A ‘short’ list of methods we could discuss… Agroecosystems Analysis (AEA), Beneficiary Assessment, Development Education Leadership Teams (DELTA), Diagnosis and Design (D&D), Diagnostico Rural Participativo (DRP), Farmer Participatory Research (FPR), Groupe de Recherche et d’Appui pour l’Auto-promotion Paysanne (GRAAP), Methode Active de Recherche et de Planification Participative (MARP), Participatory Analysis and Learning Methods (PALM), Participatory Action Research (PAR), Participatory Research Methodology (PRM), Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), Participatory Rural Appraisal and Planning (PRAP), Participatory Technology Development (PTD), Participatory Urban Appraisal (PUA), Planning for Real, Process Documentation, Rapid Appraisal (RA), Rapid Assessment for Agricultural Knowledge Systems (RAAKS), Rapid Assessment Procedure (RAP), Rapid Assessment Techniques (RAT), Rapid Catchment Analysis (RCA), Rapid Ethnographic Assessment (REA), Rapid Food Security Assessment (RFSA), Rapid Multi-perspective Appraisal (RMA), Rapid Organisational Assessment (ROA), Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA), Samuhik Brahman (Joint Trek), Soft Systems Methodology (SSM), Story Methodology (SM), Theatre for Development, Training for Transformation, Visualisation in Participatory Programmes (VIPP), ZOPP… More is not necessarily better!

The Forages and Livestock Systems Project (FLSP) Laos Process of Working with Farmers

1. The Conceptual Process

Participatory diagnosis Active Farmer Participation Evaluate technologies Test technologies Identify technologies to test and plan the field trials Formal experimentation Expansion (Adaptation & Adoption)

2. The Process in Practice

Selecting villages Agreeing on issues Sharing with other villages Reaching other farmers in the village Select a focus-group Searching for options to test Testing and evaluating options Focus group Meeting Village Planning Integrating solutions on farms

Agreeing on issues Sharing with other villages Reaching other farmers in the village Select a focus-group Searching for options to test Testing and evaluating options Focus group Meeting Village Planning Integrating solutions on farms Selecting villages Many projects have had problems because they chose villages for their convenience rather than considering which villages have the best chance for success Many projects have had problems because they chose villages for their convenience rather than considering which villages have the best chance for success Three questions will help you select villages and farmers for doing your research: What do I have to offer? What are my social goals? Where am I likely to have most impact?

Participatory diagnosis Active Farmer Participation Evaluate technologies Test technologies Identify technologies to test and plan the field trials Expansion (Adaptation & Adoption) Formal experimentation

Selecting villages Sharing with other villages Reaching other farmers in the village Searching for options to test Testing and evaluating options Focus group Meeting Village Planning Integrating solutions on farms Agreeing on issues Once you have selected places to work you need to confirm that there is real potential for your research. You need to know if the farmers have problems that could benefit from your your research To find out, conduct Participatory Diagnosis Select a focus-group

–is usually the ‘entry point’ for participatory research –is one or two meetings with the village in which farmers and researchers discuss the problems (and opportunities) they are facing AND the farmers prioritise those problems they would like to try to solve now Participatory diagnosis...

an agreement between the community and the development workers on which problems to solve (or opportunities to develop) and who in the community will be responsible for testing promising technology options (selecting a focus group) The outputs of participatory diagnosis are...

Some tools to use: Resource Mapping Calendars (seasonal, historical) Social Equity analysis Prioritise Problems Resource Mapping

Resource Mapping will help you start to understand village resources and the broad problems the farmers are facing Resource Mapping

Mapping helps us start to understand village resources and the problems the farmers are facing Mapping

encourage all the farmers to participate in the mapping exercise. ask questions about some of the issues that the farmers raise. In mapping…

the boundary of all their land the village features the production areas (agriculture, livestock, forestry…) any other features important to them In mapping, ask the farmers to draw…

Can be used to understand resource flows and social divisions in the community Will take at least 1 hour Mapping…

Some tools to use: Resource Mapping Calendars (seasonal, historical) Social Equity analysis Prioritise Problems Calendars (seasonal, historical)

Calendars help us understand: when activities and problems (such as high labour demand, food shortages and disease) happen throughout the year (seasonal) and how the farming systems and problems are changing with time (historical) Calendars

list their main farming activities throughout the year list the main problems they have that vary throughout the year (you can also add some) In preparing calendars, ask the farmers to…

draw on the calendar when each activity occurs describe who is responsible for each activity (men or women) to rank or weight when each problem is important In preparing calendars, ask the farmers to…

Some tools to use: Resource Mapping Calendars (seasonal, historical) Social Equity analysis Prioritise Problems Social Equity analysis

