Pietermaritzburg KwaZulu Natal 57 April 2010 What is local innovation It is the process by which farmers without support from RampD agents discover or develop new and better ways of doing things using the locally available resources ID: 513598
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Slide1
Introduction to local innovation and joint experimentation
PietermaritzburgKwaZulu-Natal5-7 April 2010Slide2
What is local innovation?
It is the process by which farmers, without support from R&D agents, discover or develop new and better ways of doing things – using the locally available resources
Generally it is a process of building on the local knowledge of an area by using new ideas from various sources, including farmers’ own creativity
The outcomes of this process are called local innovationsSlide3
Local innovation cont.
Local innovation can be either technical or non-technical
Technical innovation could involve development of equipment, agricultural practices, value adding practices, etc
Non-technical innovation or ‘social innovation’ can involve ways that people organise themselves, make changes to cultural behaviour or gender roles, etcSlide4
Terminology cont..
Who is an innovator
?Innovators are those people (in our case farmers and land users) who develop these new production methods or management approaches in order to improve their lives, their communities and/or their natural environment
Research and extension programmes can benefit from working with innovative people who bring their own ideas about how to address a particular problem or capture an opportunity
In the extension context, all farmers can be encouraged to try things out and exchange their experiences / outcomesSlide5
Indigenous knowledge
It’s a knowledge that people in a given community have developed over time, and continue to develop.
It’s developed within a specific context and is thus suited to those particular conditions (both the social and physical aspects). Slide6
How does it evolve?
It’s dynamic and changes over time as people find ways of improving it.
Changes are made in order to make it more appropriate to emerging challenges, opportunities and conditions.New tools, skills and knowledge that are encountered are integrated and thus results into changes. Slide7
PID: Developing innovations together
Ability to innovateSlide8
What is PID?
The process of finding new things and ways that work – and which are compatible with culturally-based local knowledge systemsThe often unreflected knowledge of villagers about their complex situation is combined with external knowledge, which includes scientific knowledge
Outcomes of PID – innovations that improve livelihoods and competence for self-reliant local experimentation and actionPID is an approach to development that strengthens farmers capacity to test and experiment on their own
PID strengthens the capacity of resource users to analyse ongoing processes and develop relevant innovations fitted for new conditions and opportunities -this includes institutional developmentSlide9
What is PID?
Other terms that can be used:
Farmer-led participatory research and developmentFarmer-led joint investigation
Farmer-led joint experimentation
It is a participatory process where R&D agents work with farmers to improve existing innovations or develop new ones, and where farmers actively participate in directing, planning, implementing and evaluating the process.
PID is where research and development programmes are based on things that rural people are already trying out or ideas that they might have about how to improve their livelihood systems - it builds on existing ideas and motivationsSlide10
What types of activities could PID include?
PID could involveJoint experimentation (e.g. determining which fertilizer application rate produces the best results)
Improving a piece of equipment so that it is easier to use or works better (e.g. trying different materials or making adjustments to a plough)PID is not just about developing new technologies – it could involve trying out and developing a new system or way of
organising
things (e.g. for marketing produce or sharing information) –
soft innovationsSlide11
Steps in the PID process
Relationship building with the communityIdentification of innovators (And local innovation processes)
Looking for things to try Screen ideas – whether they are cost effective, simple, accessible, will yield results, whether people are willing to try them out
Decide what is to be done, who will do it, duration, expected output
Trying out (development and implementation of simple experiments that can be managed by the farmers themselves)
This should also strengthen farmers’ capacity to design, implement and evaluate their own experimentsSelect the farmer-experimenters (local innovators), involve local experts
Provide basic training for innovators in experimental methods (how to plan and design simple trials, management, site selection, measurements, analysis of results)
Set up the trials (develop criteria for experiment – objectives, location, controls, treatments, timing, types of records to be kept, measurements to be made (how, when, who), external assistance required)
Follow-up activities (management of the trials, monitoring, participatory assessment, exchange visits, record-keeping)Slide12
PID Steps continued..
