Participatory Technology Development (PTD)

Peter Horne (CSIRO) and Werner Stür (CIAT), 1999-03-01

WHY Is PTD Necessary?

In recent years, there has been growing dissatisfaction with the poor rates of adoption of agricultural technologies in resource-poor farming systems. This poor adoption has resulted partly because when agricultural technologies are developed, there is little input from farmers. Participatory technology development (PTD) offers a way forward, through active, decision-making involvement of farmers in every stage of technology development.

When new technology is being developed, researchers usually control all steps of the process. There is little, if any, input from farmers. The Participatory Technology Development (PTD) approach involves farmers right from the beginning, when they are asked to identify their problems.

The PTD Process

There is no single "right" PTD methodology. There are many tools that are suited to different situations and goals. However, a common starting point for all these approaches is Problem Diagnosis

Problem Diagnosis

The first step is Problem Diagnosis. Researchers work with a representative group of farmers to gain a greater understanding of their agricultural and livelihood systems. The farmers identify the problems that are of most concern to them. They describe what actions they have taken in the past to minimize each problem, and decide which of the problems have the highest priority. They then discuss what action they would like to take to solve these problems in future.

The job of the researcher at this point is to provide farmers with as broad a range as possible of technical solutions and technologies that may help solve the farmers' problems. Researchers must resist the temptation to offer farmers only the technology they think is the best. Farmers frequently use different criteria than researchers when they evaluate agricultural technologies.

For example, in south-central China, forage researchers tested 110 forage species and then offered a wide range of them to farmers. The legume species chosen by farmers, Chamaecrista rotundifolia, was regarded by researchers as one of the poorest because of its low feed value. Farmers adopted it, not as an animal feed, but as a ground cover in orchards. If this species had been eliminated early on, an opportunity would have been lost.

Experimentation

Experiments can be formal or informal. The approach followed in our projects is to allow farmers to test forage species on their farms in whatever way they want. At the same time, they are provided with information about the experience of other farmers and of researchers with each species. Once farmers have developed some promising technologies, controlled experiments can then be conducted to validate and quantify the farmers' experiences.

Evaluation

Once farmers have begun testing technologies and have selected the most promising, there follows a period of evaluation. During this stage, farmers describe which of the technologies they like and why. They also explain which technologies they do not like, and why, and what characteristics of the preferred technologies could be improved.

PTD _ the Nuts and Bolts

1. Careful Selection of Sites and Farmers

Careful selection of the sites and farmers is critical. This is often not given the attention it requires. Initial site selection is based on secondary information. At each selected site, researchers should then confirm with farmers that there really is a problem, using problem diagnosis.

They also then need to make sure that farmers feel this problem is important enough to want to work and solve it. This sounds obvious, but is often overlooked.

One example comes from southern Lao PDR. When we first visited this area in the dry season, we were told that a major problem in livestock production was the poor condition of cattle in the dry season. There clearly was a technical problem, as all the cattle we had seen were thin and were grazing on dry, sparse pasture.

We guessed that farmers would identify the dry season feed supply as a major limitation. Their response, however, was that although their animals lost weight in the dry season, they regained it rapidly when the wet season began. As far as the farmers were concerned, it was not an important problem.

We also then need to confirm that we have possible and appropriate solutions. This is not always the case. In one area we visited, land holdings were so small that there was no space for a useful forage crop.

In another area, farmers could not afford the fertilizers and mineral supplements they needed to remedy a severe phosphorus deficiency.

2. Communication

Basic communication skills are the key to successful implementation of PTD approaches. People working with PTD must be able to listen to farmers (not just hear what they say). They must be able to ask probing questions to gain a deeper understanding of farmers' needs, and be able to work in partnership with farmers. These skills are not obtained overnight or from formal training courses, but from field experience. A carpenter's tools cannot build a table without the carpenter's skills.

PTD _ What Lessons Have We Learned?

The methods we use were built on the experience of others, and furthermore have evolved over the last four years. They will continue to evolve in response to lessons learned in the field. Some of the important lessons we have learned are:

Speed of Action

Planning and working with farmers needs to happen rapidly and with commitment. Farmers must not feel that a program is all talk and no action.

Working Partnership

Working in partnership with national government and non-government organizations is essential if we want to foster change in the way agricultural technologies are developed with (and for) smallholder farmers. This requires compromises, commitment and time

Finding the Right Farmers

Working with a small number of enthusiastic farmers you can support is more successful than working with many farmers with whom you have little contact.

Minimizing Risks

Smallholder farmers don't maximize their most profitable activities, but minimize their risks.

"Don't ask me whether I will plant sugar cane or forage" one farmer recently told us. "They are both useful and I will plant both".