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Book detailsHahn, Allison H., Media culture in nomadic communities. Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam Press B.V.; 2021. 221 pp. ISBN: 978 94 63723022 (hardcover), e-ISBN: 978 90 4855030 2. DOI 10.5117/9789463723022.

This study uses the perspectives of political ecology and of science and technology studies to highlight how socio-technological change over recent decades has influenced cultivation and livestock-keeping in northern Benin. The introduced agricultural technologies are negotiated and adapted in use to shift power relations to the benefit of some rural actors over others. Labour-saving technologies such as tractors and especially herbicides were traced and their effects analysed in the light of ongoing uses made by both smallholder farmers and pastoralists. Results show a renegotiation of herbicides from weeding technologies to weapons for contestation over land and natural resources. Herbicides allow farmers to expand their crop fields in a labour-constrained context and to lay claim on or maintain ownership of land. However, use of chemicals has reduced the extent of rangelands by polluting grazing lands and water resources and has increased farmer–herder conflicts. Many herders have left the region for neighbouring countries such as Togo and Ghana, with economic consequences because of decreased livestock and milk marketing. (167)

Over the years, farmers have been innovating to address various challenges such as declining crop and livestock production, poor soil health, water loss, pests and diseases, among other challenges that some farmers perceive as being partly related to climate change. The resultant innovations have great potential for improving food security, natural resource management (NRM) and livelihoods. However, formal research usually pays very little or no attention to these local innovations despite their potential to improve the livelihoods of farm families and to benefit the wider community, if these local initiatives are well supported. In responding to irregular rainfall patterns and degradation of natural resources, farmers in Machakos and Kitui semi-arid Counties of Kenya have come up with various innovations related to crops, livestock and NRM. These include finger millet nurseries, wall terraces for water harvesting, combining rock-hyrax manure with farmyard manure, and determining the sex of chicks before they hatch.This chapter presents a new approach to agricultural research and development (ARD) that is complementary to conventional ARD approaches and is implemented through the project Combining Local Innovative Capacity with Scientific Research (CLIC–SR) funded by Rockefeller Foundation in Eastern Africa. The focus here is on the work in Kenya. CLIC–SR promotes a farmer co-managed mechanism known as Local Innovation Support Fund (LISF) to catalyse locally defined experimentation and innovation. This support has led to increased awareness of the important role of farmer innovation in dealing with climate change and other challenges to improving food security and NRM.

Farmers' innovation and selection of barley varieties were studied in the Tigray Region in northern Ethiopia. Two districts each in the central and southern zones and three districts in the eastern zone of Tigray were randomly selected for this study, which sought to understand the current status of local barley varieties and to measure their relative preference by farmers. Household surveys were conducted covering 240 households to elicit farmers' views on the values, constraints, and opportunities of growing local varieties of barley. This was supported by focus-group and informal discussions with elders, key informants, and women's groups. Case studies were made of local farmers whom the community recognized as barley breeders. Twenty-four barley varieties and their major descriptors were recorded. Seed and varietal-selection criteria depended on the environmental and varietal characteristics. Investigation of intrahousehold decision making indicated that, while men tended to decide on the type of variety to grow, seed storage and processing were exclusively the responsibility of women. Farmers undertook preharvest and postharvest selection, giving emphasis mainly to earliness and spike characteristics. The distinct varietal-selection and seed-renewal procedures revealed their potential for use in further plant breeding. The case-study analysis of farmer-developed varieties provided knowledge that, if combined with scientists' knowledge, could lead to identification and development of valuable cultivars with a wide potential for use in semiarid areas of Tigray and other parts of Ethiopia.

Local innovation in agriculture and natural resource management is the process through which individuals or groups discover or develop new and better ways of managing resources, building on and expanding the boundaries of their existing knowledge. Prolinnova (Promoting Local Innovation) is a NGO-led global partnership programme that is being built from the bottom up, to develop and institutionalise partnerships and methodologies that promote such local innovation. The focus is on building national-level platforms where the different stakeholders in agricultural research and development meet and work out their particular country programmes together. The nine countries involved in the Prolinnova programme at presen have analysed their diverse experiences in building multi-stakeholder partnerships and noted some basic prerequisites for effective partnerships: internal motivation, sincere commitment from all partners; good facilitation; shared responsibility; openness and transparency. A fundamental challenge...

Economic projections into the year 2020 (Delgado et al., 1999) indicate that the global demand for animal products will increase sharply, particularly in developing countries, and suggest that the bulk of the increased production to meet this demand will come from large-scale, industrial production. Many smallholders in developing countries depend at least partly on livestock as a source of livelihood; for pastoralists, livestock are by definition the main source of livelihood.

