ABSTRACT
Most government research programmes in the region still concentrate on short term, single-crop yield maximisation and increased use of external inputs. Often recommendations are too expensive to be followed by poorer smallholders. Publicly funded research programmes need affirmative action in favour of sustainability to redress the current bias. Paradoxically, very low use of external inputs in the region, there is generally scope for increased use of external inputs as well as a much greater emphasis on low external-input technologies. Actions that increase the capacity and confidence of communities and farmer groups to do these things can provide the preconditions for sustainable agricultural development. However, in enthusiastically trying to develop community capacity, it should be remembered that community organisations are not necessarily homogeneous, democratic or free of gender bias. Government agricultural extension has tended to suffer from the same biases as research, favouring slightly better-off farmers and simple yield maximisation rather than a range of choices more relevant to resource-poor farmers.