In every community there are differences between people such as wealth and gender. Some people are poor and other people are relatively better off. Different groups have different problems and opportunities Wealth Analysis

define these ‘wealth’ groups in a village understand the main characteristics of each group, understand why some people are poor while others are relatively better off, and identify who in the community belongs to each group. Wealth Analysis is an approach that helps you…

describe the different ‘wealth’ groups describe the main characteristics of each group, discuss why some people are poor while others are relatively better off, and identify who in the community belongs to each group. Ask the farmers to…

1.Enough food (16 farmers) surplus rice every year have both lowland and upland fields raise pigs, chickens, ducks and buffalo or cattle for sale can purchase replacement if animals die nice house have money/capital have education know how to utilize resources well settled earlier in the village

2. Food shortages sometimes (35 farmers) sufficient/surplus rice in some years less land than the sufficient food group less livestock than the sufficient food group (sold only in times of need) can purchase replacement if animals die less nice house than food sufficient group have many different activities for income and livelihood weave for sale exchange labor

3. Food shortages each year (18 farmers) rice shortage every year no lowland area have only chickens and ducks (not for sale) can not purchase replacement if animals die house not nice lack money to invest no education settled in the village after 1975

You may need to work with women and men separately At all stages of your research, you need to keep asking yourself: – who is participating?, – who is making the decisions?, – who is doing the work?, – who has controls the resources?, – what are their opportunities, constraints, responsibilities, perceptions & interests? And – who is benefiting from your work? Gender Analysis

Some tools to use: Resource Mapping Calendars (seasonal, historical) Social Equity analysis Prioritise Problems

In this first village meeting you need to know how important all their problems are in agriculture…not just the ones you think you can research. Asking farmers to list and prioritise all their agricultural problems will help you understand how important are the problems that you think you may be able to help solve with your research. Prioritise Problems

Agreeing on issues Select a focus-group Selecting villages Sharing with other villages Reaching other farmers in the village Testing and evaluating options Focus group Meeting Village Planning Integrating solutions on farms Now that you and the villagers have agreed on the problems (or opportunities) that you want to research, you can now work with the focus group to understand these problems in more detail Once you have done that you can then discuss the technologies that could be tested and the farmers select which ones to test Searching for options to test

A good tool to use: Problem Analysis

helps the focus group to define their problems and opportunities in detail helps them identify which are the high priority problems for research builds on the understanding you already gained in the maps and calendars Problem Analysis…

1.to identify the causes of their main problems In Problem Analysis, ask the farmers…

Lack of feeds in the dry season Poor animal nutrition Limited area for grazing Drought Overworked animals Parasites and disease Lack of information Thin animals Few calves Thin calves Perceived problems

1.to identify the causes of their main problems 2.to prioritise these causes In Problem Analysis, ask the farmers…

Perceived problems Lack of feeds in the dry season Few calves Thin calves Thin animals Overworked animals Limited area for grazing Drought Parasites and disease Lack of information Poor animal nutrition Selected by farmers as the highest priority

1.to identify the causes of their main problems 2.to prioritise these causes 3.to identify which causes contribute to other problems In Problem Analysis, ask the farmers…

Lack of feeds in the dry season Poor animal nutrition Limited area for grazing Drought Thin animals Perceived problems Lack of information Parasites and disease Overworked animals Few calves Thin calves

4. what have they done to deal with these problems in the past? In Problem Analysis, ask the farmers…

Limited area for grazing DroughtLack of feeds in the dry season Poor animal nutrition Thin animals Past strategies Overworked animals Parasites and disease Lack of information Few calves Thin calves Reduce the number of animals Seek veterinary advice Hire labour Provide feed supplements

4. what have they done to deal with these problems in the past? 5. what would they like to solve now? In Problem Analysis, ask the farmers…

Limited area for grazing DroughtLack of feeds in the dry season Poor animal nutrition Thin animals Future plans Overworked animals Parasites and disease Lack of information Few calves Thin calves Reduce the number of animals Seek veterinary advice Hire labour Provide feed supplements Try new ways of feeding animals Seek information and advice

Cattle are thin and weak

Lack of feeds in the dry season Cattle are thin and weak CAUSES Drought Too many cattle in the village Area of grazing land getting smaller Diseases and parasites No longer allowed to graze in forest Expanding area of crop land

Lack of feeds in the dry season Cattle are thin and weak CAUSES EFFECTS Drought Too many cattle in the village Area of grazing land getting smaller More disease problems Diseases and parasites Fewer calves Thin calves Less income Ploughing takes longer Need to hire labour for extra ploughing No longer allowed to graze in forest Expanding area of crop land

