Agricultural development among poor farmers in Soroti district, Uganda: impact assessment of agricultural technology, farmer empowerment and changes in opporunity structures

This paper is based on participatory development research carried out in Soroti district of Uganda with the aim to assess the impact of agricultural development among poor farmers. The central argument in this study is that a combination of farmer empowerment and innovation through experiential learning in FFS groups and changes in the opportunity structure through transformation of LGA staff, establishment of subcounty farmer fora, and emergence of private service provider, has been successful in reducing rural poverty. Based on an empirical study of successful adaptation and spread of pro-poor technologies, the study assesses the well-being impact of agricultural technology development in Soroti district, Uganda. It further analyzes the socioeconomic and institutional context under which pro-poor technologies are adopted by poor farmers

Supporting local innovation for rural development: Analysis and review of five innovation support funds

In continents and countries such as Africa and India, huge agricultural areas are "de-facto" organic. More formalised - and knowledge intense - methods of organic agriculture has proved potential help farmers achieve better development returns from farming organic. While not commonly referred to (formally certified) as "organic", this huge agricultural sector mainly depend on farmer-knowledge intensive and local innovation systems very much of the same kind that served development of organic agriculture in the west, before agricultural universities and subsequently governments took interest in participating in developing "organic" agriculture. The aim of this study is to follow up on a World Bank workshop on innovation systems at the community level. Most of the knowledge and innovation referred to in the report relates to agriculture. By resolution, this workshop recommended that a ‘review of existing innovation support funds and outline of a global mechanism to foster community level innovations’ should be undertaken. The study is also, in part, a response to a recent report from the World Bank’s Indigenous Knowledge for Development Program, which calls for the establishment of an “innovation fund to promote successful IK practices” (Gorjestani, N., in WB 2004; 45-53). Th is desk study reviews fi ve innovation support funds (ISFs) or funding concepts: the Indian ‘National Innovation Fund’ (NIF) and its associated web of institutions; the GTZ-funded ‘Small-Scale Project Fund’ (SSPF); the NGO concept ‘Promoting Local Innovation in ecologically oriented agriculture and NRM’ (PROLINNOVA); the FAO’s project, ‘Promoting Farmer Innovation-Farmer Field Schools’ (PFI-FFS); and the ‘Local Agricultural Research Committee’ (CIAL) in Latin America. Local innovations are broadly perceived as constituting a major under-utilized potential for development and rural poverty reduction, and ISFs as contributing to realize this potential. Local innovators continue to experiment and generated knowledge within a broad spectrum of areas, including improved mechanical tools for agriculture, natural resource management, medicinal and agricultural practices, and innovative ways of organizing and doing business. Th e signifi cance of local innovators as a source of knowledge and well-adapted solutions is high among the poorer sections of rural society, many of whom cannot aff ord, nor have access to, relevant advisory services. Th ere is growing recognition that a whole range of diff erent actors and organizations are required to stimulate widespread local technological development. New products and processes are brought into local economic and social use through networks of organizations, which are often referred to in the abstract as the innovation system. Th e key challenge is not perceived in terms of devising new technologies, e.g. doing diff erent things, but in bringing about changes in how the innovation system works, e.g. doing things diff diffff erently (Phila 2005). DIIS REPORT 2007:4 6 Our comparative analysis of the fi ve reviews listed above draws twelve preliminary conclusions: (i) NIF is globally the largest and most advanced ISF. However, although the other four ISFs are more limited in scope and focus, they can all contribute valuable experiences, complementary to those of NIF. In our assessment, the eff ectiveness of investing in innovation support could be enhanced if existing complementary experiences were exchanged and acted on in a systematic manner. (ii) ISFs understand innovation as a matter of both processes and products, the latter varying from hard mechanical implements to soft institutional innovations. ISFs support both innovators and their links with public institutions and private entrepreneurs, and groups of rural producers, as platforms for innovations and as their links with innovators. It is our assessment that all ISFs could benefi t from a more balanced mix of the two areas of innovation support. (iii) ISFs’ understandings of who the innovators are varies. NIF celebrates the qualities of individual, small-scale entrepreneurs with a proven record of being innovative, while the remaining ISFs place their eff orts in facilitating poor rural producers and users of innovations to learn to become ‘researchers’ in their own right. It is our assessment that supporting both types of innovator is likely to increase the development outcomes of ISFs. (iv) A general lesson learned by