Promotion of Farmer Innovation and Experimentation in Ethiopia

Promotion of Farmer Innovation and Experimentation in Ethiopia

(PROFIEET)

Participatory Innovation Development [PID] Training Manual

Compiled by:

Amanuel Assefa

Mengistu Hailu

Hailu Araya

Getenesh Sintayehu

Demekech Gera

Habtemariam Abate

Ann Waters-Bayer

January 2005

Addis Ababa

Ethiopia

Foreword and acknowledgements

This document contains a collection of training modules and background reading materials for initiating Participatory Innovation Development (PID) activities as part of the capacity building work of PROFIEET (Promoting Farmer Innovation and Experimentation in Ethiopia). A task force consisting of 6 people was involved in identifying the objectives of the upcoming PID workshops, which will take place in 4 agro-ecosystems and sociocultural settings of Ethiopia. This PID training manual is prepared mainly from the training guides “Finding New Things and Ways That Work” (LBL 2004) and “Developing Technology with Farmers” (Veldhuizen et al 1997). The modules developed for these workshops can be of use to other people who want to engage in PID efforts, and so the task force processed the modules into a form usable by others. Moreover, efforts are made to give the manual an Ethiopian flavour through including some Ethiopian case studies on PID. This draft guideline is presented by the national PROFIEET Steering Committee to the regional task forces. Each regional taskforce will need to choose and adapt the components and modules that it finds most relevant for the local situation.

We would like to thank all the people who were involved in the development of these modules in one way or the other for their contributions.

About this training guide

This guide contains a collection of training modules for initiating Participatory Innovation Development (PID) activities. PID is a process of finding new things and ways that work (successful innovations) in interaction between rural people, research and extension service providers. The very basic principle of PID is that the local, situational; often more intuitive knowledge of villagers and the formal knowledge of scientists (researchers or other subject matter specialists) are combined to experiment on innovations. The interaction between villagers and scientists often needs facilitation. Extension is well placed to take on the facilitation function, as extension workers have the required communicative skills and a broader understanding of the local conditions, practices and knowledge. PID has its own roots in agricultural development; the concepts, however, are applicable also for innovation development in many other areas, in particular other fields of natural resource management, like forestry and range management.

Based on this principle a variety of understandings and concepts of PID has evolved. This training guide builds on the pragmatic PID understanding of the LBL international Department, and is mainly based on the experience of LBL gained, and modules used, during PID introduction workshops with different partners in different programmes and countries

Structure of the training guide

The guide is divided into 11 components. Each component or learning unit comprises background reading material and a module, which join up the objectives, the procedures, learning effects and the time and materials to be used in presenting the specific component. Component 1 is meant for introducing PID and participants to each other. Background information on participatory approaches in component 2 is the history of research and extension, the reasons provided during each development era for non-adoption of agricultural technologies by farmers and a typology of participation in development programmes follows it. Component 3 proceeds with presenting farmer innovation and the concepts of PID followed by explaining PID process and methods in component 4. Discussion on Ethiopian experiences in PID and financial issues in PID are provided in component 5 and 6 respectively. Innovations by women and the role of women in PID is discussed in component 7 and farmer-led design of experiments in component 8. Moreover, component 9 addresses participatory M and E and documentation, while component 10 addresses joint criteria for selecting useful innovations for dissemination. The last part, which is component 11, deals with SWOT analysis of PID. This guide is though to impart useful information, which is assumed to skillfully and adequately equip researchers, training facilitators, field practitioners and farmers to properly conduct their envisaged PID action research in their own localities.

How to use this guide

The structure of the training guide facilitates the study of different components of the manual independently and selectively according to the needs of people who will be participating in the planning and implementation of the PID action research work in their regions and specific localities. While the workshop modules are mainly for trainers, all people involved in the PID activities (extensionists, researchers and some farmers) can use both the modules and the background reading materials for greater understanding of the different components the guide. All member institutions and individuals, communities involved in regional task force who are accompanying ongoing PID processes may find it helpful to use the materials provided herein. The tables, figures, forms, photos and examples are believed to illustrate and further clarify concepts and ideas. However, the set of modules should not be considered as a predetermined arrangement with a fixed sequence rather shall be seen as a toolbox. Whenever a trainer is preparing a learning workshop, he/she must choose and possibly adapt the modules to make them fit and adequate for a specific training situation and participants. It is assumed that users of this guide have already acquired know-how in training methodologies and facilitation skills, and know the basics about participatory approaches and tools.

T A B L E OF C O N T E N T S

Foreword and acknowledgements

About this training guide

Structure of the training guide

How to use the training guideII

COMPONENT 1:INTRODUCTION TO WORKSHOP......

