Developing farmers’ capacity is a key component of Humidtropics to support innovation and expansion. Monitoring results in the Central Mekong Flagship Project has suggested ways of increasing its effectiveness. The saying goes that ‘It is better to give someone a fishing rod rather than a fish’. While this principle is the basis of sustainable development, it’s also true that the woman or man with the rod still needs to learn how to fish. Capacity development in Central Mekong is monitored not only by counting the number of participants but also through participatory evaluation … [Read more...]
The Hills Are Coming to Life in Vietnam
For agroforesters, there is nothing more refreshing than seeing a hill covered with trees interplanted with crops. For agroforesters concerned with livelihoods, health and nutrition, there is nothing sweeter than seeing a hill covered with fruit trees and nutritious vegetables. Both these cases applied to me when I recently visited Humidtropics' sites in Son La Province of Northwest Vietnam. The primary purpose of my visit on June 15–17, 2015, was to represent the East and Central Asia Region, and the Thailand and Vietnam country programs of the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) at … [Read more...]
Involving Farmers in Research to Facilitate Adoption of Agricultural Innovations
The ultimate goal of research on agricultural innovation is that it will be useful to farmers to enable them to enhance their productivity, income and living standards. Experience from Northwest Vietnam demonstrates that improving farmers’ participation in research will enable research uptake. Researchers found that farmers’ participation in research will increase their ownership of results and motivation to change their agricultural system for long-term benefits. Scientists can also benefit from farmers’ local knowledge. This was what we learned from the project Agroforestry for … [Read more...]