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Sourcebook
 J. Gonsalves, T. Becker, A. Braun, D. Campilan, H. de Chavez, L. Fajber, M. Kapiriri, J. Rivaca-Caminade and R. Vernooy (editors). 2005. Participatory Research and Development for Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management: A Sourcebook. International Potato Center-Users' Perspectives With Agricultural Research and Development, Laguna, Philippines and International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada. 3 volumes.
ISBN (CIP-UPWARD) 971-614-032-0
ISBN (IDRC) 1-55250-183-3
Each set of three volumes and CD costs US$30; a discounted rate of $20 is offered to national/local organizations in the South. Price excludes delivery charge, which varies by destination and mode of delivery. To purchase copies or request additional information, contact CIP-UPWARD.
View: Description / Table of Contents (print version)
Download: go to BK 1025
Overview
The Changing Agenda of Agricultural Research and Development
Agricultural research and development has traditionally focused on meeting the challenge of feeding the world’s hungry population. Central to this agenda is the need to increase agricultural production through the introduction of technologies and support services for improving farm yield. Following the successes of the Green Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s, newer challenges to agricultural research and development have emerged, such as:
§ Promoting more equitable distribution of benefits resulting from dramatic improvements in agricultural production.
§ Sustaining productivity gains through better management of natural resources supporting agriculture.
§ Shifting the focus of research and development interventions to less favorable environments and low input agricultural systems.
§ Strengthening the capacity of local farming communities to continuously learn and experiment ways of improving their agricultural livelihoods.
§ Building synergy between technological change and the socio-economic, cultural and political dimensions of agricultural innovation.
In seeking to address these emerging challenges, the dominant transfer-of technology paradigm has proven inadequate for managing more complex second generation issues such as (1) diverse biophysical environments, (2) multiple livelihood goals, (3) rapid changes in local and global economies, (4) expanded range of stakeholders over agriculture and natural resources, and (5) drastic decline in resource investment for the formal research and development sector.
Key Themes in Post-Green Revolution Agricultural Research and Development
- Pro-poor targeting
- Conservation and sustainable use of natural resources
- Development of uplands and other less-favored areas
- Local governance, decentralization and citizens’ rights
- Equity for women and other marginalized socio-economic groups
- Trade globalization and supply chains
- Migration and rural-urban dynamics
- Property rights and collective action
- Agriculture and human health
- Multi-stakeholder partnerships
- Local capacity development
- Organizational learning and change
The Changing View of Research and Development
Global experiences now show that the changing agenda requires new ways of thinking about and doing research and development. Fundamental to this emerging paradigm shift is reassessing the traditional notion of research and development as a process primarily concerned with generating and transferring modern technology to passive end-users. Instead, research and development is now widely seen as a learning process that:
- Encompasses a diverse set of activities for generating, sharing, exchanging, utilizing knowledge.
- Results in a wide range of knowledge products, from technological to socio-institutional.
- Builds synergy between local capacities, resources and innovations.
- Draws upon diverse sources of knowledge, from local systems to global science.
- Provides decision-support tools and information that enable various types of users to make strategic choices and actions.
- Requires a holistic perspective of both the biophysical and social spheres in agriculture and natural resource management.
These new perspectives suggest that research and development can no longer be the exclusive domain of scientists, but rather a joint process requiring the participation of a wider range of actors, users or stakeholders. More importantly, it redefines the role of local people from being merely recipients and beneficiaries to actors who influence and provide key inputs to the process.
Participatory Research and Development (PR&D)
In reconceptualizing the research and development process, there has been a growing interest in the use of participatory approaches in the natural resource management, agriculture and rural livelihoods sectors. These have included (1) participatory rural appraisal, (2) farmer participatory research, (3) participatory technology development, participatory action research, participatory learning and action, gender and stakeholder analysis, community-based natural resource management, and sustainable livelihoods approach.
These diverse yet interrelated approaches collectively represent participatory research and development (PR&D) – as a pool of concepts, practices, norms and attitudes that enable people to enhance their knowledge for sustainable agriculture and natural resource management. Its underlying goal is to seek wider and meaningful participation of user groups in the process of investigating and seeking improvements in local situations, needs and opportunities.
PR&D has partly evolved from efforts to improve technology development and dissemination. However, field experiences show that innovations for improving agriculture and natural resource management need to address not only the technological but also the socio-cultural, political, economic dimensions such as
community structures, gender, collective action, property rights, land tenure, power relations, policy and governance.
Participatory approaches are envisioned to help agricultural R&D: 1) respond to problems, needs and opportunities identified by users; 2) identify and evaluate technology options that build on local knowledge and resources; 3) ensure that technical innovations are appropriate for local socio-economic, cultural and
political contexts; and 4) promote wider sharing and use of agricultural innovations. In contrast to the linear process of technology generation-transfer utilization in conventional approaches, PR&D encompasses a broader set of phases and activities including:
- Assessment and diagnosis: situation analysis, needs and opportunities assessment, problem diagnosis, documentation and characterization.