Lack of feeds in the dry season Cattle are thin and weak CAUSES EFFECTS Drought Too many cattle in the village Area of grazing land getting smaller More disease problems Diseases and parasites Fewer calves Thin calves Less income Ploughing takes longer Need to hire labour for extra ploughing No longer allowed to graze in forest Expanding area of crop land Used traditional medicines Provide extra cut feed Sold some cattle

Lack of feeds in the dry season Cattle are thin and weak CAUSES EFFECTS Drought Too many cattle in the village Area of grazing land getting smaller More disease problems Diseases and parasites Fewer calves Thin calves Less income Ploughing takes longer Need to hire labour for extra ploughing No longer allowed to graze in forest Expanding area of crop land Used traditional medicines Provide extra cut feed Sold some cattle Try new ways of feeding animals Need help with animal diseases

Searching for options to test Agreeing on issues Select a focus-group Selecting villages Sharing with other villages Reaching other farmers in the village Focus group Meeting Village Planning Integrating solutions on farms Once the focus-group farmers and the researchers have agreed on which technologies to test and how to test them, you are ready to start field experiments Three important principles will help you at the beginning: Start small!Start small! Keep the experiments as simple as possible!Keep the experiments as simple as possible! Encourage farmers to innovate!Encourage farmers to innovate! Testing and evaluating options

Testing technologies... Farmers will need time to test the technology options before they are ready to commit their opinions. They need to be able to see it working on their own fields to be able to assess benefits and risks

Controlled experiments or farmer-run non- replicated trials? It depends on your goals! Probably BOTH. – Controlled experiments are really the only way to get accurate, reliable, rigorous data – Farmer trials are really the only way to get good farmer feedback Testing technologies...

How to deal with complexity in the field? –Search for robust technologies –Do careful site and farmer selection to understand the niches where your technology works –Do evaluations with many farmers across the variability

Testing and evaluating options Searching for options to test Agreeing on issues Select a focus-group Selecting villages Sharing with other villages Reaching other farmers in the village Integrating solutions on farms As you start experiments with farmers, you want to understand which options they prefer and why. You can do this through: Regular monitoringRegular monitoring Technical measurementsTechnical measurements Measure each farmer’s preferences and criteriaMeasure each farmer’s preferences and criteria Focus-group meetingFocus-group meeting Village feedback meetingVillage feedback meeting Focus group Meeting Village Planning

A good tool to use: Preference Analysis

Some lessons we have learned… 1.This is a learning process. We need regular action followed by reflection 2.The key to successful use of the approach is active, decision-making involvement of farmers at ALL stages 3.At the beginning, try to offer a broad range of robust technical options with some ‘entry point’ technologies that give quick benefits

Some lessons we have learned… 4.It is an important role of researchers to clearly describe the technical limits of the options 5.work with the ‘right’ farmers 6.Start small – small successes are better than big failures 7.You can rarely “photocopy” technologies from one place to another 8.If you have ‘good’ technologies be prepared for expansion!

Two notes on ‘tools’ and ‘methods’…

A ‘short’ list of methods we could discuss… Agroecosystems Analysis (AEA), Beneficiary Assessment, Development Education Leadership Teams (DELTA), Diagnosis and Design (D&D), Diagnostico Rural Participativo (DRP), Farmer Participatory Research (FPR), Groupe de Recherche et d’Appui pour l’Auto-promotion Paysanne (GRAAP), Methode Active de Recherche et de Planification Participative (MARP), Participatory Analysis and Learning Methods (PALM), Participatory Action Research (PAR), Participatory Research Methodology (PRM), Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), Participatory Rural Appraisal and Planning (PRAP), Participatory Technology Development (PTD), Participatory Urban Appraisal (PUA), Planning for Real, Process Documentation, Rapid Appraisal (RA), Rapid Assessment for Agricultural Knowledge Systems (RAAKS), Rapid Assessment Procedure (RAP), Rapid Assessment Techniques (RAT), Rapid Catchment Analysis (RCA), Rapid Ethnographic Assessment (REA), Rapid Food Security Assessment (RFSA), Rapid Multi-perspective Appraisal (RMA), Rapid Organisational Assessment (ROA), Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA), Samuhik Brahman (Joint Trek), Soft Systems Methodology (SSM), Story Methodology (SM), Theatre for Development, Training for Transformation, Visualisation in Participatory Programmes (VIPP), ZOPP… More is not necessarily better!

Also, take note that… The tools are NOT the output! Better understanding of farmers’ opportunities, constraints and goals is the output

Click the back button on your browser to return to the main menu