For the last decade or so, participatory research has become an attractive mechanism
for conducting adaptive agricultural research. This is mainly motivated by the
perception that closer association with resource-poor farmers in identifying the
problem and involving them in research implementation presents greater chance of
success and adoption of research outputs; hence; enhancing the impact of agricultural
research. The advantage of participatory research is considered more prominent in,
although not limited to, the adaptation of technologies that require local knowledge of
the social, economic and biophysical environments or need high level of human
capital or require cooperation of different stakeholders. Resource-poor households in
the dry and marginalized areas who face complex biophysical and socioeconomic
constraints have benefited less from the agricultural research successes, which led to
the green revolution, compared to the farmers in well endowed environments. The
result is high prevalence of poverty and malnutrition in the dry areas. However, there
is potential to improve the welfare of these households through agricultural research
and development. The development of participatory research approach and its
application came form the necessity of reaching out these resource-poor farmers
whom their participation in the research and development process is considered as key
in bringing about a desirable change
