Steven Franzel

Adoption of tropical legume technology around the world: analysis of success

1. Examples of successful adoption of forage legumes are reported from all continents, where they delivered profi tability and often provided multipurpose benefi ts to farmers. 2. Factors vital to successful adoption were: meeting the needs of farmers; building relevant partnerships; understanding the socioeconomic context and skills of farmers; partici patory involvement with rural communities; and long-term involvement of champions. 3. Organisation of seed supply, achieving scale-up and forming partnerships to implement adoption are key features. 4. Legumes remain an important but under-exploited resource for tropical farming systems. The alternative to legumes will be greater and more costly use of N-fertilisers and purchased protein concentrates. 5. The R&D organisations will need to provide longterm support and greater investment for legume technologies to deliver benefi ts to farmers. Support will be needed for training and education programs to overcome declining availability of forage legume expertise and lack of awareness of oppor tunity for use of tropical forage legumes.

Who is using the new technology? The association of wealth status and gender with the planting of improved tree fallows in Eastern Province, Zambia

Abstract Although there is increasing emphasis on targeting of improved technology towards poor and female farmers, few adoption studies assess the uptake of new practices by these groups in a comprehensive manner. In this study, community members used the wealth ranking method to identify the different wealth groups in their communities, to determine each households wealth status, and to assess the association of wealth and different types of households with the planting of improved tree fallows, a practice for improving crop yields. There were no significant differences between the proportions of women and men planting improved fallows nor were there differences between single women and female heads of households who were married. There was some evidence of association between planting improved fallows and wealth. That 22% of the ‘poor’ group and 16% of the ‘very poor’ group were planting them suggests that there are no barriers preventing low-income households from doing so. Moreover, the proportion of females, poor, and very poor people planting improved fallows varied considerably among villages, suggesting that opportunities exist for increasing their use of the technology. Whereas the use of mineral fertilizer is strongly associated with high-income, male farmers, improved fallows appear to be a gender-neutral and wealth-neutral technology. Poor farmers appreciate improved fallows because it permits them to substitute small amounts of land and labour for cash, their most scarce resource. Finally, the high degree of consistency among different key informants in classifying households among wealth groups confirmed the effectiveness and accuracy of the wealth ranking exercise.

Sharing seed and knowledge: farmer to farmer dissemination of agroforestry technologies in western Kenya

Although there’s increasing emphasis on farmer-led extension in rural development, very few studies have been done to understand the social processes involved. This study was undertaken to identify farm and farmer characteristics that may influence dissemination of seed and knowledge of improved fallows and biomass transfer, to whom, how and what is disseminated. This was done by carrying out a formal and informal survey involving a random sample of 120 farmers from Siaya and Vihiga districts of western Kenya who were involved in a pilot project on soil fertility replenishment by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) and Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI). A second survey involved 40 farmers, selected using the snowball sampling technique that were given seed and information by the first group of farmers. Descriptive statistics and logit regression models were used to analyze data. Results presented showed that seed and knowledge were mostly shared along kinship ties. Furthermore, informal social networks were found to be more effective for seed than knowledge. This calls for simplification of technical information by development professionals in order to help support farmers’ understanding and communication of complex principles. Farmers with leadership status in their groups, those who belonged to many groups and those with larger farm sizes were more likely to give out seed of improved fallows. These categories of farmers could be targeted to enhance the spread of technologies.

Trees of prosperity: Agroforestry, markets and the African smallholder

In many developing countries, especially in Africa, farmers have been introduced to agroforestry with little consideration for the markets for trees and tree products aside from potential productivity gains to food crops. It is now being recognized that expanding market opportunities for smallholders particularly in niche markets and high value products is critical to the success of agroforestry innovations. Some recent work presented in this paper on marketing agroforestry products in Africa, linking farmers to markets and assisting farmer organizations, shows how constraints are tied to both long-standing market structures as well as shifting market imperatives. Forest policy, physical and social barriers to smallholder participation in markets, the overall lack of information at all levels on markets for agroforestry products, and the challenges to outgrowing schemes and contract farming inhibit the growth of the smallholder tree product sector in Africa outside of traditional products. Notwithstanding these constraints, there are promising developments including contract fuelwood schemes, small-scale nursery enterprises, charcoal policy reform, novel market information systems, facilitating and capacity building of farmer and farm forest associations, and collaboration between the private sector, research and extension.

Improved tree fallows in smallholder maize production in Zambia : do initial testers adopt the technology?

In eastern Zambia, population growth has reduced per-capita land availability to such an extent that traditional bush fallows can no longer be practiced, and low soil fertility is a major constraint to crop production. Improved fallows (IF) based on leguminous trees are a low cash-input agroforestry practice to restore soil fertility. The objective of the study reported here was to assess the adoption of IF by farmers who tested the technology, including the extent to which the technology is practiced relative to its potential scale. The socioeconomic and agroecological determinants of the incidence and scale of adoption are estimated using a two-stage Heckman regression model that corrects for sample selection bias. Seventy-five percent of the testers have adopted the technology, which shows that IF are a suitable practice under conditions of capital scarcity, inadequate access to markets for fertilizer, and relatively low population density, which prevail in large parts of southern Africa. Adopters practice the technology to 42% of its potential scale; a non-linear relationship was found between wealth and the incidence as well as the scale of adoption; land and labor availability limit further expansion. Hence, future on-farm research should emphasize IF options which reduce land and labor requirements such as intercropping IF species with maize, and IF species which can be seeded directly.

