Exploring the impact of farmer-led research supported by civil society organisations

Ann Waters-Bayer,Chesha Wettasinha,Boru Douthwaite,Patti Kristjanson,Gabriela Quiroga,Kees Swaans,Laurens Van Veldhuizen

doi:10.1186/s40066-015-0023-7

Ann Waters-Bayer, Chesha Wettasinha + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-015-0023-7

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Journal: Agriculture & Food Security	Publication Date: Mar 6, 2015
Citations: 61	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: WorldFish, World Agroforestry Centre

Abstract

This paper asks: What have been the impacts of farmer- or community-led (informal) processes of research and development in agriculture and natural resource management in terms of food security, ecological sustainability, economic empowerment, gender relations, local capacity to innovate and influence on formal agricultural research and development institutions? An innovative conceptual framework was applied to a diverse set of farmer-led research initiatives in countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America to explore approaches, outcomes and impacts of informal agricultural research and development (ARD) facilitated by civil society organisations. Findings include the following: locally appropriate technical innovations emerging from these processes are readily taken up by other farmers; the most common channels of dissemination are farmer to farmer through informal networks and spaces created for farmer-researchers and other farmers to meet and exchange, such as innovation fairs; livelihood impacts are broad and substantial; local capacity to innovate is strengthened and institutionalisation through the formal sector has been limited. Lessons are drawn for future partnerships in promoting and supporting farmer-led research involving formal and informal ARD actors working with smallholder communities.

Highlights

Many of the efforts to transform scientific knowledge into sustainable agriculture and natural resource management have brought only limited benefits to smallholder farmers, including fishers, livestock keepers and other resource users [1,2,3]
Several formal research institutions are seeking ways to engage more directly with smallholders and supporting organisations in the field so as to achieve this aim [9,10]. These institutions are open to learn from examples of agricultural research and development (ARD) driven and co-managed by smallholders and facilitated by civil society organisation (CSO) outside of the formal ARD sector, in what could be called ‘informal’ ARD
Outcomes and impacts of farmer-led research Types of innovations Farmer-led research led to various types of locally appropriate innovations and adaptations

Summary

Introduction

Many of the efforts to transform scientific knowledge into sustainable agriculture and natural resource management have brought only limited benefits to smallholder farmers, including fishers, livestock keepers and other resource users [1,2,3]. Two international CGIAR consortium research programmes joined forces with Prolinnova (Promoting Local Innovation)a to explore the experiences, outcomes and impacts of such ‘informal’ ARD approaches, in particular, farmer- or community-led processes of research and development in agriculture and natural resource management (referred to in short as ‘farmerled research’). These are i) the programme on Aquatic Agricultural Systems, which seeks to embed its research in development processes and, in so doing, Waters-Bayer et al Agriculture & Food Security (2015) 4:4 strengthen the system’s capacity to innovate [11] and ii) the programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, which seeks to translate knowledge into action for change through social learning processes [12]

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