all ISFs is that innovations have to be understood in their context. ISFs currently diff erentiate between innovations on the basis of the types of issues they are concerned with (e.g. soil and water conservation, biological pest management, etc.). It is our assessment that it would be useful if the ISFs could instead distinguish between innovations in relation to (i) the relevance of formal property rights; (ii) public/private goods; and (iii) market/non-market value. (v) When using a ‘learning selection’ analytical framework for rural innovations for development, the focus shifts away from simply understanding innovators as inventors and rural producers as the users of innovations towards a focus on how innovations are continuously improved upon through interaction between the various actors. In our assessment, the facilitation of cycles of ‘ learning selection’ involving innovators, entrepreneurs and innovative adopters is a potential area of activity for ISFs that could contribute to scaling out use and the commercialization of rural innovations. DIIS REPORT 2007:4 7 (vi) Understanding capacity development as ‘the ability of an organization to produce appropriate outputs (e.g. services and products) helps clarify the aim of capacity development eff orts in these ISFs. ISF-supported eff orts are centered on the one hand on building eff ective mechanisms for identifying, documenting, vetting and promoting innovations, and on the other hand on ensuring organizational and fi nancial sustainability. (vii) Th e ISF funds reviewed here have a decentralized management structure linked together by a central management unit or committee. Th e Indian NIF has the most formalized and well-established governance structure, including a national Governing Board that coordinates activities among the web of independent organizations, each with diff erent functions and foci. Coordination of activities is less visible in the case of CIAL and PFI-FFS, as most management decisions in these organizations are taken at the farmer-group level and at the district-level networks of these groups. Th e PROLINNOVA concept provides a refreshing mix of centralized and decentralized decision-making management. (viii) None of these ISFs have a comprehensive system for monitoring outcomes and assessing the impact of support activities. Since none of the M&E systems diff erentiates between diff erent social categories, one potential development impact of ISF activities has not been documented. ISF documents are also unclear in their understandings of the social and economic mechanisms through which support for local innovations result in improved levels of well-being for poor people. (ix) Th e review reveals a diverse picture of Innovation Scouting, from none or implied (PROLINNOVA,) via criteria-based (SSPF), the village walks and student scouts of the NIF, reliance on grassroots “champions” and/or use of extension workers (FFS), to the structured group innovation process encoded in the CIALs. Th e use by NIF of students who return to their villages during their vacations to scout for innovations seems to be a successful approach that may be replicable in other areas where university students come from rural areas. Th e availability of comprehensive standardized forms and criteria that the students can easily apply has contributed to the success of this approach. An unintended side eff ect has been changes in student’s own attitudes to rural development. (x) Most of the funds reviewed made few if any attempts to support any genuine commercialization of local innovations. Th e exception is NIF, which we found to be more advanced in this sense. NIF includes both formal and informal sector DIIS REPORT 2007:4 8 commercialization. While primarily focusing on innovations of a public-good nature with a view to informal commercialization or information-sharing, NIF has developed a proven capacity to work with innovations of a rival good or excludable nature, in other words, those with the potential for commercialization based on standard or sui-generis IPRs. Th e other funds focus mostly (CIAL) or almost exclusively (FFS) on non-excludable and non-rival goods. In the latter cases, most or all the innovations they support are likely to be of a public-good nature. (xi) Th ree complementary forms of innovation vetting are practiced by the IFSs, each with their merits. One of the funds reviewed rely on two separate innovation “review” committees, one “scientifi c”, and one by peers among innovators (NIF), while another used joint experiments involving both external facilitators and researchers (CIAL). Vetting by potential users (e.g. rural producers) is widely practiced in PFI-FFS. (xii) Th e approach to learning varies within the ISFs, from the highly complex and elaborate learning programmed for at all levels, through a wide array of instruments and forums (NIF), to a far more specifi c and scoped adult or joint learning model (CIAL, FFS), to the rather more amorphous “collective learning” envisioned by the PROLINNOVA concept. A global innovation facility (GIF) could play a role in compiling existing documentation of experience, initiating cross-country studies, and assisting in ensuring that these experiences are made available and exchanged in a systematic manner among the existing ISFs. Th e mission of such a GIF could be to enhance the effectiveness of existing ISFs and the global expansion of activities by facilitating institutional learning, the exchange of experience between existing ISFs and the provision of technical assistance