Part 1: Introducing the Farmer Innovation Approach and Some Remarkable Innovators - Entering Research and Development in Land Husbandry through Farmer Innovation * The Career and Influence of Barthelemy Kameni Djambou in Cameroon * Ayelech Fikre: an Outstanding Woman Farmer in Amhara Region, Ethiopia * Pits for Trees: How Farmers in Semi-arid Burkina Faso Increase and Diversify Plant Biomass * Part 2: Building Partnerships for Innovation in Land Husbandry - Forging Partnerships Between Farmers, Extension and Research in Tanzania * Joining Forces to Discover and Celebrate Local innovation in Land Husbandry in Tigray, Ethiopia * Part 3: Farmer Innovation: Process, Evidence and Analysis - An Initial Analysis of Farmer Innovators and their Innovations * Why do Farmers Innovate and why don't they Innovate More? Insights from a Study in East Africa * Chain of Innovations by Farmers in Cameroon * Women and Innovation: Experiences from Promoting Farmer Innovation in East Africa * Innovators in Land Husbandry in Arid Areas of Tunisia * Women's Innovations in Rural Livelihood Systems in Arid Areas of Tunisia * Namwaya Sawadogo: the Ecologist of Touroum, Burkina Faso * Outwitters of Water: Outstanding Irob Innovation in Northern Ethiopia * A Challenge and an Opportunity: Innovation by Women Farmers in Tigray * Part 4: Farmers' Evaluation and Extension of Local Innovations - Community Assessment of Local Innovators in Northern Ethiopia * Stimulating Creativity Among East Africa Farmers: from Isolated Individuals to Interactive Groups * Facilitating Farmer-to-farmer Communication about Innovation in Tigray * Innovation and Impact: a Preliminary Assessment in Kabale, Uganda * Part 5: Stimulating and Supporting Joint Experimentation - Participatory Technology Development on Soil Fertility Improvement in Cameroon * Farmer-led Experimentation in the Dryland of Central Tigray * Farmer Innovation and Plant Breeding the Case of Maize K525 Created by Emmanuek Kamgoue of Bandjous, West Cameroon * Joint Analysis of the Sustainability of a Local SWC Technique in Burkina Faso * Sowing Maize in Pits: Farmer Innovation in Southern Tanzania * Part 6: Raising Awareness, Policy Lobbying and Mainstream - Understanding and Influencing Policy Progress For SWC.* A Bridge Between Local Innovation, Development and Research: the Regional Radio of Gafsa * Mainstream Participatory Approaches to SWC in Zimbabwe * Liberating Local Creativity: Building on the 'Best Farming Practices' Extension Approach from Tigray's Struggle for Liberation * Impact of the Farmer Innovation Approach on the Attitude of Stakeholders in Agriculture Development in Tunisia * An Encouraging Beginning * Index

Promoting rural development in Africa involves learning to clap with two hands, that is to say, creating effective interaction between local knowledge and development initiatives, on the one hand, and the knowledge and initiatives of formal agricultural research and extension, on the other. Farmer innovators ‐men and women farmers who take their own initiative to change local agriculture ‐ are key allies in rural development, as shown by the experience of the ISWC programme in Africa. Focusing on Ethiopia and Tanzania, the authors describe how formal research and extension services are made aware of farmers’ innovative work and are encouraged to document the results, promote their spread, and support further development efforts by farmer innovators. A modified Participatory Technology Development (PTD) approach is thus emerging, which starts not with problem analysis but rather by linking up with local problem‐solving initiatives. While the learning process on this approach continues, dialogue ha...

Livestock make substantial contributions to the livelihoods of poor women in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, yet the factors that enhance or constrain livestock-related opportunities for women have received relatively little empirical analysis. This review applies a gender lens to a conceptual framework for understanding the role of livestock in pathways out of poverty, using a livelihoods approach that centralizes the importance of assets, markets, and other institutions. The three hypothesized livestock pathways out of poverty are (1) securing current and future assets, (2) sustaining and improving the productivity of agricultural systems in which livestock are important, and (3) facilitating greater participation of the poor in livestock-related markets. While these three pathways are distinct, with each requiring particular strategies and interventions to be successful, they are not mutually exclusive. The chapter summarizes what is known for each pathway and what these pathways imply for programmatic and policy interventions.

Cet article présente les résultats clés tirés de l'analyse transversale de 13 expériences d'innovation agricole menées au Bénin, au Kenya et en Afrique du Sud. L'évaluation a utilisé un cadre analytique commun inspiré de l'approche systèmes d'innovation pour comprendre comment l'innovation a évolué au fil du temps via les interactions entre différents acteurs et sous l'effet d'éléments déclencheurs et moteurs internes et externes. Menée de manière participative par des équipes mixtes de chercheurs, d'étudiants et d'acteurs locaux, elle s'est fondée sur des entretiens semi-structurés, des focus groupes et des ateliers multi-acteurs. Les 13 cas portent sur une diversité d'expériences en termes de domaines, types, échelles, durée, initiateurs de l'innovation et acteurs concernés. Les résultats montrent la multiplicité et le rôle des acteurs impliqués dans l'innovation, la nature des déclencheurs et moteurs de l'innovation. Ils montrent aussi l'importance de la prise en compte du temps long pour comprendre les processus d'innovation. Ils montrent enfin l'influence tant positive que parfois problématique des interventions externes sur les processus d'innovation, et en particulier les difficultés à institutionnaliser l'innovation au-delà des interventions ou à interagir avec les dynamiques locales d'innovation. L'article propose diverses voies pour améliorer tant l'évaluation que l'accompagnement des processus d'innovation. Cela concerne en particulier la conception et le financement des interventions externes. Cela concerne aussi l'acquisition des compétences et capacités indispensables à la mise en oeuvre dans la durée d'approches ouvertes et souples de conception, renforçant chaque fois que possible les initiatives existantes des acteurs locaux.

