data/part_4/008c2ec573026f5ba3d5436ce9fe74e6.json

{"metadata":{"id":"008c2ec573026f5ba3d5436ce9fe74e6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/846eeac0-4863-46b0-a7bc-e50c69b4fb07/retrieve"},"pageCount":129,"title":"OUTPUT 1: Participatory research approaches, analytical tools and indigenous knowledge that lead to the incorporation of farmers• and other end-users• needs in lntegrated Agroecosystem Management, developed for interested R&D institutions","keywords":[],"chapters":[{"head":"PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH APPROACHES FOR REDUCING POVERTY ANO NATURAL RESOURCE DEGRADATION CIAT PROJECT SN-3","index":1,"paragraphs":[]},{"head":"Project overview","index":2,"paragraphs":[]},{"head":"Objective","index":3,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":44,"text":"To develop and disseminate participatory research approaches, analytical tools, indigenous knowledge and organizational principies that strengthen the capacity of R&D institutions to respond to the demands of stakeholder groups and that contribute to improving levels of well-being and integrated agroecosystem management and conservation (IAM)."}]},{"head":"Description","index":4,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":37,"text":"Oetails of the Project 's seven majar outputs for the years 1999-2002 are given in the logical framework matrix. Specific activities on a per-output basis are shown in the following abbreviated work breakdown structure for this year."}]},{"head":"Outputs","index":5,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":122,"text":"~ Participatory research approaches, analytical tools and indígenous knowledge that lead to the incorporation of farmers' and other end-users' needs in IMA, developed for interested R&D institutions. ~ Organizational strategies and procedures for participatory research (PR) developed. ~ Professionals and others trained as facilitators of PR. ~ Material and information on participatory research approaches, analytical tools, indigenous knowledge and organizational principies developed. j) lmpact of SN-3 activities, documented . ~ CIAT projects and other institutions supported and strengthened in conducting PR. 18 trainers prepared in the CIAL approach. lnnovations, publications and training tools related to the CIAL approach developed by 9 institutions from 5 countries identified and disseminated among trainers. Approach for testing the extrapolability of participatory research products and information developed."},{"index":2,"size":53,"text":"CIAL approach scaled up over a large geographic region in at least one NARS. CIAL approach pilot tested in Africa and Asia. Systemwide projects have published results on impact assessment of FPR and GA in PPB, NRM and IPM. Pilot testing of participatory approaches for rural agroenterprise development in at least one site."},{"index":3,"size":45,"text":"Watershed organizational models replicated in at least two countries (beyond the three pilot sites). Participatory plant breeding approaches institutionalized in at least three NARS (in Africa, Asia, LAC) on a national scale. At least 15 CGIAR and NARS IPM project leaders trained in participatory approaches."},{"index":4,"size":38,"text":"Participatory IPM projects established in at least 5 CGIAR and NARS centers. Pilot organizational model for rural telecenters established in one site. Methods for participatory research on NRM at the landscape scale applied in at least one site."},{"index":5,"size":57,"text":"This work will benefit poor farmers, processors, traders and consumers in rural areas, especially in fragile environments. Researchers will receive more accurate and timely feedback from users about acceptability of production technologies and conservation practices. Researchers and planners will profit from methods for conducting adaptive research and implementing policies on natural resource conservation at the micro level."},{"index":6,"size":1,"text":"Collaborators:"},{"index":7,"size":9,"text":"NARS , NGOs, universities, CGIAR SP-PRGA members, SP-IPM members."},{"index":8,"size":2,"text":"CGIAR Linkages:"},{"index":9,"size":14,"text":"Organization and management (70%); training (30%) Convenor of SP PRGA, Coordinator of FPR-IPM project."},{"index":10,"size":24,"text":"CIAT Linkages: lnputs to PE-1 , PE-3; PE-4, PE-5, IP-1, IP-2, IP-3, IP-5, SN-1, BP-1; Outputs from : PE-3, PE-4, IP-3, BP-1, SN-1 ."},{"index":11,"size":1,"text":"1."}]},{"head":"WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE -PROJECT SN-3","index":6,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":2,"text":"Project Objective:"},{"index":2,"size":45,"text":"To develop and disseminate participatory research approaches, analytical tools, indigenous knowledge and organizational principies that strengthen the capacity of R&D institutions to respond to the demands of stakeholder groups and that contribute to improving levels of well being and integrated agroecosystem management (IAM) and conservation."