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7-2016 Dossier A dossier by Misereor, Prolinnova and McKnight Foundation in collaboration with the editors of . Small-scale farmer innovation How agricultural research works together with farmers THE McKNIGHT FOUNDATION Innovation by a farmer-led action research group in Burkina Faso: this onion store ensures good ventilation while also protecting the onions from the heat. Photo: Eva Wagner/Misereor Editorial Inhalt 3 Unexploited opportunities Dear readers, Agricultural research could contribute to intensifcation of small-scale Africa’s small-scale farmers have to com- agriculture in Africa – if it were organised pete more and more in globalised markets. participatively Although they face decreasing land availabil- Theo Rauch and Lorenz Bachman ity, declining soil fertility and unpredictable impacts of climate change, and have poor 6 Farmer innovation access to advisory and fnancial services, A hidden treasure for agricultural they must feed people in growing cities and research Msgr. Pirmin Spiegel must farm in such a way as to sustain their Roch Mongbo and is Director General of Misereor. livelihoods. To accomplish this Herculean Sabine Dorlöchter-Sulser task, they need to intensify their farming as much as possible. In the past and today, 9 Beyond the pipeline model many farmers have been innovative in trying New paths for agricultural research to to do this – doing their own informal experi- enhance capacity to innovate ments. Boru Douthwaite National and international agricultural 11 The added value of collaboration research centres are expected to help them Researchers’ perspective on partnership do this. However, many “solutions” devel- with small-scale farmers oped by researchers have proven unprac- Anja Christinck, Brigitte Kaufmann Dr. Chris Macoloo tical, inappropriate or too expensive for and Eva Weltzien is Chair of the Prolinnova small-scale farmers. How should research 14 “We need research without walls!” Oversight Group. be carried out so that it supports small-scale Interview with Omer Agoligan, Benin farmers efectively? How should research priorities and research questions be defned, 17 Farmer organisations taking a decisive and by whom? How can small-scale farmers’ role in agricultural research capacity to innovate be enhanced? These are The case of FUMA Gaskiya some of the key questions addressed here. Bettina I.G. Haussmann and Ali M. Aminou The articles present diferent approaches to supporting farmer-led research, rang- 19 Promoting farmer-led innovation ing from partnerships between small-scale The role of multistakeholder partnerships farmer organisations and research institu- Gabriela Quiroga Gilardoni and Jane Maland Cady tions, to alliances of farmer groups, nongov- Ann Waters-Bayer is McKnight Foundation‘s ernmental organisations and researchers, International Program Director. to constellations in which farmer organi- 21 Farmer innovation contests sations directly contract researchers. The What can researchers learn from them? articles highlight some innovations that Tobias Wünscher have emerged from these processes and – 23 Beyond “the Answer is 42” more important still – show new ways of Changing policy and practice in agricul- organising research so that it strengthens tural research and development innovative capacities at grassroots level. All Ann Waters-Bayer and Fetien Abay authors share a joint vision of agricultural research embedded in society, working with 25 Recognising and valuing farmers’ know- and through small-scale farmers who thus ledge and creativity contribute to intensifying agriculture and Farmer Innovation Fair in West Africa alleviating poverty in a sustainable way. Aline Zongo 26 Reaching as many farmers as possible What is needed to spread farmer innovation Anne Floquet 7-2016 | Dossier Farmer innovation 3 Unexploited opportunities Agricultural research could contribute to intensifcation of small-scale agriculture in Africa – if it were organised participatively Photo: Lorenz Bachmann Photo: | Theo Rauch and Lorenz Bachmann researchers and practitioners also fear. The international insect research centre ICIPE So must Africa’s smallholders make works in cooperation with farmers. It has Africa’s smallholders have an image developed an organic agent for pest control. way for large-scale agribusiness in problem. It is said that they are not So far, no company has come forward to order to combat world hunger, or can produce this biopesticide commercially. even in a position to feed themselves, they be helped? And what does agricul- let alone supply enough food for the tural research have to do with this? growing African population. And that tional comparisons, African small-scale farm- they may not be capable of competing ing performs poorly at frst glance. Average