Studies of local knowledge and farmer participatory research tend to focus on raising crops and livestock. Little attention is given to processing and marketing farm products, an important source of income for rural households, particularly women.

How do farmers see environmental changes affecting their family's well-being? How are they trying to cope with and improve the situation? What can outsiders do to support them in these efforts? These questions were addressed in the March 1992 issue of ILEIA Newsletter, a journal of the Information Centre for Low External Input in Sustainable Agriculture. The following is an edited version of that issue's editorial.

Introduction 1. Let's try it out and see how it works 31 by Ueli Scheuermeier 2. The craft of farming and experimentation . 39 by Arthur Stolzenbach 3. Crazy but not mad 49 by Henri Hocde 4. Innovative farmers in the Punjab 67 by HS. Bajwa, G.S. Gill and 0.P Malhotra 5. Viage-based cassava breeding in Tanzania 83 by Dominick de Waul assisted by ER. Chinjinga, L Johansson, RE Kanju and N Nathaniels 6. Extension through farmer experimentation in Sudan / 89 by Samia Osman Ishag, Omelnkaa Hassan A1 Fakie, Mohamed Ahmed Adam, / Ymsir Mohamed Adam, Mzalil Waggan Bremer and Mathias Mogge /' 7. Moulding our own future 109 by Chesha Wettasinha in collaboration with A. K Gunaratna and Padmini Pfthana start to experiment systematically and to seek options for their own future. 8. Starting with local knowledge in participatory research 115 by Aresawum Mengesha and Martin Bull 9. Tillage research challenges toolmakers in Kenya 127 by David Mellis, Ham'et Skinner Matsaert and Boniface Mwaniki 10. Farmer research brigades in Zaire 139 by Sylvain Mapatano Mulume I I. Kuturaya: participatory research, innovation and extension 153 by Juurgen Hagmantz Edward Chuma and Kudakwmhe Murwira 12. Why do farmers experiment with animal traction? 177 by Henn Schmitz, Aquiles Simdes and Christian Casellanet 13. Empowering farmers to conduct experiments 199 by Edward Uuddell 14. Farmers' laboratory 209 by Marius Broekema, Jan Diepenbroek and Luppo Diepenbroek 15. Strengthening community capacity for sustainable agriculture 217 by Peter Gubbels 16. Supporting local farmer research committees 245 by Jacqueline Ashbj Teresa Garckz, Manna del Pilar Guerrero, Carlos Alberto Patiiio, Carlos Arturo Quiroz and Jose Ignacio Roa I 7 Farmers' study groups in the Netherlands 263 by Natasja Oerlemans, Jet Proost and Joost Rauwhorst Lessons and challenges for farmerled experimentation

In their efforts to adapt to changing conditions and grasp opportunities, small-scale farmers have been innovating since time immemorial. With increasing scarcity of water, harnessing water productivity in crop–livestock systems will require enhancing such local innovation processes, including both endogenous development and local adaptation of exogenous interventions. The paper highlights the importance of taking an innovation systems perspective in this endeavour. The various actors involved in agricultural production, extension, research, education, policymaking and trade who can contribute to or constrain innovation processes need to be recognised and their interactions understood. Particularly in the realm of working with water – often the task of women and girls – gender aspects must be addressed, including women’s role in innovation processes and the impact of change in water access and use on women’s workloads and decision-making. The paper presents examples of technical and socio-institutional innovation to improve crop–livestock water productivity that have been developed by local resource users. It demonstrates how scientists and technical advisors in research and development organisations can harness these dynamics in local knowledge by identifying local innovations, exploring together with local people the rationale behind them, and explaining in scientific terms why they work. It argues for an approach to research that allows farmers to be creative and that strengthens their capacities to continue to adapt to changing conditions. It stresses the role of researchers in revealing how farmers are developing solutions that challenge official policy, and then joining forces with farmers to bring about policy change to accommodate and encourage local innovation. Thus, it presents one ‘intervention’ that could enhance crop–livestock water productivity: promoting an approach of recognising local innovation and engaging in participatory research with local people who are developing their own ways to make the most of scarce water.

Presents a varied collection of reports from researchers and fieldworkers, who are supporting the efforts of farmers in small-scale farming in diverse and risk-prone areas, and linking up experimental farmers so that they can learn from one another (Published in the ILEIA Readings in Sustainable Agriculture series).

SUMMARYThe questions and design of pasture research in tropical Australia and the resulting technologies address problems encountered in the prevailing extensive beef-production systems. In African pastoral systems, forage resource use is more intensive and complex, and production aims are manifold. An example of applied research in central Nigeria illustrates the usefulness of certain components of Australian pasture technology but the need to adapt them, particularly with respect to pasture utilization and management, within trials deliberately designed to address the differing problems in the local pastoral system.