Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-r6qrq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T11:45:34.544Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Farming Systems Adaptive Research: Achievements and Prospects in Southern Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

Allan Low  and
S. R. Waddington
Allan Low
Affiliation:
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), Southern Africa Regional Programme, PO Box MP 154, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe
S. R. Waddington
Affiliation:
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), Southern Africa Regional Programme, PO Box MP 154, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Farming Systems Adaptive Research (FSAR) has contributed much to the understanding of maize production constraints on smallholder farms in southern Africa in the last six to eight years. But its production impact has been constrained by the often inappropriate technology available to FSAR from component research and the ineffective use of its results by extension staff. However, FSAR has demonstrated the utility of a problem (client) orientated approach to technology development, which is now being taken up by some maize commodity research and extension programmes, though effective linkages have not usually been developed. Nevertheless, experience in southern Africa suggests that the FSAR approach can provide a framework for developing more effective integration between key groups involved in technology generation, dissemination and support.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , April 1991 , pp. 115 - 125
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

ARPT-EP (1987). Eastern Province Adaptive Research Planning Team, Annual Report 1986/87, Main Report. Chipata, Zambia: Department of Agriculture.Google Scholar
Cernea, M. M., Coulter, J. K. & Russell, J. F. A. (1984). Strengthening extension for development: Some current issues. In Seminar on Strategies for Agricultural Extension in the Third World, 31–46. Wageningen, The Netherlands: International Agricultural Centre.Google Scholar
Chipika, S. (1987). A brief analysis of extension approaches within the framework of the ‘National Extension Framework Study’. Paper presented at the 5th Annual Agricultural Extension and Research Project Review Conference,15–18 June 1987,Kariba, Zimbabwe.Google Scholar
Collinson, M. P. (1982). Farming Systems Research in Eastern Africa: The Experience of CIMMYT and some National Agricultural Research Services, 1976–81. MSU International Development Paper No. 3. East Lansing, Michigan, USA.Google Scholar
Collinson, M. P. (1986). On-farm research with a systems perspective: Its role in servicing technical component research in maize, with examples from eastern and southern Africa. In To Feed Ourselves: A Proceedings of the First Eastern, Central and Southern Africa Regional Maize Workshop, 229–236 (Ed. Gelaw, B.). CIMMYT: Mexico D.F.Google Scholar
Collinson, M. P. (1987). Farming systems research: Procedures for technology development. Experimental Agriculture 23:365–386.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ewell, P. T. (1989). Linkages between On-farm Research and Extension in Nine Countries. OFCOR-Comparative Study No. 4. The Hague: ISNAR.Google Scholar
Haugerud, A. & Collinson, M. P. (1990). Plants, genes and people: improving the relevance of plant breeding in Africa. Experimental Agriculture 26:341–362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kean, S. A. & Singogo, L. P. (1988). Zambia Organization and Management of the Adaptive Research Planning Team (ARPT), Research Branch, Ministry of Agriculture and Water Development. Special Series on the Organization and Management of On-Farm Client-Oriented Research (OFCOR), Case Study No. 1, 167–204. The Hague: ISNAR.Google Scholar
Low, A. R. C. (1988). Application of CIMMYT diagnostic methodology in extension. In Proceedings of a Workshop on Cropping in Semi-arid Areas of Zimbabwe, 481–494. Harare: AGRITEX, DR&SS and GTZ.Google Scholar
Low, A. R. C. & Waddington, S. R. (1989). On farm research on maize production technologies for smallholder farmers in southern Africa: current achievements and future prospects. Paper presented at the Third Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Maize Workshop, Nairobi, Kenya, 17–23 September, 1989.Google Scholar
Martinez, J. C. & Arauz, J. R. (1984). Developing appropriate technologies through on-farm research: The lessons from Caisan, Panama. Agricultural Administration 17:93–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mataruka, D. F., Makombe, G. & Low, A. (1990). The contribution of economic analysis in developing promising research agendas: A maize nitrogen × phosphorus trial in Zimbabwe. Farming Systems Bulletin, Eastern and Southern Africa 5:1–5.Google Scholar
Merrill-Sands, D. & McAllister, J. (1988). Strengthening the Integration of On-farm Client-oriented Research and Experiment Station Research in National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS); Management Lessons from Nine Country Case Studies. OFCOR-Comparative Study No. 1. The Hague: ISNAR.Google Scholar
Sands, M. D. (1986). Farming Systems Research: clarification of terms and concepts. Experimental Agriculture 22:87–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seubert, C. (1989). On-farm Research and Extension Linkages: Experiences from Swaziland. CIMMYT Network Report No. 19. Harare: CIMMYT.Google Scholar
Seubert, C., Mamba, Z. & Patrick, N. (1988). Plant population improvement research in Swaziland. In Report of a Review of On-Farm Research in Swaziland: 1982–1988. Networking Workshop Report No. 12, 68–95 (Eds J. J. Curry and C. Seubert). Harare: CIMMYT.Google Scholar
Shumba, E. (1989a). Maize technology research in Mangwende, a high potential communal area environment in Zimbabwe, Part 2: The on-farm experimental programme. Farming Systems Bulletin, Eastern and Southern Africa 1:1–13.Google Scholar
Shumba, E. (1989b). An Agronomic Study of Appropriate Maize (Zea mays) Tillage and Weed Control Technologies in a Communal Area of Zimbabwe. D. Phil. Thesis, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zimbabwe.Google Scholar
USAID (1983). Africa Bureau Agricultural Research Strategy Paper. Washington DC: United States Agency for International Development.Google Scholar
Waddington, S. & Low, A. (1988). CIMMYT's on-farm research support program for eastern and southern Africa. In Towards Self Sufficiency, 160–167 (Ed. Gelaw, B.). A Proceedings of the Second Eastern, Central and Southern Africa Regional Maize Workshop, Harare, Zimbabwe. Harare: CIMMYT.Google Scholar
Waterworth, J. A. (1989). On-farm Research and Extension Linkages in Zambia's Eastern Province, 1982–1988. CIMMYT Network Report No. 20. Harare: CIMMYT.Google Scholar
Waterworth, J. V. & Muwamba, J. (1989). Report of a Study on the Use of On-Farm Research Results by Extension in Zambia and Swaziland. Mimeo, CIMMYT, Harare.Google Scholar
Woolley, J. A., Beltran, J. A., Vallejo, R. A. & Prager, M. (1988). Identifying Appropriate Technologies for Farmers: The Case of the Bean + Maize System in Ipiales, Colombia, 1982–1986. Working Document No. 31. Cali: CIAT.Google Scholar