- Experimenting with technology options: joint agenda setting for experimentation, technology development and evaluation, integration of technology components and piloting.
- Sustaining local innovation: institutionalizing social and political mechanisms, facilitating multi-perspective negotiation and conflict management, community mobilization and action, local capacity development, strengthening local partnerships.
- Dissemination and scaling up: development of learning and extension mechanisms, information support to macro-policy development, promoting networking and horizontal linkages.
- Managing PR&D: project development, resource mobilization, data management, monitoring and evaluation, PR&D capacity development.
In practice, PR&D is generally distinguished by key elements such as sensitivity to users’ perspectives, linkage between scientific and local knowledge, interdisciplinary mode, multi-agency collaboration, problem- and impact-driven research and development objectives, and livelihood systems framework.
Promoting and Developing Capacity for PR&D
While there is growing interest in PR&D, it remains widely perceived as incompatible with accepted norms and practices in the mainstream research community. In the field, PR&D demands a set of knowledge, attitude and skills that go beyond the typical human and organizational capacities under top-down research and development paradigms. In addition, the value adding potential of participatory approaches has yet to be fully explored by research and development practitioners.
There remains a major need to document empirical cases and to systematically assess impact of PR&D. Similarly, there is still limited understanding on PR&D’s complementary role to more conventional research approaches, and on maintaining effective linkage with mainstream science to facilitate local innovation processes.
Nonetheless, participatory approaches are gradually gaining ground across the institutional landscape – from research and academic organizations to non-government organizations (NGOs), development agencies, and local government units (LGUs). To further promote and develop capacities for PR&D, it is necessary to create more opportunities for information exchange, training and networking among the growing number of practitioners and organizations seeking to explore the value-adding potential of PR&D. Among its key challenges are:
- Synthesis. Reviewing diverse PR&D experiences to identify field-tested concepts and practices for wider sharing and adaptation.
- Capacity development. Developing PR&D capacities of field practitioners and their organizations such as through training, information services, networking and development of protocols.
- Establishing support mechanisms for capacity development. Sustaining capacity development through institutionalized, locally-driven support mechanisms.
- Integration. Creating opportunities and a supportive environment for introducing PR&D in mainstream agriculture and natural resource management programs.
The PR&D Sourcebook
The development of this sourcebook supports wider initiatives in promoting easy access to systematized information on field-tested PR&D concepts and practices among field practitioners and their organizations. It addresses the need to facilitate sharing and use of the expanding knowledge on PR&D by:
- Identifying and consolidating field-tested PR&D concepts and practices relevant to managing natural resources for agriculture and rural livelihood, drawn from experiences of practitioners and organizations around the world.
- Repackaging, simplifying and adapting information through the production of a sourcebook on PR&D.
- Distributing and promoting the use of the sourcebook, including its derived products, particularly in developing countries where access to PR&D information resources is limited.
The primary target users of the sourcebook are field-based research practitioners in developing countries seeking to learn and apply PR&D in their respective programs and organizations. They may have technical or social science backgrounds but share a common interest in using PR&D’s general knowledge base. They are involved in research activities dealing with interrelated issues in natural resource management, agriculture and rural livelihoods. As a whole, the sourcebook is envisioned to provide general reference and comprehensive overview on PR&D. In showcasing the rich, diverse perspectives on PR&D, the sourcebook is characterized by the following salient elements:
- Emphasis on information applicable to research- and development-oriented activities, complementing existing publications/materials that primarily focus on the use of participatory methods for extension, learning and community mobilization.
- Broad topical coverage of the research and development process. As an introductory guide on PR&D, it provides general orientation to various phases or types of activities that are specifically covered by existing method- and/or tool-specific publications.
- Focus on the application of PR&D within the framework of conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It consists of papers that share field experiences associated with natural resources being used in agriculture and rural livelihoods and/or agriculture and rural livelihoods that consciously maintain long-term productivity of the resource base.
- An integrated socio-technical perspective that accounts both the social/human and technological dimensions of innovation required for natural resource management, sustainable agriculture and rural livelihoods.
- Cross-cutting perspective of PR&D applications, encompassing various types of natural resources, agricultural activities and rural livelihoods; this comparative mode of presenting information complements existing publications that are specific to sub-categories of PR&D applications.
- Conscious effort to seek out papers dealing with lesser known projects/organizations in developing countries, especially PR&D experiences that have not been (widely) published.
The Editors
Julian Gonsalves, Thomas Becker, Ann Braun,
Dindo Campilan, Hidelisa De Chavez,
Elizabeth Fajber, Monica Kapiriri,
Joy Rivaca-Caminade and Ronnie Vernooy
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