The articles in the dossier present different approaches to supporting farmer-led research, ranging from partnerships between small-scale farmer organisations and research institutions, to alliances of farmer groups, nongovernmental organisations and researchers, to constellations in which farmer organisations directly contract researchers. The articles highlight some innovations that have emerged from these processes and – more important still – show new ways of organising research so that it strengthens innovative capacities at grassroots level.
La façon donc les organismes de recherche et d'appui aux agriculteurs participent aux processus de développement de l'agriculture et du monde rural fait l'objet de débats. Ceux-ci portent à la fois sur la compréhension des besoins réels des agriculteurs et sur les formes de coordination entre les différents acteurs de la production de connaissances traduisibles en actions. Nous proposons d'illustrer cette problématique à partir d'un programme de coopération franco-argentin Innovaciones, Desarrollo, Exploitationes Agropecuarias, Sociedad local (IDEAS), engagé en Argentine en 1995-1996.
En étudiant les apprentissages produits par la mise en place des contrats territoriaux d’exploitation (CTE) puis des contrats d’agriculture durable (CAD) à l’île de la Réunion, nous montrons de quelle manière ces outils ont impulsé les prémices d’une agriculture durable dont nous pensons que les apprentissages sont une composante essentielle. Notre travail s’appuie sur des entretiens avec les acteurs du développement rural, techniciens des organisations de développement notamment.
The aim of the study was to strengthen the capacities of the farmers in a participatory process to adapt to climate change. It was assumed that an innovation platform could support generation and exchange of knowledge on climate change, exchange and identification and implementation of options for adaptation tailored to local needs by the participating farmers
This paper asks: What have been the impacts of farmer- or community-led (informal) processes of research and development in agriculture and natural resource management in terms of food security, ecological sustainability, economic empowerment, gender relations, local capacity to innovate and influence on formal agricultural research and development institutions?
Local innovation refers to the dynamics of Indigenous Knowledge (IK) - the knowledge that grows within a social group, incorporating learning from own experience over generations but also knowledge gained from other sources and fully internalized within local ways of thinking and doing. Local innovation is the process through which individuals or groups discover or develop new and better ways of managing resources - building on and expanding the boundaries of their IK.
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