Participatory Appraisal Research Articles

Ethno-veterinary practices for camel diseases: A participatory assessment by the Raika pastoralist of Rajasthan

The camel is practically symbolic for western arid region of Rajasthan. This animal has the immense contribution to livelihood of the Raika pastoral community who has a long relationship with this animal. Raikas followed their own traditional practices in all aspects of camel rearing including healthcare practices since time immemorial. Therefore, the present study was designed to document and appraise ethno-veterinary practices followed by the Raika pastoral community to cure important camel diseases like trypanosomiasis, camel pox and mange. A total 120 Raika pastoralists were interviewed from the six villages of Pali and Jodhpur district of Rajasthan on an open ended interview schedule to document the ethno-veterinary practices. Quantification of Indigenous Knowledge (QuIK) was applied for participatory assessment of the identified ethno-veterinary practices. The Raikas were using total 10 ethno-veterinary practices to cure the three diseases. Use of fruit of Withania coagulans (stock) Dunal was found to be most effective among the four identified practices to control camel trypanosomiasis (surra). Accordingly, use of neem leaves and; mixture of turmeric, butter and mustard oil were perceived as highly effective to cure camel pox and mange, respectively.

An Antiracism Community-Based Participatory Research With Organizations Serving Immigrant and Marginalized Communities, Including Asian Americans and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders in the United States Pacific Northwest: Qualitative Description Study With Key Informants.

Asian American (AA) community leaders, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (NH/PI) community leaders, and allies in the United States Pacific Northwest expressed concern that there are families and children from AA communities and NH/PI communities who experience and witness acts of xenophobia and racism. This can cause racial trauma. The long-time practice of aggregating AA and NH/PI data contributes to erasure and makes it challenging to advance health equity, such as allocating resources. According to AAPI Data's long-awaited report in June 2022, there are over 24 million AAs and 1.6 million NHs/PIs in the United States, growing by 40% and 30%, respectively, between 2010 and 2020. Philanthropic investments have not kept up with this substantive increase. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine emphasized the need for effective partnerships to advance the health and well-being of individuals and communities in antiracism and system-level research. The aim of this community-based participatory research qualitative description study was to identify perceptions and experiences regarding racial discrimination, race-based stress, and racial trauma; intergenerational healing and resiliency; and sharing the body with science from key informants of an academic and community partnership to inform antiracism coalition work. This partnership includes academic researchers and community leaders from community-based organizations and a health care organization serving immigrant and marginalized communities, including AAs and NHs/PIs in the United States Pacific Northwest. In total, 10 key informants joined 1 of 2 participatory group discussions via videoconference for 2 hours in 2022. We used a semistructured and open-ended group interview guide. A qualitative participatory group-level assessment was conducted with the key informants and transcribed. Interpretations and meanings of the main points and the main themes were reflected upon, clarified, and verified with the key informants in real time. The field note-based data transcripts were manually coded using conventional content analysis. Reflexivity was used. There were 6 main themes: prejudice plus power in racism definition and working in solidarity to counter lateral oppression/false sense of security, microaggression as multilayers, "not assimilationist by nature" and responding differently to white superiority, intergenerational- and identity-related trauma, what is healing among People of Color and through a lens of resiliency and intergenerational connection and knowledge, and mistrust and fear in the research and health care systems surrounding intentions of the body. The themes highlight the importance of internal and intergenerational healing from racial trauma and the need for solidarity among communities of color to combat white supremacy and colonization. This work was foundational in an ongoing effort to dismantle racism and uplift the community voice through a cross-sector academic and community partnership to inform antiracism coalition work.