EvaluationThis begins when the trials are set up, is done by individual experimenters as well as farmer groupsOverall evaluation at the end of the experiment (based on the criteria used in setting up the trial), and involves deciding the next course of action to be taken (Adoption, recommendation, modification)
Dissemination of the resultsFarmer tours, group meetings, field days, farmer-to-farmer training, development of audio-visuals, manuals, etc
Sustaining the process – institutionalising experimentation and joint learning processes (through establishment of forums such field days, farmer-to-farmer visits)Slide13
Experimentation
What do we mean by experimentation?the testing of an ideathe act of conducting a controlled test or investigation (
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
)
A test under controlled conditions that is made to demonstrate a known truth, examine the validity of a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy of something previously untried. (
http://www.answers.com/topic/experiment
)
A set of actions and observations, performed to verify or falsify a hypothesis or to research a causal relationship between phenomena (
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/experimentation
)Slide14
Day 2: Recap of terms
Local innovationIndigenous knowledgeParticipatory innovation developmentExperimentation
A trialJoint experimentationFarmer-ledParticipatorySlide15
What is this drawing about?Slide16
What is the purpose of experimentation?
Exploration – where you try out something new and cannot predict the resultsHypothesis testing – where you are testing something where you already have an idea of the result that you will obtain (you are really testing your assumptions)
Verification – confirming that something really worksDemonstration – Showing the benefit of a certain practice or product - The difference between a demonstration and an experiment is that the farmer doing the demonstration follows given recommendations and is assured of success whereas with an experiment the result could be positive or negative Slide17
Key concepts of experimentation
Treatment – this is the conditions (combination of factors) that you are testing (e.g. levels of fertilizer) Control – the baseline against which we can compare the treatment effectReplicates – how many times we repeat a particular treatment in the experimentSlide18
Key concepts cont.
Significance of results – is one treatment really producing a better result than another – is there a real difference?Probability - If I increase fertilizer rate and get an increased yield, is the effect random or is it really due to the treatment?
If we say that variety A yields more than variety B (p<0.05), this means that there is a 5% chance that the result is actually just a random effect.If you repeated the experiment 100 times, then in 95 of the experiments you would get the same result.
We introduce a number of replications of a particular treatment to be able to prove that the effect of a treatment applied is actually due to the treatment and not due to random effect.
Standard error
- how much variation is there around the mean?Slide19
Basics of systematic experimentation
Have clear hypotheses / objectives –what is being tested and why?What is the expected cause-effect relationshipWe expect that if we do this…such and such will occurReplicable testing procedures
What conditions must be taken into account – as they are likely to influence the outcome of the experiment?This will affect location, timing, etc for example
Systematic evaluation
Farmers must be able to explain the criteria they used and the information on which they based their conclusionSlide20
Practical experience from
PotshiniWhy the need for joint experimentation?Slide21
Farmer-led joint experimentation
The focus is on experiments that farmers can manage and evaluate themselves and which give results on which farmers can base sound decisionsBefore joint experimentation, farmers and scientist agree on a research agenda based on local priorities to avoid the danger of scientists defining the experiments and imposing them on farmersSlide22
Why the need for farmer-led joint experimentation or PID
Frequently there is a lack of uptake of technologiesResearch sometimes does not focus on farmers prioritiesAssessment is sometimes based on criteria that are not important to farmersFarmers’ own experimentation allows adaptation to new situations and to improve their livelihoodsSlide23
Why farmer-led joint experimentation
Farmers often conduct informal experiments with certain components of technologies that are introduced by extension agents (e.g. if package involves seed, fertilizer and certain planting practices, farmers may just test one component)Research led by farmers aims at exploring new possibilities for solving local problems affecting their livelihood – the experiments need to be only scientific enough to produce results that are useful to farmers – as a contribution to development rather than to science.
PID can happen where development agents work with farmers – even when no researchers are involved Slide24
Assignment 1:Analysing an experimentation case study
Analyse the case study provided, answering the following questions:What is the topic of the experiment?
What did the experimenters want to investigate?Why did they want to investigate this (the underlying problem / opportunity to be addressed?
What exactly did they want to find out? What question was the experiment answering?
How did they design the experiment? (What treatments and how many replicates?)
What did they measure?
How did they record the data collected?
What were the roles of the different stakeholders?
Would men and women have equal use for the findings of the experiment? Would they have had the same views of the outcomes?