The agricultural sector in sub-Saharan Afri- grain yields weigh in at 1.5 tonnes per hec- in globalised agricultural markets – as ca, with the exceptions of South Africa and tare in comparison to 4 tonnes per hectare African politicians lament and many Namibia, is based predominantly on small- in South Asia. Sub-Saharan African countries scale farming: 65% of the population live import 10–20% of the cereals they need. A from agriculture. The average farm size is 1.6 disproportionately high number of people hectares; most farms are smaller. In interna- Dossier | 7-2016 4 Farmer innovation A female farmer experiments with mulching techniques on a mixed-cropping plot planted with coffee, manioc and banana. Photo: Lorenz Bachmann afected by hunger live in rural areas and denly, Africa’s agricultural resources are of work in agriculture. interest to development policy, private capi- But on closer examination, a diferent pic- tal and the governments of emerging econo- ture emerges. Africa’s cereal production has mies concerned about feeding their people. quadrupled since 1960 and thus kept pace In view of rising demand and soil degrada- with population growth. Africa’s small-scale tion, many regions are now encountering farmers have largely adjusted to the increas- limits to further production gains from the ing demand. Where foodstufs are import- expansion of cultivated land alone. An inten- ed, this is because the populations of large sifcation of production – an increase in pro- port cities like Lagos, Accra, Dakar or Dar es ductivity per hectare – has become inevitable, Salaam can be supplied more cheaply with and could also be proftable. The question, subsidised foods brought in by sea than from however, is whether the vast majority of the remote and poorly accessible agricultural resource-poorer African smallholders are regions of their own hinterlands. able to make this happen, or just the better- The fact that productivity per hectare is positioned farm enterprises? low and rising only slowly cannot be blamed on a lack of smallholder potential or natural resources. Africa’s farmers have traditionally increased production by taking additional land into cultivation. Where there is still scope to increase production by expanding disadvantages when it comes to marketing land use today, it is not necessary to invest and access to support services. A marketing in intensifying agriculture – particularly if it and support system for tens of thousands of is unlikely to pay of in view of low producer farmers with fve sacks of surplus apiece is a prices and a poor market situation. S. Dorlöchter-Sulser Photo: more onerous proposition than the market- Likewise, when smallholder households ing of 100,000 sacks produced by one large fall short of self-sufciency in food, the farm. reason usually has nothing to do with inad- A further obstacle to the intensifcation equate production potential. Rather, house- of production is that resource-poorer small- holds have seasonal needs for cash and must holder households earn their living on the ofen sell part of their harvest cheaply, and basis of mixed rural-urban livelihood sys- then, when their stores have been used up tems, because neither the agricultural nor the and before the next harvest comes around, Seed – ready to be sown in field trials. urban sources of income sufce for a secure buy in cereals at higher prices on the market. The international crop research institute ICRISAT living. This is why most of the younger fam- Thus, Africa’s small-scale farmers have in Niger carries out participative research ily members have gone to look for work in the adjusted their production to the growing on agriculture in the semi-arid tropics. cities. Many turn their backs on agriculture, demand over the past 50 years by making the frustrated at how rural areas and the agricul- best possible use of their potential, despite tural sector have been neglected. Sometimes generally poor market conditions and sup- It is generally true that, for many products, only the wives with small children and the port services. If they could not increase their small-scale farming is more productive per old people remain behind in farming. Thus, production further, this was mainly because unit area and leads to higher quality than many households do not have enough labour they could not compete internationally, given large-scale farming. This is because fam- to intensify farming. Sometimes, local knowl- low global market prices and high transport ily labourers generally bring more care, local edge of farming techniques has been lost. costs. knowledge, fexibility and adaptability to Many African smallholders are thus “caught their work than do employed labourers and on the wrong foot” by the rising demand;

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