Participatory Stakeholder Assessment for Drivers of Mangrove Loss to Prioritize Evidence-Based Conservation and Restoration in Bhitarkanika and Mahanadi Delta, India

In recent times, environmental stewardship of mangroves has provided the impetus to protect and restore these ecosystems for their inherent ability to protect coastal regions from climate change, sequester carbon dioxide as rich blue carbon, and support human well-being through a multitude of ecosystem services. Participatory stakeholder assessment, as a part of the present study, integrated local stakeholder perspectives in assessing drivers of mangrove loss in Bhitarkanika and Mahanadi delta, Odisha, providing empirical evidence through a mixed-method approach. The use of a Likert scale provided the methodology to develop a single composite variable as the best measure of central tendency. In total, 27.5% of the respondents were locals and were living close to the study area for generations, whereas the other 72.5% represented researchers, academics, and forest department officials. Stakeholder responses at the ground level indicated that Bhitarkanika and Mahanadi delta were facing increased frequency of extreme climatic events followed, by aquaculture and other land-use changes, which can be considered potential drivers causing mangrove loss. Co-development of future scenarios by integrating concerns of all the stakeholders emerged as a potential solution to effectively address the trade-offs arising from local anthropogenic interferences, as well as large-scale developmental activities. This study highlights the need for convergence of multi-disciplinary knowledge from diverse stakeholder groups, including traditional and indigenous knowledge, for the purpose of developing accurate plausible alternative scenarios. Interactive governance and incentivization approaches, along with alternative livelihood opportunities, are proposed as the means to improve conservation and restoration in the region based on the present study. Understanding of the coupled socio-ecological system and its relevance is found to be critical to improve bi-directional linkages of ecosystem health and human well-being.

Household Waste Recycling Knowledge and Markets, Challenges and Successes, in the Yassa, Douala, Cameroon

This research paper presentsthe results of a survey consisting of recycling knowledgeand markets inthe Yassaa residential neighborhood in Douala 3 municipality inCameroonfrom January2018to march 2019.Primary data was collected from field surveys and random sampling to select residents.Household survey, participant observation and participatory appraisal, focus group discussions, interviews and questionnaires administered to collect information from participating householdsregarding, gender, age and level of educationand itinerant buyers. In the Yassa, Table 1 highlightsthe preference of the recycled household waste fraction whilein Table2,I Kg of plastic waste was bought by Itinerant wastebuyers from households at 100FCFA, andlatersoldto middlemen at 200FCFA and middlemen to small enterprises at 400FCFA.The difference in the buying and selling prices with the ferrous metal and glass illustratestheirimportance in the market for recyclates.Descriptive statistics was used to analyzethe collected data. The results showed a predominance of female 70,4%, and 29.6% for their male counterpart with60,2%for those with formal education and39.8% with no educational background. The results from this study will enhance and increase value for household waste as well as waste management recycling in Douala in particular and Cameroon in general

PANDA (Participatory Appraisal of Needs and Development of Action)

PANDA (participatory appraisal of needs and development of action) is a multimethodological framework that was developed during the 1990s for use in planning and implementing group decision-making in multi-agency settings. The authors developed PANDA in the process of critically reflecting on their own practice and that of others. Much of the author's practice (both individually and together) has been in the field of community or third sector operational research. The term PANDA first appeared in print and was fully described in 2000. PANDA is based on a theoretical stance that is labelled post-structuralist or postmodernist. It represents one particular type of multimethodology, based in a stance of pragmatic pluralism. This chapter covers the development of PANDA, linking it to earlier work, both inside and outside the systems field. It then moves on to consider an example of PANDA in practice, and finishes by highlighting some challenges and directions for the future.

