This paper analyzes the emergence of public policy in Colombia as an academic field and its potential contribution to the development of governmental institutions created to propose solutions to socio-economic problems. After describing the prevailing ideas for development advocated by influential international organizations, we trace back the history of public policy in Colombia and thoroughly analyze the Development Plans proposed by Colombian presidents since 1970 to shed light on who were the main actors that influenced the design of agricultural public policies. Once these actors have been identified, it is possible to analyze if the institutionalization of public policy through the National Planning Department (DNP) in 1968 raised the interest of the academia thus creating the field of research or vice-versa. We conclude that despite the efforts of some national organizations to influence the design of public policies and promote academic research, it was only in the 1990s that agricultural public policies started to be structured as an academic discipline and taught in a few universities.