How did they disseminate the results of the experiment?Slide25
Principles and process of joint experimentationSlide26
Overall steps of conducting an experiment
Generate ideas (things to experiment with)Prepare idea sheets – capture ideas so that they are not lost
Prepare experiment sheets – how and why the experiment is to be done (at the experimental design workshop)
Prepare an action plan – the nature of the experiment is clear to all, responsibilities and time schedules are clear to all, should stay with the experimenter with copy with the field worker
Prepare recording books Slide27
Conducting the experiment cont.
Collect dataKeep a journal – farmers and others have record of things that have been discussed and decided upon, and a record of events (drought, hail, etc)
Prepare status reports – to keep all parties informed of progress
Analyse the results of the experiment
Evaluate the overall experimentation process
Prepare final report - all lessons learnt are available for sharing, covering what was done, the outcomes, farmers’ recommendation, assessment of researcher, suggestions for further experiments based on this experience, indications regarding other reports/material concerning the experiment availableSlide28
Looking for things to try
Find opportunities for integrating farmers’ and outsiders’ knowledge and their ideas when seeking solutionsFacilitate group discussion about the agenda for experimentation (what is to be tried out and why)Slide29
Why start with identifying local innovations?
It changes the way potential partners see each others – it serves as a tool for learning to understand and value what farmers are already trying to do, builds mutual respect and lays a sound basis for a partnershipIt provides a point of departure for joint exploration and learning that is firmly embedded in local realities
PID takes a positive approach that starts with local ideas and achievements – it focuses on local people’s strengths and explores particular opportunities open to them, rather then dwelling on their problems – such as when a problem analysis is undertaken as an entry point
PID can be an approach to extension – officers able to encourage farmers to try out and improve the ways they do things rather than trying to convince them to use technologies that have not been tested locally
Slide30
The experimental design workshop
Bring farmers together to discuss how they will design and implement the experimentsDiscuss how previous experiments were doneChoose farmer experimenters (all or a few)Discuss organisation and timing of experiment – when should one start the experiment, what inputs are needs, do all farmers start together?
M&E – what info do we need to collect, who will do what and when?Slide31
Idea sheets and experiment sheets
Idea sheetTopicWhat we want to investigateWhy we want to investigate this
Experiment sheetTopicWhat we want to investigateWhy exactly we want to investigate this (the underlying problem / opportunity / the benefit if the experiment is successful)
What exactly we want to find out (the questions that the experiment should answer)
The design of the experiment
What we need to know if we are to be able to tell if the experiment was successfulSources of additional information regarding the experiment
Action / activity plan
Activity – timing & duration – materials required – persons/organisations responsibleSlide32
Action sheet
Name of experimentWhat will be doneReasons for doing experimentQuestions that will be answeredExpected resultsAssessment and evaluation
Criteria for measurementGeneral evaluationAction plan (table)
Activity
Months
Materials
Resp
.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Data collect.
X
X
XSlide33
Some joint experimentation design formats
Individual application of new equipment or method – farmers can come together at intervals to share their findingsPaired comparison – of two groups of animals or two plots with different treatments (the lots or the groups of animals must be similar so just the treatment is a variable)
Before and after experiment – instead of comparing two groups or two plots, compare situation afterwards with baseline situationStepwise or add-on design – one trial includes various innovations each being one step towards a full technical package – so farmers can evaluate the effect of each additionSlide34
What are mother and baby trials?Slide35
Mother and baby trials
The design links a ‘replicated within site’ researcher-led mother trial, which is conducted at a central location, with ‘one site – one replica’ farmer-led trials The baby trials are located on farmers’ fields and are designed and managed by farmers – they allow for comparison of a sub-set of technologies or varieties
One can have a range of treatments at mother trial (fertilizer, legumes, manure, manure/fertilizer combinations etc) – then farmers select a few to try at their homes Slide36
Experimental design principles
Find a suitable location - similar to farm situation, uniform, protectedLimit experimental plot size - dependent on type of crop and type of experimentWhen deciding on plot size, consider things such as methods used to determine yield – is it fairly rough and does it require substantial differences to be noticed?
Ensure good demarcation and separation of plotsEliminate border effects (exclude outside plants / rows)Slide37
Basic principles cont.