Extracting epidemiological knowledge of shrimp farmers applying participatory appraisal tools and mobile phone-assisted survey to identify and solve the problems of WSD

Participatory epidemiologists have emphasized that farmers have rich and detailed knowledge about the diseases of the animals they rear and the risk factors responsible for the diseases. Based on this conception a step-wise method where collegial participation of researchers and farmers was followed to gather qualitative and quantitative information to identify the possible risk factors of white spot disease (WSD) of shrimp. This proposed method consists of two phases: participatory phase that includes sampling of relevant farmers and identifying possible risk factors; and conducting survey and data analysis phase that includes mobile phone-assisted survey and statistical analysis. The advantages compared to traditional survey methods are that this method: i) brings researchers and shrimp farmers together in a participatory platform in identifying various risk factors associated with WSD, which is not possible by researcher-only surveys; ii) feeds the data of risk factors/variables to the mobile-phone assisted survey, in order to enhance the data quality through direct participation by the farmers and using mobile phones for data entry; and iii) supports multivariate statistical analysis, which is highly effective in identifying the relationships between potential risk factors and WSD in shrimp. Farm operator, the type of fertilizer used, water source (direct natural), presence or absence of a reservoir, and frequency of water exchange were the significant variables/risk factors found from the multivariate analysis most likely to be associated with WSD prevalence. Analysis of the collected data reveals that the major constraining variables identified by this participatory study were related to water management measures. Therefore, the WSD affected shrimp farmers do not need any expensive inputs from outside their communities but can solve the problem of WSD participatory manner with other stakeholders. A participatory model, as we proposed based on the results indicates that, DoF as the key stakeholder can play a leading role for organizing cluster of farmers and identify other stakeholders to solve the problems of WSD.

Participatory evaluation of ethno-veterinary livestock health practices byfarmers from surrounding villages in Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, India

The present study was conducted to document the ethno-veterinary practices, 360 livestock farmers from the 30villages surrounding the tiger reserve were interviewed using anopen-ended interview schedule to enlist all the practices against the ailments of livestock from the purposefully chosen zone namely Critical Tiger Habitat and buffer zone of the tiger reserve. For participatory assessment of the identified ethno-veterinary practices, Quantification of Indigenous Knowledge and to identify the best practices among overall practices one way variance followed by DMRT method was applied.Use of Drimiaindica (Roxb.) Jessop was found most effective practice against mastitis and use of seeds of Sorghum halepense L. against thediarrhoea, stem bark of Salodora persica L. for fever, and fruits of Areca catechu for treatment of prolapse in the livestock were found most effective practices. The pharmacodynamics of the see thno-veterinary techniques could therefore be studied before further replication and implementation.

Empowerment Public Branch Village 2 Amban District In Process Results Agriculture Sweet potato bitch Become processed Which Worth Economical And Highly Nutritious

Generally the farmers in the branch village 2 , Amban District, destination own results enough farming _ many of them is sweet potato creep , dive This This sweet potato only for sale raw and utilized as one _ food addition . Capabilities and skills possessed by farmers in process sweet potato bitch This in a manner general Not yet Not yet Lots so that activity planned training important For done. Activity community service this is For practice farmer sweet potato in process sweet potato become processed worth economical and nutritious. Partner in activitiesa This is inhabitant the people of village 2 in the Amban district . The implementation of community service PKM uses the Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA) approach with the stages of activities, namely 1) planning, 2) implementation, and 3) evaluation. kindly general activity devotion done with Good with indicator participation partners during activity reached 100%, an increase understanding and skills reach 90% and response partners to activity training reach 100%. activity dedication This Still need done in a manner sustainable especially in packaging and marketing from the products that are produced

Multicriteria assessment of landscape architecture projects: the sustainability perspective

Cities are implementing numerous projects for improving their urban landscapes. The quality of planned landscape interventions is critical for the users and that depends on proper assessment of the projects. After theoretical and empirical research, the paper proposes the framework for quality assessment of landscape architecture projects in relation to sustainability principles. By using the set of pre-determined criteria and relevant indicators the paper offers triple-level multicriteria decision-making tool for assessing the projects aiming at refurbishing, regenerating or conserving the existing parks and gardens, urban open spaces, cultural landscapes and urban infrastructure landscapes by the professional experts. The results of assessing the urban open space refurbishment projects have demonstrated that the proposed solution is fit for setting the participatory quality assessment platform with involvement of stakeholders for comparing the proposals, identifying theiradvances and shortages, also figuring out the dominating design trends. The results suggest that each phase of project development has a significant impact on the quality of the process and the overall assessment result.Authors and clients should pay special attention to landscape perception values.

