Todd A. Crane

Co-production of Knowledge in Multi-stakeholder Processes: Analyzing Joint Experimentation as Social Learning

Abstract Purpose: Changing research design and methodologies regarding how researchers articulate with end-users of technology is an important consideration in developing sustainable agricultural practices. This paper analyzes a joint experiment as a multi-stakeholder process and contributes to understand how the way of organizing social learning affects stakeholders’ ownership of process outcomes. Design/Methodology/Approach:A learning group composed of the different stakeholders of the oil palm seed system in Benin was set around a joint experiment. We use a detailed account of the group dynamics to understand the social process. Findings: The way the process is designed and conducted has a great effect on the ownership by the participants. Methodological steps taken in this research process showed its efficacy to produce quick and positive feedback mechanisms. Stakeholders’ perspectives on what constitutes a quality oil palm seedling varied widely. Participants, mainly nursery holders, learned new production practices. Representatives of the research center learned a mismatch of recommendations with users’ contexts. Field observations further to the process indicate changes in practices among stakeholders that would be sustainable. Practical Implications: Beyond focusing on outcomes, initiatives in multi-stakeholder processes should also document and analyze social processes in order to better understand the mechanisms by which such processes foster socio-technical change, as well as identify potential institutional barriers to such processes. Originality/Value: Through a detailed analysis of group dynamics, this paper addresses an important knowledge gap in participatory agricultural development.

Constraining and enabling factors to using long-term climate information in decision-making

We carry out a structured review of the peer-reviewed literature to assess the factors that constrain and enable the uptake of long-term climate information in a wide range of sectoral investment and planning decisions. Common applications of long-term climate information are shown to relate to urban planning and infrastructure, as well as flood and coastal management. Analysis of the identified literature highlights five categories of constraints: disconnection between users and producers of climate information, limitations of climate information, financial and technical constraints, political economy and institutional constraints and finally psycho-social constraints. Five categories of enablers to the uptake of long-term climate information in decision-making are also identified: collaboration and bridge work, increased accessibility of climate information, improvement in the underlying science, institutional reform and windows of opportunity for building trust. Policy relevance Our review suggests that stand-alone interventions aimed at promoting the uptake of climate information into decision-making are unlikely to succeed without genuine and sustained relationships between producers and users. We also highlight that not every decision requires consideration of long-term climate information for successful outcomes to be achieved. This is particularly the case in the context of developing countries, where the immediacy of development challenges means that decision makers often prioritize short-term interventions. Care should therefore be taken to ensure that information is targeted towards investments and planning decisions that are relevant to longer-term timescales.

Systematic Review of Methods in Low-Consensus Fields: Supporting Commensuration through `Construct-Centered Methods Aggregation' in the Case of Climate Change Vulnerability Research.

There is increasing interest in using systematic review to synthesize evidence on the social and environmental effects of and adaptations to climate change. Use of systematic review for evidence in this field is complicated by the heterogeneity of methods used and by uneven reporting. In order to facilitate synthesis of results and design of subsequent research a method, construct-centered methods aggregation, was designed to 1) provide a transparent, valid and reliable description of research methods, 2) support comparability of primary studies and 3) contribute to a shared empirical basis for improving research practice. Rather than taking research reports at face value, research designs are reviewed through inductive analysis. This involves bottom-up identification of constructs, definitions and operationalizations; assessment of concepts’ commensurability through comparison of definitions; identification of theoretical frameworks through patterns of construct use; and integration of transparently reported and valid operationalizations into ideal-type research frameworks. Through the integration of reliable bottom-up inductive coding from operationalizations and top-down coding driven from stated theory with expert interpretation, construct-centered methods aggregation enabled both resolution of heterogeneity within identically named constructs and merging of differently labeled but identical constructs. These two processes allowed transparent, rigorous and contextually sensitive synthesis of the research presented in an uneven set of reports undertaken in a heterogenous field. If adopted more broadly, construct-centered methods aggregation may contribute to the emergence of a valid, empirically-grounded description of methods used in primary research. These descriptions may function as a set of expectations that improves the transparency of reporting and as an evolving comprehensive framework that supports both interpretation of existing and design of future research.

Value chain analysis of grass seeds in the drylands of Baringo County, Kenya: A producers’ perspective

Pastoral households are increasingly practising fodder production in response to forage scarcity associated with land degradation, climate variability and change. Understanding the grass seed value chain is a prerequisite for developing sustainable fodder production and guiding appropriate out-scaling in the drylands. This study investigated the producers’ perspectives on grass seed production, marketing and challenges faced along the grass seed value chain in Marigat Sub-County of Baringo County, Kenya. The results show that the dominant actors were the bulking and processing agents who provided inputs and were a source of grass seed market to the producers. The producers preferred contractual agreements that allowed them to sell their grass seed to markets of their choice. As independent grass seed traders allowed for seed price negotiation, they were popular amongst the producers and thus handled the most volume of seeds marketed. Drought occurrence, inability of existing outlets to purchase grass seed at times, together with low prices offered for producers’ grass seed were found to be among the challenges facing the producers. There is need to strengthen the fodder groups with a possibility of registering them as cooperatives for the purpose of collective bargaining for better grass seed prices.

Vulnerability assessments as a political creation : Tsunami management in Portugal

Vulnerability assessments are a cornerstone of contemporary disaster research. This paper shows how research procedures and the presentation of results of vulnerability assessments are politically filtered. Using data from a study of tsunami risk assessment in Portugal, the paper demonstrates that approaches, measurement instruments, and research procedures for evaluating vulnerability are influenced by institutional preferences, lines of communication, or lack thereof, between stakeholder groups, and available technical expertise. The institutional setting and the pattern of stakeholder interactions form a filter, resulting in a particular conceptualisation of vulnerability, affecting its operationalisation via existing methods and technologies and its institutional embedding. The Portuguese case reveals a conceptualisation that is aligned with perceptions prevalent in national government bureaucracies and the exclusion of local stakeholders owing to selected methodologies and assessment procedures. The decisions taken by actors involved in these areas affect how vulnerability is assessed, and ultimately which vulnerability reduction policies will be recommended in the appraisal.

Gendered reporting of household dynamics in the Kenyan dairy sector: Trends and implications for low emissions dairy development

Abstract Within the Kenyan dairy sector, climate change mitigation interventions are striving to sustainably intensify milk production while addressing the gender dynamics that mediate farmers’ ability to effectively participate in, and benefit from, low emissions development. In order to better understand these gender dynamics, household surveys were deployed by the East African Dairy Development (EADD) program to collect information on current practices of decision-making, resources, and labor dynamics within dairy farm households. Using the EADD survey results as secondary data, this study analyzes emergent patterns in these domains among cattle-keeping households in Bomet, Nandi, Uasin Gishu, and Kericho counties in Western Kenya. In analyzing these patterns, paired sample tests revealed statistically significant differences in results based on the gender of the respondent. While there were some categories that women and men reported on similarly, other areas were hotly contested. These results provide important challenges, both methodologically and programmatically, in interpreting gender dynamics across these domains. This paper reflects on the challenges and the opportunities of these data for informing gender-equitable low emissions development in the Kenyan dairy sector.