 18 projects, primarily through CEST and SSCP programs that embed climate-smart agriculture protocols, disaster risk reduction, and renewable energy adoption. SDG 14 (Life Below Water) is addressed by seven projects, reflecting the fishery-oriented programs in coastal municipalities of Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur. SDG 15 (Life on Land) is addressed by twelve projects covering agroforestry, sustainable land management, and ecological rehabilitation for mined-out areas. The Mulberry Demonstration Farm for Mined-Out Lands in Agusan del Norte exemplifies DOST Caraga's commitment to ecosystem recovery.
SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) is addressed by approximately 19 projects, underscoring the fundamentally partnership-based delivery model of DOST Caraga. Every LGIA and CEST project involves formalized agreements between DOST, LGUs, state universities, and private sector partners. The ASCEND food innovation consortium, the RDC-RRDIC partnership programs, and the i2FAME Center operationalization all explicitly build multi-stakeholder platforms that embody the SDG 17 partnership imperative. This alignment is significant because SDG 17 is a cross-cutting enabler: DOST Caraga's effectiveness as an agency depends fundamentally on the quality and durability of these multi-sector partnerships.