Impact narratives of agricultural innovations and their implication on rural livelihoods in south west Zimbabwe

Abstract

The impact narratives of agricultural innovations and rural livelihoods have attracted the attention of both policy makers and development practitioners, especially on whether introduced innovations have the envisaged positive change on communities, and how that change can be measured. The paper explores the narratives around impacts of agricultural innovations and rural livelihoods in south west Zimbabwe. Data was collected through household questionnaires, review of project reports and key informant interviews, conducted between April 2012 and June 2018. Results showed there were differences in how success was defined by the various actors. Despite the vast efforts in promoting agricultural innovations, less than 12% of households depended on agriculture only, while the majority of households engaged in diverse livelihood strategies. This implied that recognizing the diversity of rural livelihoods is an important step toward understanding the beneficiaries of agricultural innovations and to ensure their success. The different perceptions in defining success reflected self-interests and/or pursuit of self-actualization of the various actors and how they sought to make the most out of the prevailing situation. I conclude that true ascription of success requires understanding the complexity and richness of livelihood goals of farmers, taking into account power, beliefs and values within a society.