Institutional and professional obstacles to a more effective research process for smallholder agriculture

Abstract

This paper evidences the experience and capability of the social sciences to understand human processes. It identifies both the applied research paradigm, which conventionally seeks the technically ideal management for a commodity in an agroecosystem, and the organisation of applied research institutions, where allegiance to commodity and discipline drive the culture, as the main causes of the low adoption of research results by small farmers in developing countries. It suggests the applied research paradigm be extended to understand both the plasticity of the main components in commodity management and the variations in commodity performance expected from climatic variations across seasons. It further suggests locally deployed farming systems research teams using participatory techniques, with allegiance to the intended beneficiaries, as an effective interface to improve both the relevance of applied research programmes and the mobilization of their products.