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Engaging Farmers in a Research Project. Lessons Learned from Implementing the Community of Practice Concept in Innovation Platforms in Irrigated Schemes in Tunisia, Mozambique and Ethiopia
Author(s) -
Dolinska Aleksandra,
Oates Naomi,
Ludi Eva,
Habtu Solomon,
Rougier JeanEmmanuel,
SanchezReparaz Maite,
Mosello Beatrice,
Yazew Eyasu,
Kifle Muluberhan,
Fissehaye Degol,
Aregay Gebremeskel,
Tamele Higino Fabiao,
Barberá Gonzalo G.,
d'Aquino Patrick
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
irrigation and drainage
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.421
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1531-0361
pISSN - 1531-0353
DOI - 10.1002/ird.2222
Subject(s) - process (computing) , stakeholder , agriculture , business , production (economics) , set (abstract data type) , knowledge management , space (punctuation) , community of practice , process management , marketing , environmental economics , computer science , public relations , political science , economics , geography , sociology , archaeology , macroeconomics , operating system , social science , programming language
The role of smallholder farmers in multi‐stakeholder innovation platforms and thus in the innovation process that these platforms facilitate is typically limited. The EAU4Food project, aimed at increasing food production in irrigation schemes in Africa through improved farming strategies, used a platform design inspired by the community of practice (CoP) concept, which opened up space for farmers' interactive learning and enabled their active participation in the innovation process. In this article we present examples of how this approach has been implemented in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Tunisia. We analyse the level of farmers' participation that was achieved at different stages of the implementation process, namely: deciding how to set up the CoP, identifying innovation needs and conducting the experiment. Among different strategies deployed by EAU4Food researchers, working with dialogue groups, engaging farmers in data interpretation and passing the responsibility over elements of the research process to farmers, proved to be the most effective in strengthening farmers' involvement. The use of a simulation game to test innovations also showed promising results and should be explored further. The attitude of researchers proved to be an important factor in achieving a high level of farmers' engagement in the project. Copyright © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.