ABSTRACT
Certain types of participation have gained legitimacy among agronomists in national and international research centres, such as ‘farmer field schools’ and other group-based experimentation or demonstration approaches, and participatory ranking exercises for identifying constraints or evaluating new crop varieties. In addressing the participation imperative, on-farm research engages twin – social and agronomic – objectives: ‘empowerment’, knowledge sharing, and improved social capital on the one hand, and more effective technology development and promotion on the other, visible as improved crop performance and yields, soil fertility, etc. (Okali et al 1994). However, it is not clear that the research products and data gained from these activities are effectively advancing either farmers’ welfare or agronomy.
