Assessing farmer techniques
To respond to the need for evidence on the sustainability of low-external-input farming techniques, ILEIA organized a workshop on ways to assess this. Critical reflexion on context and the criteria applied are seen as a precondition for assessing technology.
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3 - 3written by ILEIA editorial teamTo respond to the need for evidence on the sustainability of low-external-input farming techniques, ILEIA organized a workshop on ways to assess this. Critical reflexion on context and the criteria applied are seen as a precondition for assessing technology.
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4 - 6written by Hilario PadillaHow can the ancient Bontoc terraces continue to produce high and stable rice yields after so many centuries? Hilario Padilla tries to explain this classic example of ecological farming and to assess whether the indigenous LEISA techniques used in this mountainous area could find wider application
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7 - 8written by Pierre MorlonPrecise knowledge of the yields in peasant farming and an understanding of how these relate to environmental conditions, techniques used and household economics are needed to direct research and extension. Pierre Morlon reveals how highland peasants\' ways of dealing with climatic risks and market conditions lead to a huge variation in yields.
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9 - 11written by Eric SmalingLoss of macro- as well as micronutrients in tropical soils is leading to a quiet crisis, threatening food security and sustainable agricultural development. The author reports on a FAO study.
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15 - 18written by Anne FloquetAccording to what criteria do farmers choose how to intensify land use? Anne Floquet found that farmers rejected many recommended techniques not because they don\'t match with farmers\' objectives and constraints, but rather because they are not effective in agronomic terms.
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19 - 23written by Christoph BackhausSustainable farming systems can improve the living conditions and stabilize the ecological balance in the highlands of Northern Thailand. Concept development, training and extension activities in agriculture, soil and water conservation and agroforestry are the major tasks of a regional rural development programme there. Christoph Backhaus describes experiences with yield surveys in the highlands and gives outlines for a new approach.
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24 - 26written by Christine PahlmanAs a result of increasing pressures on upland and highland areas in Southeast Asia in recent decades, the soils are eroding. Christine Pahlman indicates however, that farmers hold a different perception of soil erosion and conservation. Only one out of 240 farmers spontaneously mentioned soil erosion as a major problem! Farmers regard (fruit) tree integration as the most important conservation measure for their fields, as it gives the highest economic returns.
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27 - 28written by Ly Tung , D. L. AlcoberIndigenous technology may be more in line with farmers\' criteria than technologies introduced by researchers and extension workers. This case shows how a technology was poorly adopted because researchers thought of different criteria (nutrient recycling) than farmers (labour, availability of planting material).
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33 - 33written by Rodrigo Alfaro , Henk WaaijenbergMany small farmers in Costa Rica grow \"frijol tapado\" (covered bean). Bean seeds (Phaseolus vulgaris) are broadcast among wild herbs or shrubs, which are later cut and left as a mulch. Until harvest, the crop receives no further work. This ancient way of growing beans remains popular despite its low yields, due to its high labour productivity and ecological stability.
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34 - 35written by Sara Scherr , Eva U. MullerTo help develop suitable methodologies for technology monitoring and evaluation, ICRAF conducted in 1988/89 a worldwide state-of-the-art review of activities and methods currently employed by development projects involved in agroforestry. The article summarizes the results of the review and looks at methods of technology evaluation.
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38 - 39written by Geoff HeinrichThe Agricultural Technology Improvement Project (ATIP) developed ways of including farmer perspectives in technology evaluation, but had more difficulty in systematically applying criteria to assess the sustainability of various technologies. Geoff Heinrich discusses some of the procedures developed and issues which arose.
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40 - 42written by Ken T. MacKayOne change that in a farm system appears to lead to a large number of other beneficial changes and appears to enhance the evolution of the system, may be called an \'entry point\'. Changes like this are usually made by farmers and are often unanticipated by researchers. Ken MacKay indicates how carefully chosen diversity may increase the sustainability of systems. Even though rice-fish culture in Northeast Thailand has recently become more difficult due to drought, the entry point concept may be an important methodological tool in assessing sustainability.
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43 - 43written by Gerhard DillenbergerThe Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) Mardan offers support to communities in the Mardan area in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. In seeking ways to make the already hard-pressed farmland more productive without further aggravating the fragile ecology, IRDP has come upon a plant which could greatly change rainfed farming.
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44 - 45written by John FarringtonRecent donor interest in nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) could have negative effects by overstretching their capacities. John Farrington describes how the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) is working with agriculturally-oriented NGOs in the South and exploring ways in which they can link up with governmental organisations (GOs).
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46 - 47written by Laurens van Veldhuizen , John Wanjau NjorogeChristine Karuru took part in the ILEIA workshop on assessing farming techniques. She has a farm in Mangu village, about an hour\'s drive northeast of Nairobi. John Njoroge from the Kenyan Institute of Organic Farming (KIOF) and Laurens van Veldhuizen from ILEIA visited Christine at her farm in February 1991 and together they evaluated it. There were several interesting findings.
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48 - 50written by Erik van der WerfIn 1989-90 the Agriculture, Man and Ecology (AME) Programme, Pondicherry, studied the transition experiences of 12 ecological farmers in South India. Erik van der Werf reveals the difficulties these farmers faced and how, drawing upon their own inventiveness and traditional farming techniques, they managed to succeed.
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51 - 52written by William CritchleyAround the middle of the 1980s something rather exciting began to happen to soil and water conservation in developing countries. After decades of trying to save the soil \"from the people\", a few small projects discovered a more promising approach: to help the land users to save the soil and the water for themselves for improved plant production. Some important lessons were learned and a new way of thinking began to emerge.
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53 - 54written by ILEIA editorial teamThe Agroforestry Project (PAF) of Yatenga Province, Burkina Faso has evolved from a successful water conservation project into a project that promotes \"integrated land-use management\". What are the lessons that can be learned from this project?
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55 - 56written by Angie IbusThere are two great challenges which face the world today. Firstly, the development of appropriate technologies to compete in the race to save Mother Earth. Secondly, the search for the right strategy to bring about change in peoples\' perspective of agricultural production. Angie Ibus shares the experiences of farmers with regenerative agriculture.
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64 - 64written by Nicholas HildyardIn preparation for the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Brazil, the journal \"The Ecologist\" is compiling a report \"Whose Common Future?\" It will try to reflect, as far as possible, a grassroots view of a just and sustainable economy. The issues to be addressed in the section on agriculture, entitled \" Agricultural Development -In Whose Hands?\", are outlined below. You are invited to share your experience, both if you agree or disagree.
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65 - 65written by Bertus Haverkort , Coen van BeuningenFrom 15 to 19 April 1991, the FAO and the Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture held a Conference on Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in Den Bosch, the Netherlands. It was preceded by a seminar on LEISA, in which NGOs formulated an input into the FAO Conference. With the \'Den Bosch-declaration\', it looks like the FAO will move into sustainable agriculture. But...\'the proof of the pudding is the eating\'. Two NGO-participants report.
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66 - 67written by Ronald WattsIntroduced species -particularly ones which enter through informal communication channels can become so integrated into \"traditional\" farming that they become part of indigenous knowledge. Ronald Watts discovered that peasants in Zambia have long been growing the spinach tree (Moringa oleifera) to produce leaves for \"relish\", This encouraged him to find out more about the tree.
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