Participatory Assessment of Potato Production Systems and Cultivar Development in Rwanda

Potato cultivars grown in Rwanda are very old, low yielding and not amenable to food processing. High yielding and late blight tolerant cultivars for this country should be evaluated at different agro-ecozones prior to releasing them to farmers, who are yet to be integrated into potato breeding. The objectives of this study were to assess farmers’ preferred traits in potato cultivars and to gather knowledge from farmers about potato clones bred in Rwanda. Four respondents per village in 36 villages each for the districts of Musanze, Burera and Nyamagabe participated in the survey, whose questionnaire was about farm size, gender balance, land allocated to potatoes and other main crops, potato “seed” sourcing, potato production constraints and most important potato attributes. Potato was rated as the most important food and cash crop. ‘Kirundo’, ‘Cruza’, ‘Mabondo’ and ‘Victoria’ were the most popular cultivars. Among them, Mabondo’ was the most resistant to the oomycete Phytophthora infestans causing late blight. Potato production in Rwanda is limited by lack of improved cultivars, high temperature, drought, acidic soil, pathogens, insects, weeds, inadequate storage of tubers as planting material, post-harvest technology, low market price of tubers at harvest, lack of access to credit, climate change, and gaps such as inadequate fertilizer and fungicide applications. The most important cultivar attributes were high tuber yield, host plant resistance and high specific gravity or dry matter.

Scaling-up digital follow-up care services: collaborative development and implementation of Remote Patient Monitoring pilot initiatives to increase access to follow-up care.

COVID-19 increased the demand for Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) services as a rapid solution for safe patient follow-up in a lockdown context. Time and resource constraints resulted in unplanned scaled-up RPM pilot initiatives posing risks to the access and quality of care. Scalability and rapid implementation of RPM services require social change and active collaboration between stakeholders. Therefore, a participatory action research (PAR) approach is needed to support the collaborative development of the technological component while simultaneously implementing and evaluating the RPM service through critical action-reflection cycles. This study aims to demonstrate how PAR can be used to guide the scalability design of RPM pilot initiatives and the implementation of RPM-based follow-up services. Using a case study strategy, we described the PAR team's (nurses, physicians, developers, and researchers) activities within and across the four phases of the research process (problem definition, planning, action, and reflection). Team meetings were analyzed through content analysis and descriptive statistics. The PAR team selected ex-ante pilot initiatives to reflect upon features feedback and participatory level assessment. Pilot initiatives were investigated using semi-structured interviews transcribed and coded into themes following the principles of grounded theory and pilot meetings minutes and reports through content analysis. The PAR team used the MoSCoW prioritization method to define the set of features and descriptive statistics to reflect on the performance of the PAR approach. The approach involved two action-reflection cycles. From the 15 features identified, the team classified 11 as must-haves in the scaled-up version. The participation was similar among researchers (52.9%), developers (47.5%), and physicians (46.7%), who focused on suggesting and planning actions. Nurses with the lowest participation (5.8%) focused on knowledge sharing and generation. The top three meeting outcomes were: improved research and development system (35.0%), socio-technical-economic constraints characterization (25.2%), and understanding of end-user technology utilization (22.0%). The scalability and implementation of RPM services must consider contextual factors, such as individuals' and organizations' interests and needs. The PAR approach supports simultaneously designing, developing, testing, and evaluating the RPM technological features, in a real-world context, with the participation of healthcare professionals, developers, and researchers.