Module1: Introduction to workshop on PID and personal

Component2:Backgroundtoparticipatory approaches

Module2: History of research and extension since the 1960s

Module3: Participation and participatory approaches

Module4: Justification for PID in Ethiopian context

Component 3:Farmer innovation and PID concepts

Module5: concepts of farmer innovation

Module6: Identifying local innovators and experimenters

Module 7: Looking at local ways of experimentation

Module 8: Concepts of PID

Module9: Study of farmers’ experimentation

Module 10: A real story of PID

Module 11: Using the right words

Module 12: Combining different knowledge

Module 13: Johari’s window

Module14: Explaining PID to others

Module15: Uniqueness of PID compared with other approaches

Component 4:Explanation of PID process and methods

Module 16: PID framework and methodology

Component 5:Discussion of Ethiopian experiences in PID

Module 17 More case studies on PID from Ethiopia

Module 18: The story of the farmer who wanted to build a bridge

Module 19: Roles of stakeholders in PID

Component 6: Financial issues in PID

Module 20: Using money in PID

Component 7: Innovation by women and the role of women in PID

Module 21: Participation of men and women in PID

Component 8:Farmer-led design of experiments

Module 22: Purpose of experimentation (exploration – adaptation verificationdemonstration)

Module 23:Overview of steps in designing and Documenting a PID experiment

Module 24: Introduction of idea sheets, experiment sheets, activity plan andrecording book

Module 25: Practice in the formulation of experiment sheets

Module 26: Sequence of work in the village

Module 27: Preparing the introductory meeting in the village

Component 9:Participatory M&E and documentation

Module 28: Process monitoring

Component 10:Joint criteria for selecting useful innovations or dissemination and PID

Module 29:Farmer-to-farmer extension

Component 11:SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis of PID

Module 30: SWOT Analysis

References: .123

1

COMPONENT 1:INTRODUCTION TO WORKSHOP

Important points

• Create friendly and collegial environment for the participants [ice-breaking]
• Stimulate sharing of personal experiences/observations on PID type of activities
• Introduce PID is all about farmer innovation and experimentation

Module 1: Introduction to workshop on PID and personalintroduction

Objective

Introduce the main idea, that PID is about villagers doing experiments and introduce participants to each other.

Situation in which to use the module

When the training begins.

Intended learning effects

• PID takes villagers‘ ideas seriously.
• Villagers conduct experiments on their own and it is interesting to observe them.
• This is going to be a workshop based on practical experiences and examples, not a seminar with a lot of lecturing.
• Basic information about fellow participants.

Procedure

1. Relate a true story of a villager (or a group of villagers) who has successfully and independently experimented with something new. “Independently” means that the villager tried this out originally with no researcher or extensionist being involved. Involvement of such outsiders may have come only later.
2. Ask participants to introduce themselves and the work they are presently involved in (name and place of origin, education, professional career, current position and tasks, on a card each). You may do your own personal introduction as an example and tell the story (Step 1) at the end of it.
3. Ask each participant to additionally tell about a villager whom he or she had encountered, and who had been experimenting on his/her own with something, which was new.

Time

10 minutes for the story and explaining the task to the participants; 5 minutes preparation by participants; 3 minutes per participant for the personal presentation

Material

Cards, markers, flipcharts, boards etc.

Component2:Backgroundtoparticipatory approaches

Module 2: History of research and extension since the 1960s

Background reading: Please refer to the diagrammatic presentation given below

Objective

Make participants realize that the emergence of PID as a concept and methodology is based on challenges that were faced in past efforts of research and extension.

Situation in which to use the module

Can be used in initial stages as a means to show how developments and concepts known to the participants relate to the newest attempts of participation in research and extension.

Intended learning effects

• Participation is not a new effort in research. Participation as a concept slowly emerged from challenges faced by each generation of researchers and extensionists.
• What is being discussed today has a basis in the past. The searching process for improving the relevance of research and extension will continue, and future approaches will probably be different from today’s, though based on today’s experiences.
• There is a general tendency towards increased interaction on an equal footing between researchers, farmers and extensionists.

Procedure

1. Present Transparencies 1 to 3 (some indications: Glasses designate the researcher, a cap designates an extensionist, RPF (resource-poor farmer)
2. During the presentation you might discuss with the participants their historical experience, and whether they can relate to the various eras.
3. Distribute photocopies of the handout, which shows the overview of all transparencies.

Time

20-40 minutes (depending on how much participants want to talk at this initial stage of a workshop)

Material

3 transparencies (attached), 1 handout (attached),

Module 3: Participation and participatory approaches [Typology ofparticipation in development programs]

Background reading

Main concepts

Reasons for promoting farmer participation:Pragmatic (to increase efficiency of one's work), ethical (to promote equity and right of self-determination) and political (to empower the poor).

Degrees of farmer participation:From mere involvement in implementation, through consultation, to really influencing decision-making.

Indigenous technology development:Innovation in agriculture, which take place without interference from outsiders.

Transfer-of-technology (ToT):Innovations that have been developed at research stations are transferred via extensionists to farmers- the "end users".

Participatory Technology Development (PTD):Formal research and extension agencies complement and support farmers' own technology development efforts.

Participation: What do we mean?

"Farmer participation" is one of the most frequently used, and misused, concepts in development rhetoric in the past decade.