Current marketing, supply and demand of agricultural seeds in Zimbabwe

Future agricultural growth in the communal areas of Zimbabwe must come from intensified land use. This cannot be achieved on any large scale until the needs of small-scale farmers are met with respect to agricultural technique and supporting services. Improved seeds are one of the most important techniques in this regard. The genetic quality of seed determines the potential yield and thus the productivity of complementary agricultural inputs and crop husbandry practices. Moreover, and this is of special importance for resource-poor farmers in communal areas, improved seeds can, if appropriate, make a substantial contribution to productivity independent of other inputs. In an African context, Zimbabwe has a reputation for a very high standard of agricultural research and for a highly efficient private seed industry - the largest of its kind in Africa. This working paper examines the equity function of seed supply in Zimbabwe, and analyses the extent to which improved seeds are delivered of the types and quantities required by communal farmers in a timely manner to appropriate locations, and at affordable prices. Standard textbooks on rural development in Africa pay little attention to agricultural seed in their discussion of input supply systems. Written material on agricultural research and seed production in Zimbabwe is indeed very limited and scattered. The information used in this report is primarily based on interviews of key persons within the industry and surveys in two communal areas, Silobela and Chiduku, covering 70 households. The author has been a research associate at Zimbabwe Institute of Development Studies (ZIDS) during the period from 1989 to 1991, involved in a research project entitled "The Role of the Seed - Prospects for Food Security and Sustainable Development in Communal Areas of Zimbabwe". ZIDS has provided a fruitful and highly conducive environment for discussion, for which I am very grateful. I particularly appreciate the support that I received from the head of department, Sam Moyo, and research colleagues Ismir Sunga and Roger Mponde. I am indebted to the ZIDS secretarial, administrative and library staffs for the excellent assistance they have given me

Determinants of Wellbeing Among Smallholders in Adjumani District, Uganda

An ordered logistic regression model was used to empirically establish the quantitative effects of community identified (local) determinants of wellbeing on the level of household wellbeing. The model was fitted to data for a sample of 200 households collected in the last quarter of 2002. The dependent variable, poverty category, has three levels namely poorest =1, Less poor =2, and Better off =3. Fourteen independent variables are used. Results show that households that own less than 5 acreage of land, that are male headed, have a nonagricultural source of income and are actively involved in agricultural development activities have a higher probability (odds) of enjoying wellbeing above any given level. Land ownership seems to be the most important determinant of wellbeing in Adjumani district. Furthermore, owning livestock and having a household head with an education level of secondary school and above are also important determinants of household wellbeing in Adjumani district. We find household wellbeing to be negatively affected by household size, age of the household head and whether any family member has had any long illness although only the age of the household is significant. We recommend deepening of the Universal Primary Education (UPE) and initiation of Universal Secondary Education to increase the education levels of the rural people. We also recommend continued and expansion of community level agricultural development activities, strengthening of the land tenure provisions to enhance access to land and initiation of programs to enhance animal ownership among small holder farmers in Adjumani.Adjumani, poverty analysis, DASS, ordinal logit, Consumer/Household Economics,

Concepts and experiences with demand driven advisory services: Review of recent literature with examples from Tanzania