Carry out experiments on a small scale because: it reduces riskIt allows farmer to conduct several experiments simultaneouslyThe rest of the field can serve as a natural control plot
It allows poorer farmers to participate in testing technologiesKey concept - Keep everything constant across treatments (e.g. plant spacing and weeding) so that you can be sure that the response you see is actually due to the treatment being applied
Allow for a control – against which to compare the experiment
Due to the possibility of distorting circumstances, one year of experimentation is rarely enough to justify adoption of a new technologySlide38
More principles
Use several replications – on one site or replicate across sitesNormally avoid replications within fields and rather make them across farms that are spatially clustered so that participating farmers can visit each other to observe and discuss their experimentsLimit the number of issues or variables being tested - initially have only one factor or variable in an experiment
Ensure systematic monitoring or data collection– what information must be collected so one can draw conclusions from the experiment?Slide39
Other principles
Don’t get carried away when designing experiments for farmers to manageLet the farmer ‘own’ the experiment – don’t pay the farmer for their time or provide free inputs!Be simple and easy – design experiments so that they address the major factor firstBe flexible and allow for later adaptation (accept that some farmers are likely to drop out)
Make sure it is to lead to visible and significant results – so don’t let plots be too smallCalculate costs and benefits of each treatment together with the farmersSlide40
Assignment 2: Laying out a simple farmers’ trial
You want to look at the impact of weeding frequency (once over the growing season; twice over the growing season; monthly) on maize yieldsHow can you lay out your trial to include 3 replications of each treatmentWhat will you use as a control?Slide41
Data collection at experiments
If something is to be learnt from experiments, the results must be well analysedTo be able to do this during and after an experiment, data must be recorded in some formNeed to look for ways to make data collection and recording more systematic
Support farmers so that they can record and assess their own experiments (outsiders can collect additional information)Farmers’ criteria may be economic, socio-cultural or technicalSlide42
Data collection cont.
Methods of collecting informationFarmer record sheets, Farmer maps, Group observations and ranking exercisesInformation-gathering must be cost effectiveFarmers must be able to understand and use the information collected
Study existing practices used for keeping records and assessing experiments – then look for ways to make this more systematicFarmers should also identify (and record) any specific circumstances that could have distorted the trialsSlide43
Key questions when developing a data collection system
What is the objective – what do you want to learn from the experimentwhether cowpea variety A is better than local varietyWhat criteria should be used to assess an experiment with this objective
whether it has increased productivityWhat indicators will show whether these criteria have been met?Yield (kg/ha)
What do we measure to find the indicators?
Area of the plot, total production from the plot
How do we measure these (what techniques of observation and measurement, what equipment needed?)Tins produced, mass of seed produced How will the data be recorded? So we can refer to it later
Recording forms, notebooksSlide44
Analysing data from experiments
Data analysis is done using qualitative and quantitative methods and different people (for different purposes)Farmer might want to know which variety does best on his farmRegional planner will be interested in average performances in order to be able to make recommendationsPresent data on graphs or in tables
Formal statistical analysis – allows measures of precision and interpretation of complex interactionsSlide45
Joint evaluation of the results of the experiment.
Comparing costs and benefits – what is needed to carry out the treatment, what costs are involved – what are the effects and the estimated value of the benefits – then compare. A partial analysis - Focus on the aspects that differ between the treatments When analysing the effects of an experiment – also take into account the development of the whole farm and the wider system – does it solve or create other problems, does it make the farm more or less susceptible to droughts, etcSlide46
Joint evaluation cont.
Participatory evaluation of the research results – has the experiment achieved its purpose? This should be based on criteria that farmers set to evaluate the results and data that have been collected – can involve bringing farmers together at sites to shareEvaluate based on the objective of the experiment (e.g. to increase productivity)
Prepare for the next round of experimentation – how could we have strengthened what we did, what results might be valuable for others, what experiments should we repeat, what other options should we try out next time?Slide47
Assignment 3: Comparing costs and benefits
If you apply 100 kg/ha you get a yield of 200 kg, an application of 150 kg/ha yields 250kg and an application of 200kg/ha gives a yield of 300 kg/ha. The fertilizer costs R25/kg and R5/kg for transport. The vegetables will be sold at R35/kg.What is the cost of each fertilizer application?What is the benefit of the additional yield?Slide48
Farmer involvement in the interpretation of results
Provides useful explanations of resultsProvide insights into reasons for the variations in results across sites or plotsBring in other factors that are of importance to them (e.g. trade-off between yields and taste)
Different members of a community or household will have different criteria for assessing a technology, for example:What claims does the technology put on my scarce resources?What external inputs do I need
What are the benefits compared with what I’m doing now?