The term is used, for example, to refer to farmers paying for irrigation facilities, but also to farmers exerting decisive influence on the activities of extension and research organizations. In any discussion about farmer participation, its meaning in the specific context must therefore be clarified.

In agricultural extension, the categories shown in Table 2 are helpful in analyzing farmer participation.

In agricultural research, farmer participation generally takes on of the forms shown in Table 3.

PTD is an effort to put into practice the furthest reaching of the options given in Tables 1. In PTD, "farmer participation" implies an acceptance that local people can, to a large extent, identify and modify their own solutions to suit their needs.It means that "outsiders" such as researchers and development agents support farmers in their own efforts to change there farming systems.This support focuses on enhancing farmers' capacity to innovate, to experiment, to develop there farming system in a sustainable way and to increase their control over resources and decision making affecting their farms.

Who promote farmer participation?

Strong farmer participation in agricultural development is essential if sustainability is to be achieved.As already argued at the end of the previous unit, farmer participation is needed:

• to link technology development with farmers' intimate knowledge of the local situation;
• because formal research and development institutes have limited capacity to develop a multitude of locally-specific technology adaptations;
• so that indiscriminate use of external inputs can be "replaced" by farmers' day-to-day observation and decision-making about the use of inputs.

Farmer participation is being increasingly promoted, not only in connection with LEISA development. It contributes to higher rates of adoption of technologies developed by researchers, especially in resource-poor areas with highly diverse farming systems, and reduces costs of the research and extension by increasing farmers' financial contributions.

NGOs often see participation as an end in itself, in order to generate countervailing power at the grassroots level. Without such empowerment of farmers, the benefits of development are not expected to reach the grassroots.

Why do you advocate farmer participation? Is it for reasons of:

effectiveness of your work? to increase rates of adoption? to achieve sustainability of agriculture?

efficiency of your work? to reach more farmers with limited staff? to reduce costs? to increase farmers' financial contributions?

equity and ethics? to ensure that people, especially the poor, have a say in activities that affect their lives?

empowerment? to strengthen farmers' bargaining power against governments and private interests, so that lasting development can be achieved?

Approaches to technology development

A great number of innovations in farming have occurred without intervention from outside. Braidwood (1967) refers to the "atmosphere of experimentation" which characterized even the Neolithic farmer since the earliest stages of agriculture.One may call this "indigenous technology development".

In modern times, institutes have been created which specialize in parts of the agricultural development process, such as research and extension.They operate according to the following model: innovations are developed at research institutes and transferred through the extension service for adoption by farmers.The term "transfer-of-technology" (ToT) is often used to refer to this linear model of technology development.

As a reaction to major problems encountered with ToT (cf. Merrill-Sands, 1986), participatory approaches to technology development have been developed. "Participatory technology development" stresses the importance of farmers' role in agricultural innovation and change, which is complemented by formal research. The main characteristics of these three approaches to technology development are summarized in Table 1.

In indigenous technology development, the farmers control what happens on their farm.All decisions - for example, those about which aspects of their farm system needs to be improved or which new options should be tested - are in their hands alone.In ToT, many of these decisions are taken from them; in some cases of large irrigation schemes, the farmers are little more than laborers on their own land.The PTD approach aims at giving the decision-making role back to the farmers.Where outsiders contribute to farmers' decision-making, this is done openly as equals in dialogue.

Table 1: Main characteristics of three approaches to Participatory Technology Development (PTD)

CRITERIA / Indigenous TD / ToT / Participatory TD
Objectives / Secure living, reduce risks / Maximize yield / Farmers' agricultural self-management
Source of innovations / Farmers / Research organizations / Farmers complemented by research organizations
Nature of knowledge / Holistic / Particularistic / Creative tension between holistic and particularistic
Experimental approach / Largely unknown / Scientific procedures / Farmers' methods complemented by simple scientific procedures
Channels of communication / Farmer-to-farmer / Extension service / Multiple system: farmers, NGOs, extensionists, etc
Process of communication / Informal, horizontal / Formal, vertical, top-down / Semi-formal
Role of farmers / Generator of knowledge, communicator, user / Receiver, adopter / Generator, communicator, evaluator of outside ideas, user
Role of field staff / None / teacher, control compliance with regulations / multiple: moderator, resource person, co-researcher, teacher

Typology of participation

Scholars have made attempts to typify or classify participation on the bases of parameters, which they believe are appropriate to explain the complex concept of “participation”. Pretty [1994] is however one of those scholars who have tried to give us a comprehensive and analytical picture of the typology of participation. The main frame of reference used by pretty to identify the types of participation is basically the involvement of the people in decision-making.Biggs [1989] is also another scholar who have suggested four types of farmers participation in research. Biggs has keenly observe the prevailing relationship of researchers and farmers in the processes of technology development in most places of the globe and has drawn conclusions, described in the under given table. The types of participation identified by Biggs are also more or less explained by Pretty using different words.

Table 2. A typology of participation in development programmes