Accelerating the impacts of participatory research and extension on shifting cultivation farming systems in Laos

ASEM/2001/107: Accelerating the impacts of participatory research and extension on shifting cultivation farming systems in Laos

Laos

Charles Sturt University, Australia

Dr Joanne Millar
Phone: 02 6051 9859
Fax: 02 6051 9797
Email: jmillar@csu.edu.au

• National Agriculture and Forestry Extension Service, Laos
• International Center for Tropical Agriculture, Laos

$394,475

01/07/2003 - 31/12/2005

01/01/2006 - 30/06/2006

Dr Ken Menz

Upland areas of northern Lao PDR have not benefited from the market intensification and diversification in agriculture taking place along the country's Mekong corridor. Most people in these areas live in rural households and villages and are engaged in shifting agricultural cultivation. The poverty gap between those rural householders in the Mekong corridor and those in the upland areas is widening, with upland minorities in danger of being left behind. Poverty in upland areas has increased through a combination of factors, including population increases, poor land allocation policies, resettlement and natural disasters. Crop rotations have shortened and yields have fallen, livestock diseases, pests and weeds are present and upland rice dominates cropping systems. The national average area for rice production is only 31 per cent, but in the northern uplands it is more than 65 per cent. Householders rely on livestock and fish rearing to generate cash income.
Farming systems vary greatly within and between villages. They are characterised by land tenure and access, soil types and fertility, labour, forest resources, market access and the prevalence of diseases, together with the capacity for farming and traditional skills. Creating the means by which farmers become willing to transition to more sustainable agricultural systems is linked to knowledge of the practices to support these systems. Working with farmers in participatory research is an effective way to transfer knowledge and begin transition, as well as offering insights into why farmers make choices to change or remain with traditional approaches.

The overall aim of the project was to determine effective ways to accelerate and spread the impacts of participatory research and farmer innovation as implemented by the AusAID-funded Forage and Livestock Systems Project (FLSP), also to attain more economically and biologically sustainable upland farming systems, through:
understanding how and why farmers are able to modify their upland farming systems away from a reliance on shifting cultivation, through the use and innovation of relevant technologies;
accelerating and spreading impacts resulting from participatory research and extension (P,R&E);
facilitating organisational learning and development towards participatory approaches.

A literature review was undertaken to determine selection criteria for case studies about upland shifting cultivation systems and livelihood. The project researchers then selected 20 case studies from a range of locations and farming systems and developed an interview questionnaire. Semi-structured interviews with case study farmers and households were conducted, and focus group interviews took place with selected villages to verify case study information. Case studies were then developed into fact sheets and posters to use in extension activities.

An inventory of impacts from the FLSP to date was compiled and indicators for measuring impacts developed. A workshop was held to analyse impacts, develop indicators and introduce action research techniques. Different types of cross visits, field days and group meetings were then conducted. The researchers monitored information exchange between farmers and villages, regarding technology adaptation, innovations, local and scientific knowledge and impacts. They also analysed differences in farmer learning, innovation and impacts spread resulting from variations in participatory approaches. They then constructed case studies of successful approaches and interviews with farmers and extension workers to establish guidelines on how best to accelerate impacts.

Farmer participation and adoption rates were substantially accelerated using a variety of methods that stimulated farmer-to-farmer learning while improving the extension skills of district staff. The FLSP more than doubled the number of villages and households adopting forages and improved livestock management (moving from 54 to 120 villages and 600 to 1400 farmers within two years). An understanding of how and why farmers were adopting forages (with some gaining significant impacts) was developed from the case studies and household surveys. Different extension methods were trialled for introducing forages to new villages, including case study presentations, cross visits (farmers visiting a village with impacts), and champion farmer visits. From 2003 to 2005, 350 farmers were involved in cross visits, study tours and field days. A significant outcome of applying all three methods was a 50% reduction in the time required for new farmers to gain impacts from using forages (compared to 2001-2003 when original farmers were starting out on their own).
An action research study compared effectiveness of the three extension methods in stimulating early adoption of forages. Cross visits were found to be more effective in enabling farmers to quickly establish and manage their forages than case study presentations or champion farmer visits. Cross visits were also the preferred learning method for most of the farmers interviewed (seeing the technology in use and interacting with the host farmers were primary reasons given). However, cross visits require greater time commitment and cost for the benefit of fewer farmers, unless farmers are willing and able to act as extension agents in their villages. The project concluded that all three extension methods were useful at different times and situations due to variations in financial cost, ease of implementation and individual farmer capacity to learn, trial, adopt and expand livestock production.
The study enabled district staff to reflect on what they were doing and analyse what impact their actions were having on farmer adoption and learning. As a result, staff are now able to plan which extension methods to use for a given district, village or farmer at critical times. Staff also had to learn to minimise negative impacts on champion farmers and villages from over-visitation - a potential outcome of 'successful adoption'.