The current institutional framework for agricultural services in East and Southern Africa was designed for a state-sponsored supply-driven approach. These institutions demand large field staff levels and are associated with high costs often financed by World Bank loans. These institutions are moreover ill-suited to respond to the demands from clients that are now emerging through development interventions and policies. Farmers are marginally involved with planning the content and means of service provision. Top-down approaches also fail to target agricultural services to women and vulnerable groups. Demand-driven advisory services have evolved over recent years and involve changing the role of extension agents from advisors to facilitators; increasing control by farmers through cost sharing; increasing the use of contracted services; and emphasizing knowledge provision rather then narrow technical advice. The DIIS Working Paper discusses four conceptual aspects of this changing approach to extension. First the working paper discusses the shift in international thinking about extension. This includes an analysis of the key principles of the conventional Training and Visit Extension methodology and the new emerging Client-driven Advisory Services model. Secondly, the management implications of the shift in paradigm are discussed, emphasizing the change in relationship between farmers and external actors. Thirdly, the working paper is concerned with the approach to farmer learning. The fourth aspect discussed is the technology development processes associated with the extension models. The working paper finally reviews a range of experiences in Tanzania with new forms of extension.Mange offentlige institutioner inden for landbrugssektoren i Afrika blev grundlagt medens landbrugspolitikken stadig var domineret af en udbudsdrevet moderniseringstilgang, finansieret af store lån fra Verdensbanken og med mange ansatte og store omkostninger. Bønderne havde kun ringe indflydelse på indholdet og tilgangen til udvikling af landbrugsteknologi og rådgivning. Landbrugskonsulenttjenesten er i mange afrikanske lande snævert fokuseret på produktion og har ikke magtet at gøre deres rådgivning relevant for kvinder eller fattige og udsatte grupper. Reformer af den offentlige sektor i forbindelse med 1990ernes strukturtilpasningsprogrammer og reducerede statsbudgetter har generelt svækket disse landbrugsinstitutioner. En efterspørgselsdrevet tilgang til landbrugskonsulenttjeneste er blevet udviklet gennem de seneste år og er blevet debatteret mellem internationale donorer og nationale aktører. Denne tilgang involverer en ændret rolle for landbrugskonsulenten fra rådgiver til facilitator, at bønderne får øget kontrol over indhold og form, og mere vægt på at stimulere bredere viden blandt bønderne frem for snæver teknisk rådgivning. På basis af en litteraturgennemgang diskuterer DIIS arbejdspapiret fire aspekter af den ændrede tilgang til konsulenttjenesten. Først analyseres de vigtigste begreber i T&V-tilgangen og den nye efterspørgsels-drevne tilgang til landbrugskonsulenttjenesten. Derefter diskuteres ledelsesmæssige implikationer af skiftet i tilgang, med vægt på magtforholdet mellem bønder og eksterne aktører. Det tredje aspekt vedrører pædagogisk metode og tilgang til indlæring, der i stigende omfang anvender ikke-formelle voksenundervisningsprincipper. Det fjerde aspekt der diskuteres, er den stigende inddragelse af bønder i udvikling og tilpasning af landbrugsteknologi. Sidst i arbejdspapiret findes en gennemgang af hidtidige erfaringer fra Tanzania med øget bonde-styring og efterspørgsels-drevet landbrugskonsulenttjeneste

Nonformal Agricultural Education Reform in Uganda: The Impact on Extension Workers

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of agricultural extension nonformal education reforms (1998-2013) in Uganda among extension workers, who were required them to change from a top-down to more participatory educational approach with farmers

PARTICIPATORY EXTENSION PROCESSES AS CATALYST FOR CHANGE IN SOCIAL DYNAMICS AMONG RURAL POOR

N° ISBN - 978-2-7380-1284-5International audienceAs agricultural education based on participatory approaches expand, knowledge is needed about the impact it has on the daily lives of participants beyond farming gains. The study explores how involvement in the participatory extension practice “Farmer Field Schools (FFS)” results in shifting world views among participants and to what extent it has an impact on peoples' sense of well-being and agency in society. The paper discuss how transformative learning in participatory research and extension enables poor people to gain agency; generate more equitable spousal relations; improve relationships with community and adopt more productive and profitable farming and marketing practices that contribute to a sustainable society

The Empowerment Route to Well-being: An Analysis of Farmer Field Schools in East Africa

