ABSTRACT
The search for local innovations in Tigray described in Chapter 6 gave all concerned, but especially the development agents in government agencies and NGOs, a better understanding of the dynamics of indigenous knowledge in land husbandry. ISWC-Ethiopia then developed two main mechanisms for farmer-to-farmer communication to disseminate both the new techniques and the spirit of innovation. During travelling seminars, farmer innovators travel together to each other’s farms to see and discuss their innovations. During Farmers’ Fora, rural communities meet to discuss and compare local innovations and introduced technologies. In this chapter, the process and outcome of the first travelling seminar in 1998 and the Farmers’ Fora held in Central Tigray in 1999 are described. These stimulated farmer innovation and experimentation, and influenced the policy environment for local initiatives to improve land husbandry.