How certain is it that these benefits will accrue to me?
How will others in my community react when I use this technology?What other effects will application of this technology have on my farm or within my community?Slide49
Disemination of results
Farmer-to-farmer visitsExchange visits between farmer innovatorsVisitors by farmers to farmer innovators (and vice versa)Dissemination to other stakeholders? Scientists, policy makersSlide50
Monitoring and evaluating the overall process
M&E can strengthen the learning, accountability and effectiveness of research effortsIn monitoring the focus is on seeing whether the research has been implemented smoothly and identifying problems and issues emerging (i.e. monitoring the experimentation process according to the action plan)
The M&E activities should not only cover the innovation being developed, but also the process of strengthening local capacities to innovateSlide51
Day 3:Documentation of PID
Documentation should cover the following aspects of experimentation:Who has done what?Where did it happen?
How was it done?Why was it done?What were the results?There are different forms of documentation (pictures, documents, posters, videos, songs, etc)Slide52
Assignment 5 – Simulation exercise
Mr Negolokwe, a farmer innovator from Venda, has been experimenting with different methods of incorporating organic matter into the soil to increase soil fertility. The local extension officer and researcher are wanting to start working with him and 3 of his neighbours in a process of joint experimentation.
Identify 3 possible ideas for experiments related to this topic that the farmers might be interested in conducting (complete an idea sheet for each)Prioritise the three and select the one which is to be experimented with (give reasons for your selection – considering farmers’ motivations / priorities)
Prepare an experiment sheet and an activity plan (using key activities) for the experimentSlide53
New Roles for Researchers, Extensionists
and Farmer InnovatorsFor extensionists
Identify innovative farmers and groupsStimulate community-level assessment of innovations
Help farmers and groups link up with other R&D actors
Encourage community-led research for development
Support formation of farmer organizations and networksCollaborate in monitoring the process and impact of the research
Offer options to compare with local innovations or current practices
Improve farmers’ experimental design
Facilitate mutual learning (e.g. through farmer learning groups)
For farmer innovators
Showing and explaining innovations to scientists and policymakers
Conducting more systematic experimentation on behalf of the community
Monitoring aspects of experiments and the environment of
interest to farmers
Engaging and expanding involvement in farmer-to-farmer
extensionSlide54
Roles cont.
For ResearchersDeepening scientific understanding of local innovations and innovation processesStimulating and supporting farmer- and community-led experimentation
"Feeding" local experimentation, or providing new ideas that go along the directions of what local people are exploring and want to exploreTo replicate farmers’ experiments under more controlled conditions
To make additional measurements and observations to support analysis of farmers’ experiments
To document the whole process and the final evaluation of the socio-cultural and agro-ecological impacts
Scientists assist in generating hard data to validate findings in conventional scientific terms for convincing other parties (scientists, policy makers, etc)Slide55
Strategies to support local experimentation
Strengthen farmer experimentation by suggesting additional options / treatments to be includedSupport the formulation of a clear hypothesis for the experimentImprove experimental designs and work towards more systematic forms of experimentation. For example, limit the number of variables, select controls, demarcate test plots, etc
Also ensure farmers understand underlying principles of biological processes Facilitate cost-benefit analysis of experimentsAssist farmers in improving their monitoring practices – develop jointly a recording and assessment plan that contains the list of what to record, how and when
Encourage sharing of findings with other communities (as well as sharing the concept of experimentation – how to test and adapt promising technologies)Slide56
How do we translate this into action?Slide57
Information sources
The following materials were used in the compilation of this presentation:Finding new things and ways that work – A manual for introducing Participatory Innovation Development (PID) – Scheuermeier
, U., Katz, E. & Heiland, S. LBL Swiss Centre for Agricultural ExtensionParticipatory Research and Development for Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management - A source Book
(2005). CIP, IDRC, IFAD, UPWARD.
Developing Technology with Farmers. A Trainer’s Guide for Participatory Learning
(2005)van Veldhuizen, L., Waters-Bayer, A. & de Zeeuw
, H.