Summary. -The study explores empowerment and well-being related outcomes of Farmer Field Schools (FFS), an extension approach that has gained popularity with agriculture development programs in many African countries. This is done by examining the empirical relationships between FFS participation and increased well-being; as well as FFS participation and empowerment; and finally between empowerment and enhanced well-being. Data analysis from the two thousand household questionnaires show a relationship between these aspects, despite contextual differences in the three countries studied. It is thereby argued that there could be scope to talk about an empowerment route to well-being. The paper further suggests that the most significant impact of FFS could be viewed in terms of building the capacity of local people to make choices and make decisions that ultimately lead to increased uptake of agricultural innovations, access to services, and market access as well as collective action. A major conclusion of the study is that agricultural development programs should focus more on processes of empowering farmers as opposed to technical solutions that characterize most programs, in order to create an appropriate mix of technological and social advancement for a development process that is sustainable in nature

Characterizing Land Use Systems within Awoja Watershed

This manuscript analyses trends in land use changes in Awoja Watershed with the aim of exploring the underlying causes of degradation in this watershed within the context of frequent draughts and floods. Changing trends of land use characteristics were used as indicators of ineffectiveness of control of access to resource use in the watershed. The study was carried out in the districts of Katakwi, Amuria and Sorotiin Eastern Uganda where the watershed is experiencing increasing trends of degradation despite the presence of elaborate watershed management institutions. The study used Remote Sensing, and focus group discussions to acquire relevant data on land use changes and their perceived causes. Perceptions of respondents on the effectiveness of the local governance processes were generated. The findings show increase in built-up areas from 0.21% between 1986-1996; to 3.28 between 2006 and 2016 and a notable decrease in forest cover from 107.48 Km2 in 1,986 to 6.94 Km2 by 2016. The results also show a dramatic increase in small scale farming area from 629.44 Km2 to 2,376.64 Km2 from 1986-2016 while the area of wetland reduced from 2,810.47 Km2 to 1,355 Km2over the same period. Results from focus group discussions revealed that although climatic and demographic factors were responsible for land use changes in Awoja, control of access to natural resources was inadequate to stop degradation. Climatic factors mentioned included increased frequency of floods and draughts that were perceived to have been responsible for changes in vegetation cover, water levels and infrastructure. Socio economic factors driving the changes in land use included increased cultivation of wetlands and communal land, increased sale of fuel wood, charcoal and sand, increased migration of cattle herders into the watershed during draughts and out of it during floods and increased fishing. While climatic factors were important, socio political factors such as displacements of communities, resettlements in the fragile environment brought about by government efforts to demarcate wetlands and wild life conservation areas were cited as drivers of degradation. The study concludes that besides climatic factors, inadequate management of access to resources was contributing to degradation of the watershed

Local government engagement with climate change adaptation in Uganda

[Aims and Methodology of the CCRI Research Program] This DIIS Report will present selected findings from the results of the CCRI’s research in Uganda. Climate Change and Rural Institutions (CCRI) is a joint collaborative research project (2012-2015) between the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) and the Department of Agribusiness and Natural Resource Economics at Makerere University (Uganda), the IWRM Centre at the University of Zambia (Zambia), the Centre for Climate Change Studies at the Hué University of Agriculture and Forestry (Vietnam) and Forest Action (Nepal) with support from the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA). The CCRI Uganda research team consists of three senior researchers, a PhD student and four research assistants. Qualitative interview results from key stakeholders and oral presentations during the CCRI district inception workshops and a joint CCRI/NAADS regional climate change adaptation workshop were recorded, transcribed and analysed using Nvivo software. The overall objective of the CCRI research program is to improve adaptation to climate change in rural areas through the development of policies to stimulate innovation among meso-level institutional actors. The research addresses the knowledge gap that currently exists regarding the role of district-level institutions in providing an enabling environment for climate change adaptation by rural citizens. These meso-level (district) institutions play a key role at the interface between national policies and individual/community-level adaptation efforts. The research program therefore explores (i) the nature and extent of their involvement and interactions in climate change adaptation, and (ii) the factors and processes that stimulate, constrain or block innovation in relation to climate change adaptation. The CCRI research program uses a qualitative fieldwork methodology that analyses case studies within their past and present political, economic and environmental contexts at the national and district levels. The foci of the case studies have been governance and institutions, including the historical development of national policies related to different aspects of decentralisation and the role of meso-level institutions, and their impact on the organisational cultures, cooperation and room for manoeuvre within these organisations. [...