Ecological Evaluation of Natural Resources: A Baseline Study of Sustainable Livelihood Capital in Parts of Ilaje Riparian Community, Ondo State, Nigeria

Aim: This study was aimed at evaluating the Ilaje coastal biodiversity scenarios and sustainable livelihood opportunities.
 Study Design: A Participatory Rapid Appraisal and purposive random sampling technique were adapted.
 Place and Duration of Study: Field sampling: Parts of Ilaje littoral community in Ondo State, Nigeria, between September 2020 and October 2021.
 Methodology: Data analyses by descriptive analytical tools and Likert-Type scale 7 point and 5 point levels of agreements.
 Result: Result of the natural resources biodiversity has recorded 20 representative flora diversity under 12 families across sampled communities, diverse representative fauna in Odonla (28), Ikorigho (14), Molutehin (10), Odun-Igo (8) and Awoye (3). The biodiversity composition has indicated Fishes as the highest resource among others particularly in Awoye with the highest percentage, while the highest mangrove livelihood of 50% for housing in Molutehin which also recorded with Awoye a highest (44%) alternative income source in trading among other communities.
 Conclusion: this study was significant while providing a better understanding of the biodiversity scenarios and sustainable livelihoods associated with the Ilaje riparian community and their ecosystem interaction.

Model International Mobility Convention: An Inter-American System of human rights reflection on the non-criminalization principle

This paper aims at providing an Inter-American reflection on the Model International Mobility Convention (MIMC). First, it offers an introductory overview of the MIMC. Next, it analyzes the drafter’s background, and the Convention references to assess a perspective of States members of the Inter-American System of human rights was considered. The paper claims the need for a participatory assessment of scholars that provide an Inter-American view. Finally, it suggests some additions to the MIMC regarding the principle of non-criminalization of migration, based mainly on Brazilian law and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights jurisprudence. Other Inter-American contributions are also relevant and need to be the object of further studies.

Participatory risk assessment of pluvial floods in four towns of Niger

Intense rainfalls in Sub-Saharan Africa are increasing in frequency. Land degradation, watercourses siltation, and flood defence failure turn these events into disastrous floods. Over the last decade flood risk assessments have been prepared to face these disasters. However, they have frequent limitations in design, accuracy, and completeness. The objectives of this study are (i) to integrate local and scientific knowledge into a participated pluvial flood risk assessment (ii) to identify assets and (iii) to estimate the potential impact and efficiency of risk-reduction measures. The assessment is developed in four rapidly expanding towns of Niger, flooded several times in recent years. Flood-prone areas and assets are identified according four flood scenarios using local knowledge, 2D hydraulic modelling, and visual photointerpretation of very-high-resolution satellite images. Risk-reduction measures are singled-out through public participation. The residual risk and benefit/cost analyses provide a decision-making tool to accept or treat risk. During the last decade the expansion of the four towns has been more rapid in flood-prone zones than in safe areas. Nowadays more than half of the housing stock could be flooded by rainfalls with 20 years return period. Catchment treatment and building retrofitting can reduce risk. from 100 to 29–82. Nevertheless, the benefit/cost of risk reduction is high for towns settled in small catchments only.

Comparing participatory mapping and a spatial biophysical assessment of ecosystem service cold spots in agricultural landscapes

