Strengthening farmer participation through groups : experiences and lessons from Botswana

This paper presents the experience of a research program in Botswana"s Francistown Region which has worked with farmer groups for the past 7 years. Topics include: the need for farmer participation, the effectiveness of farmer groups, the magnitude of and output from this activity, the benefits obtained, and issues that arose during the development of the method. Farmers participated in the program through research-oriented groups which provided a forum for the joint design, testing, and evaluation of a wide range of technology options by both researchers and farmers. Over 120 farmers from three villages implemented up to 140 trials annually, involving up to 14 different technology options. Farmers" problems and evaluations of technology options were discussed at monthly meetings and quantified in an end-of-season survey. Simultaneously, researchers evaluated the technical performance of these innovations at diverse sites across the region. Though the groups were only part of the total regional research program, they contributed to many benefits, including expanded research capacity, increased research efficiency, and stronger links between on-farm research and farmers. Farmers" interest in the group activities was evident from the rapid early growth of the groups and sustained participation over the years. The group approach has recently been adopted by Botswana"s extension service at the pilot program level. Farmer participation has had an impact on the direction of the research program and the relevance of research output. Program experience indicates that it is possible to develop effective, cost-efficient methods for farmer participation in the technology development process within a national agricultural research system. (Author abstract, modified)