IT'S NOT JUST THE TECHNOLOGY, IT'S THE SURROUNDING SYSTEM: HOW RESEARCHERS IN ECUADOR FOUND WAYS TO MAKE THEMSELVES USEFUL TO FARMERS THROUGH QUINOA AND LUPIN SEED SYSTEMS
| Autor: | Nelson Mazón, Eduardo Peralta, Marco Rivera, Claire Nicklin, Ángel Murillo, Nicolas Pichazaca, Alfonso Guzmán |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
biology Agroforestry New Variety Lupinus mutabilis 04 agricultural and veterinary sciences biology.organism_classification 01 natural sciences Chenopodium quinoa Agronomy 040103 agronomy & agriculture 0401 agriculture forestry and fisheries Cultivar Plant breeding Business Agronomy and Crop Science 010606 plant biology & botany |
| Zdroj: | Experimental Agriculture. 55:107-124 |
| ISSN: | 1469-4441 0014-4797 |
| DOI: | 10.1017/s0014479716000442 |
| Popis: | SUMMARYAgriculture research often focuses on a technical problem. However, the most effective researchers usually intuit that this entry point is not sufficient to make themselves useful to farmers and nudge systems. Yet non-technical work frequently goes undocumented leaving many of the drivers of success unstudied. This paper attempts to understand the factors that contributed to the wide utilization of native crop varieties and species that were being promoted by the Ecuadorian National Agriculture Research Institution. The results show that what really made a difference in farmers' lives and the overall food system was increasing farmers' knowledge and capacity to produce quality seeds, promoting the consumption of these crops to national consumers, and linking farmers to outside groups. As a result, over a period of five years three case studies on three different farmer groups showed adoption rates of new varieties of between 20–50% and that they were able to produce approximately 7.5% of the annual demand for quinoa and lupin seed in Ecuador, from a starting point of virtually nothing. The research shows that the added value of a research institution might not be known at the beginning of the intervention, but rather will emerge over time through dialogue and negotiation based on systematic understanding of the context. Therefore, an appropriate stance for external organizations is to begin with an awareness of the existing assets of a specific farmer group and provide options that can be leveraged by local communities. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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