In this study, we assess the supply of five ecosystem services (ES, i.e. biodiversity provision, carbon sequestration, erosion control, water availability and yield) in an agricultural landscape in Northeast Germany as perceived by different stakeholders with a web-based questionnaire. We complement this participatory approach with a biophysical assessment of the same ES in the same study area using spatially explicit, indicator-based methods. A research gap exists in the combination of participatory and biophysical ES assessment methods within one study area. We derive spots of low supply of multiple ES (cold spots of ES supply) from the areas identified by the mapping and the biophysical assessment, and in collaboration with stakeholders of the region during an online workshop. Our interest is to (i) identify the advantages of comparing and combining biophysical with participatory methods to assess ES and to (ii) identify interfaces where combining both approaches can help to integrate ES assessment in landscape planning, management and design. Our goal is to establish an assessment basis that allows for a spatially explicit representation of trade-offs and synergies of ES by displaying multiple ES in one case study area, capable of integrating different resolutions. By comparing participatory and biophysical assessments, we identify ecological and social benefits of the landscape, and emphasize the social-ecological interface by limiting the scope of the biophysical assessment to the area of interest by the stakeholders. Besides, areas in which participants over- or underestimate the current ES supply are spotted by quantifying the gap between actual and perceived supply. The results reveal several similarities in the observations derived from both assessments. However, water availability is widely underestimated, whereas biodiversity and carbon sequestration are slightly overestimated. Based on our results, we conclude that in many cases, stakeholders who are familiar with the landscape because they live there or have a professional relation to it have a profound understanding of the ongoing ecosystem processes. The decision whether to use participatory, biophysical or both assessment techniques should be made according to the use case: from a governance perspective, participatory data can be easier to communicate and more easily accessible. We encourage the perspective that there are cases in which the low-threshold participatory data provide sufficiently reliable information to make informed decisions on ES management, particularly when biophysical assessment studies are too resource- and cost-intensive.

The Significance of a Community Institution on Education of Street Children in Semarang City

: It is difficult to care for street children in the city of Semarang. It is a large problem in all Indonesian districts and cities. Children living on the street are a vulnerable and marginalized minority whose advantages are difficult to quantify over time. Even while there is a legal foundation for dealing with street children, doing so is not straightforward. There are too many street children for each to be revealed individually. Socially, street children interact with a variety of social components, including their parents, the Social Service, the Police, NGOs that provide help, the shelter environment, the coordinator's supervisor, and contemporaries who are not just children but also adults. The number of children living on the streets rose substantially. The number of street children in Semarang city was 55 in 2015, 192 in 2016, 383 in 2019, and 255 in 2021. In 2021, the number of street children is projected to decline to 255. The rising distribution area population in the city of Semarang becomes challenging to manage. Together with the non-profit NGO called as Anantaka, 15 children living on the streets and their families participated in a participatory urban assessment to determine the efficacy of this strategy. The findings of the mentorship indicate that street children's ability for learning is still inadequate, despite the fact that the NGO that assists them have been active for decades. Children who do not have a consistent schedule hinder the learning process, while parents are unable to assist their children's education since they must make a living. The local government has made every effort to empower street children, but their enormous number and widespread dispersion have restricted its reach. Children living on the streets are trapped in a cycle of poverty that has not been much altered.

Prevailing traditional health care services in Western Ladakh, Indian Trans-Himalaya

Background: There has been a spurt in revival of Traditional Health Care Services (THCS) in different parts of the world due to increasing awareness about their importance and the initiatives taken by the local governments. Ladakh, located in the Indian Trans-Himalaya represents an ethno-cultural landscape with well-established history of use of traditional medicines in healing of different ailments. However, several THCS so far remained informal and have not been documented properly. The present study aimed to assess and document the status of three different THCS viz., Amchis, Akhons and Shamans in western Ladakh. Methods: Both qualitative and quantitative data about the 36 Amchis, 53 Akhons and 21 Shamans was collected through questionnaire surveys, semi-structured interviews and participatory appraisals in three valleys of western Ladakh were organized. Results: The Amchis and Akhons were mostly middle aged and older men while Shamans were mostly young women. All the three healers were generally illiterate with weak socio-economic status. Amchis and Akhons were more experienced as it was their main profession and received the knowledge hereditary. Amchis and Shamans were mostly Buddhist while Akhons were Muslim. These traditional healers treated 17 different ailments. Conclusion: The local population of the western Ladakh reported that most of the sub-centers and primary health centers lack medical equipment, drugs, and skilled workforce. Due to deficiencies in health care services the use of indigenous healthcare practices is common. Efforts should be made to fortify THCS by collaborating with modern medicine systems to improved local health care. Of all the THCS, the Amchi system or Sowa-rigpa seems to be the most codified and might therefore be the most logical one to be integrated into the public health care system. Keywords: Traditional health care system, Amchi, Akhon, Shaman, Western Ladakh

