|
|
AgEcon Search >
European Association of Agricultural Economists >
2008 International Congress, August 26-29, 2008, Ghent, Belgium >
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://purl.umn.edu/43935
|
| Title: | Bridging the Gap between Farmers and Researchers through Collaborative Experimentation. Cost and Labour Reduction in Soybean Production in South-Nyanza, Kenya |
| Authors: | Vandeplas, I.
Vanlauwe, B.
Merckx, R.
Deckers, J. |
| Keywords: | Collaborative research
soybean
participation |
| Issue Date: | 2008-10-06T19:06:54Z |
| Abstract: | The Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility
Institute of the International Centre of Tropical
Agriculture (TSBF-CIAT) introduced dual purpose
soybean varieties in south-west Kenya both to improve
soil fertility by nitrogen fixation and to provide a source
of better food and income. Since the start of the project
in 2005, the Uriri Farmer Cooperative Society was
successful in spreading the seeds over the district.
Nevertheless, farmers still had problems with soybean
agronomy. We therefore started a Collaborative
Experiment (CE) Approach in March 2006 to make
soybean production more accessible to farmers. The
approach consisted of four stages: 1) information
sessions; 2) participatory rural appraisal; 3)
collaboration in the whole process of experimentation,
from problem identification, to the design and analysis;
4) handing over to farmers. In this case study, farmers
identified two main constraints to the recommended
soybean production methods: 1) high labour
requirement 2) lack of income to purchase the inputs.
The results and discussions with farmers during the field
days allowed demonstrating that the CE approach had
been successful on two main aspects. First, CE was
successful in defining problems and yield enhancing
treatments which are accessible to deprived people.
During field days, all farmers felt there was at least one
of the treatments accessible to them. The second main
success of the CE process was the increased awareness
and interest about soybean. After less than a year of
collaboration, farmers saw that soybean can bring a
better life, cash for school fees and better health. The
number of farmers registered in the soybean cooperative
also increased from a few hundreds to 4500 that year.
Several farmers started their own experiments to
further adapt the recommendations to their own needs.
The CE approach was thus successful in bridging the
power-relations and knowledge gap between researchers
and farmers and in designing appropriate technologies. |
| URI: | http://purl.umn.edu/43935 |
| Institution/Association: | European Association of Agricultural Economists>2008 International Congress, August 26-29, 2008, Ghent, Belgium |
| Total Pages: | 6 |
| Collections: | 2008 International Congress, August 26-29, 2008, Ghent, Belgium
|
Files in This Item:
| File |
Description |
Size | Format |
|---|
| 178.pdf | | 88Kb | PDF | View/Open |
|
Recommend this item
All items in AgEcon Search are protected by copyright.
|