Scaling up the impact of agroforestry: Lessons from three sites in Africa and Asia

This paper assesses recent lessons in scaling up agroforestry benefits, drawing on three case studies: fodder shrubs in Kenya, improved tree fallows in Zambia and natural vegetative strips coupled with the Landcare Movement in the Philippines. Currently more than 15 000 farmers use each of these innovations. Based on an examination of the main factors facilitating their spread, 10 key elements of scaling up are presented. The key elements contributing to impact were a farmer-centered research and extension approach, a range of technical options developed by farmers and researchers, the building of local institutional capacity, the sharing of knowledge and information, learning from successes and failures, and strategic partnerships and facilitation. Three other elements are critical for scaling up: marketing, germplasm production and distribution systems, and policy options. But the performance of the three case-study projects on these was, at best, mixed. As different as the strategies for scaling up are in the three case studies, they face similar challenges. Facilitators need to develop exit strategies, find ways to maintain bottom-up approaches in scaling up as innovations spread, assess whether and how successful strategies can be adapted to different sites and countries, examine under which circumstances they should scale up innovations and under which circumstances they should scale up processes, and determine how the costs of scaling up may be reduced.

Gender and agroforestry in Africa: a review of women’s participation

This paper presents a review of agroforestry in Africa from a gender perspective. It examines women’s participation relative to men and the challenges and successes they experience. Particular agroforestry practices examined include fodder production and utilization, soil fertility management, woodlots and indigenous fruit and vegetable production and processing. The review shows that agroforestry has the potential to offer substantial benefits to women; however, their participation is low in enterprises that are considered men’s domain, such as timber and high in enterprises that have little or no commercial value, such as collection of indigenous fruits and vegetables. Furthermore, the degree of women’s involvement relative to men in technologies such as soil fertility management, fodder production and woodlots is fairly high in terms of proportion of female-headed households participating but is low as measured by the area they allocate to these activities and the number of trees they plant. Data on whether women are able to manage agroforestry practices as well as men are mixed, although it is clear that women do most of the work. In cases where they do not perform well, the reasons are mostly due to scarcity of resources. In marketing, women are confined to the lower end of the value chain (retailing), which limits their control over and returns from the productive process. In order to promote gender equity in agroforestry and to ensure that women benefit fully, the paper recommends various policy, technological and institutional interventions. These include (1) facilitating women to form and strengthen associations, (2) assisting women to improve productivity and marketing of products considered to be in womens’ domain and (3) improving women’s access to information by training more women extension staff, holding separate meetings for women farmers, and ensuring that women are fully represented in all activities.

Scaling up the benefits of agroforestry research: lessons learned and research challenges

Case studies demonstrate the breadth and richness in approaches to scaling up and lessons learned from them. A key lesson is that scaling up agroforestry innovations is far more complex than simply transferring information and planting material; it often entails building institutional capacity in the community for promoting and sustaining the innovation and adoption process. An overarching problem is the paucity of research on scaling up. Careful assessments of the relative costs and benefits and the advantages and disadvantages of different strategies can greatly strengthen the effectiveness of efforts to scale up.

Guides for value chain development: a comparative review

Purpose – In recent years, governments, donors, and NGOs have increasingly embraced value chain development (VCD) for stimulating economic growth and combating rural poverty. In line with the rise in interest, there has been a proliferation of guides for VCD. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a review of 11 guides for value chain along six different dimensions, ranging from objectives and value chain definitions to monitoring impact. The paper concludes with suggestions for the use of guides based on local needs and context, and recommendations for future guide development. Design/methodology/approach – The review compares the concepts and methods endorsed and it assesses the strengths and limitations of the guides for steering development practice. Findings – Overall, the guides provide a useful framework for understanding markets and engaging with chain stakeholders, with a strong emphasis on strengthening institutions and achieving sustainability of interventions. However, the guid...

Can organic and resource-conserving agriculture improve livelihoods? A synthesis

Organic and resource-conserving agriculture (ORCA) initiatives have been common in the tropics for several decades, but surprisingly few data are available on their performance. This synthesis examined 31 documented cases of African and Latin American farmers converting from conventional or organic-by-default systems to ORCA that assessed their impact on livelihoods. Yield improved in 19 of the 25 cases that reported on it, food security improved in seven of eight cases, and net income improved in 19 of 23 cases. However, it is not possible to generalize from these results due to the small sample, selection bias and inconsistent methods and definitions across the cases. The systems from which farmers converted (conventional or organic-by-default) and the degree of market orientation strongly influenced the gain in incomes. Successful ORCA initiatives do not occur spontaneously, but rather require a variety of skills from smallholders and their allies. These skills include adaptive farm management, effective producer organizations, entrepreneurship, capacity to innovate, value addition and boundary spanning. The challenge of acquiring these enabling skills is simultaneously one of ORCAs strengths, as they help smallholders to navigate changing environmental and market conditions.