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Participatory Technology Development (PTD) is a creative process of joint experimentation and research by farmers and development agents in discovering ways of improving farmers' livelihoods. The growing number of documented examples in recent years reveal that PTD is now accepted as a research approach to agriculture and natural resource management (NRM). It has been recognized that research is effective in improving farmers' livelihoods if farmers play a vital role in the process.

Most documented experiences on PTD refer to farmer participatory research where scientists interact with farmers to test and adapt the scientists' ideas. Successful technologies are then disseminated through extension. However, these cases are a drop in the ocean of PTD research.

There are very few research scientists in proportion to millions of farmers and the immense diversity of agro-ecological environments and situations in which different types of farmers live and work. In fact, local farmers and natural resource user-managers have been carrying out most of the experimentation, discovery and innovation in agriculture and NRM since time immemorial until today.

Farmers' Research and Innovation

Experimentation and innovation are natural and necessary to farmers. Before formal research and extension services existed, farmers' own experimentation allowed adaptation to new situations, to survive and to improve their livelihoods, where conditions were favorable.

This is still the case today, even where farmers have access to external support. Scientists who develop technology packages for extension seldom realize the extent to which farmers conduct informal experimentation with components of these packages.

In Malawi, for example, high-yielding maize varieties were promoted in a package of seeds, fertilizer, instructions and credit. Most smallholder farmers continued to plant local varieties using the fertilizer intended for the new seeds. A few farmers carried out small, informal experiments to determine the best timing and amounts of fertilizer application on local maize.

Most scientists cannot recognize and understand how farmers experiment. Yet, many field workers of non-government organizations (NGOs), development projects and extension agencies are appreciating farmers' informal experimentation as a springboard for developing locally appropriate technologies. These development workers and farmers are engaging in PTD, regardless of whether or not they have support from researchers.

Encouraging Farmer Experimentation

PTD where there is no researcher happens wherever there are development workers encouraging farmers to experiment, innovate and adapt new ways of managing agricultural and natural resources. Instead of transferring a "best bet" technology pre-selected by scientists on behalf of farmers, development workers can choose from the following approaches in PTD (Table 1).

Strengths of the PTD Approach

The PTD approach to extension strengthens local research and adaptive capacities by involving a vast number of community-based researchers: men and women farmers and field agents of various government agencies, NGOs and development projects. Research and development planning incorporates local realities, potentials and limitations from the start.

This approach greatly reduces the time spent between problem identification and development of applicable solutions, especially for problems that can and should be tackled at the farmers' level. Results from site-specific, farmer-led research and innovation in one locality can rarely be replicated exactly elsewhere but can serve as sources of ideas for farmers in other areas.

PTD where there is no researcher is a cost-effective approach as it does not require highly-paid scientists. Development agents involved in the approach live closer to the farmers, use local services and facilities, and tailor their work to use resources at hand more efficiently. Focusing on local knowledge and resources makes development agents and farmers more equal as partners in their research pursuits.

Challenges

Many development agents lack the confidence to enter into this open-ended approach because of possible sanctions for not meeting expectations in transferring technologies from research stations. Development agents are restricted in encouraging farmers to try things on their own terms on a small scale. Situations must be created that lead to attitudinal change of development agents and their superiors towards accepting that farmers' knowledge and innovation are complementary to their knowledge and skills.

Substantial time is needed to support PTD training, with brief learning sessions being interspersed with longer implementation periods. Learning sessions should include real cases of farmer- or community-led experimentation, and design of follow-up assignments by the trainees themselves. At the end of each implementation period, trainees should reflect jointly on their experiences.

Public funds for extension services to farmers and the number of development agents are both decreasing rapidly as privatization expands. The same applies to research, where scientists are obliged to do work more relevant for farmers. This can be done by linking with farmers and development agents in PTD where there is no researcher. Scientists and policymakers seeking such links have to re-think their definition of research and its interface with development.

Creativity is needed to capture both the innovations and the process of participatory innovation development -- in written, audio and visual forms for sharing. Good documentation helps farmers and development agents deal with formal researchers and policymakers in demanding policy support for PTD.

Are Researchers Still Needed?

Researchers are still needed even if farmers and development agents undertake PTD because they can support the farmers' research efforts in various ways. However, researchers need to accept first that, in PTD, there are various forms of research that are valid for different purposes.

For example, in a workshop in Tanzania, farmers, extensionists and research scientists, results of the first joint experimentation revealed that data collection and monitoring assigned to scientists were not done as agreed upon. Extension workers argued that they could have handled most of the activities with farmers rather than wait for a researcher to arrive from the station a hundred kilometers away.

Researchers can realistically support PTD where there is (almost) no researcher when they begin to perform the following tasks:

Document(s) 24 of 34