Institutionalising Farmer Participatory Research: lessons from a comparative study

This chapter draws on international experiences with institutionalising Farmer Participatory Research in agricultural research organisations. It integrates the lessons that were inventorised during a one-week workshop in the Philippines where 19 organisations from Asia, Africa and Central America reported on their experiences with institutionalisation. It is argued that institutional change has implications for the mission, structure and human resource base of an organisation, and that in each of these domains administrative, political and socio-cultural aspects play a role. In connection with these, several strategies are suggested to stimulate support for Farmer Participatory Research at various hierarchical levels. It is concluded that institutionalisation itself is a complex social learning process towards changing the accountability orientations of researchers, research organisations and funding agencies