Creatively interpreting policy to move science forward: Implementing participatory technology assessment at NASA

AbstractEntrepreneurial strategies and tactics are often subtle and indiscrete, adding to the mystery of how one goes about being an entrepreneur, particularly within bureaucratic agencies that are often set up to constrain such behaviors. The authors use a case study of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s public engagement practices to examine how entrepreneurs shift policy interpretations with administrative agencies. Findings describe three entrepreneurial strategies and tactics: (1) using one‐on‐one or small group meetings to connect to different audiences across organizations; (2) tying new policy interpretations to existing ones, so changes seem less radical; and, (3) positioning oneself in the middle of the action to control both narrative and progress. Conclusions discuss both practical mechanisms for shifting away from the status quo, and the theoretical contributions to a growing body of literature on strategic and tactical approaches of bureaucratic entrepreneurs in democratic systems.

An integrated socio-cyber-physical system framework to assess responsible digitalisation in agriculture: A first application with Living Labs in Europe

CONTEXTIt is still an open question how to assess the contribution of digitalisation in agriculture to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, and how digitalisation then can be done in a responsible way. A socio-cyber-physical system (SCPS) concept can help this analysis, but little experience exists with its operationalisation and application, and its integration with the Responsible Research and Innovation approach. OBJECTIVETo address this gap, this paper has a twofold purpose: a) operationalise the SCPS concept within an integrated assessment framework adaptable to multiple levels of analysis, contexts, and purposes (e.g. ex-ante, ongoing, ex post evaluation) to shed light on impacts of digitalisation in relation to SCPS entities, relationships, and activities; b) apply the designed framework in 21 multi-stakeholder platforms (Living Labs), which were established to explore needs and expectations in specific subjects relevant for European agriculture, forestry and rural areas. METHODSImpacts were assessed through interviews (158 respondents), focus groups (378 participants), online surveys (273 respondents), and other secondary data. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSThe findings indicate that the SCPS framework enables elucidating relationships between digital and broader sustainable development goals and needs, and can sharpen earlier assessments, going beyond a pessimistic or optimistic dichotomy associated to digitalisation by specifying effects and trade-offs in terms of enabling, disenabling, boosting and depleting impacts of digital agriculture. However, the framework being comprehensive and open to emerging socio-cyber-physical interactions, makes that Livings Labs doing participatory impact assessments struggled with the complexity and multiple dimensions of the topic. SIGNIFICANCEThe paper provides both conceptual and operational knowledge to set up impact evaluations of responsible digitalisation in agriculture and outline concepts that can help anticipating the consequences and trade-offs.

NIRAVARI: A Parsimonious Bio-Decisional Model for Assessing the Sustainability and Vulnerability of Rainfed or Groundwater-Irrigated Farming Systems in Indian Agriculture

Groundwater irrigation is essential to sustain food production, and aquifer depletion represents a major sustainability challenge for humanity. There is a need for adequate modelling tools to assess the impacts of farming practices on groundwater resources with policy-makers and farmers in different contexts, especially in the case of smallholder farms in the tropics. We introduce the NIRAVARI model, which was designed to represent the Indian farming and water resource context. NIRAVARI is a parsimonious model integrating biophysical and decisional processes dealing with the farming system and the water table processes. A specific focus is given to how to irrigate with multiple water resources. Its formalisms include equations from well-tested published models for soil moisture and plant water stress simulations. The programming and graphic user interface is based on Excel VBA. We illustrate the ability of NIRAVARI to simulate a broad range of farmer adaptation strategies using four scenarios of cropping systems and water resources policies, and therefore, its interest for participatory scenario design and assessment with stakeholders.