},{"index":3,"size":59,"text":"Participatory methodological 2. Organizational strategies and 3. Professionals and others trained as approaches, analytical tools and procedures for participatory research facilitators of participatory research indigenous knowledge that lead to the developed approaches incorporation of farmers' and other endusers' needs in IAM, developed for interested R&D institutions Conduct poverty surveys and  • Train professionals in use of approaches in FPR"},{"index":4,"size":37,"text":"• Tabulate information and conduct preference-ranking matrix (Bolivia, preliminary analysis of inactive CIALs     • Application of participatory • Use of Project products by a mínimum of 3 institutions outside the LAC region at end of Year 5"},{"index":5,"size":13,"text":"• lmprovement in end-users' wellbeing at the respective reference si tes Project purpose:"},{"index":6,"size":11,"text":"• No. R&D organizations applying   • No. requests for materials and"},{"index":7,"size":8,"text":"• Publications indigenous knowledge and information organizational principies,"},{"index":8,"size":242,"text":"• No. materials published developed 5. lmpact of SN-3 Project   • Dependent on nature of study; e.g., • Case stud ies, M&E  Beta-testing of analytical tool for preference ranking Description. Logistic regression for analyzing preference ranking is a user-friendly application for computer, designed to run in Excel 7.0. This tool makes it possible to analyze decision criteria . One application relates to analyzing the acceptance or rejection of technologies through identification and ranking of user evaluation criteria. The tool facilitates the participation of producers in the early stages of technology design of the technology, and permits the systematic organization of producer feedback to researchers . The application consists of a matrix, used to record the frequency and rank of farmer's criteria. A logistic regression program calculates probabilities, generates graphs and runs statistical tests. Management of the program is described step by step in an instructional booklet accompanied by a evaluation form. ~ Plant breeders and pathologists from the semiarid and subhumid regions of Brazil describe the tool as facilitating the interpretation of subjective information in the selection of cassava varieties tolerant to water stress and root rots, respectively. At CNPMF, the use of the tool has beco me routine in development of new varieties for the aforementioned conditions. ~ Limitations. As this tool is available in Spanish only at this time, its distribution has been limited. There is a potential demand, for example, in Africa with respect to PPB in common beans."}]},{"head":"Extrapolation of participatory diagnoses and technology via GIS and Poverty Mapping","index":7,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":63,"text":"Problem and preference ranking in Honduras lt is difficult to separate clear causes and effects among poverty, hunger, disease, misery and the degradation of natural resources, but it is clear that these arise in an interdependent fashion. Any strategy aimed understanding and poverty should develop and test methods for extrapolating information and products from participatory research and georeferenced diagnostic data from target communities."},{"index":2,"size":24,"text":"Taking Honduras as a case for testing the extrapolability of the information and products of participatory research the research team developed the following strategy:"},{"index":3,"size":17,"text":"~ Formulate hypotheses about possible interactions between the poverty, natural resource degradation and factors contributing to these."},{"index":4,"size":136,"text":"~ Define a representative population sample covering a range of contrasting environments and socioeconomic conditions. The basis for this was a previous study on regional poverty and natural resources in three watersheds, involving 1 00 villages and ten contrasting factors. ~ Prepare and implement a survey, collecting data on classification variables (gender, age and levels of well-being) and research questions (NRM, opportunities for innovation, research questions and technological preference rankings) . ~ Carry out participatory diagnoses, to rank majar agricultura! and natural resource management problems in representative communities. Record gender and determine the well-being level of each participant. ~ Analyze the interactions existing among the factors influencing poverty, agricultura! problems and opportunities, and natural resource degradation ~ Using a GIS approach, evaluate the extrapolability of information generated through participatory diagnosis, evaluation of technology and problem ranking."},{"index":5,"size":27,"text":"Training: Staff from DICTA-Honduras and from the CIAT Regional Office (Tegucigalpa) were trained to carry out participatory diagnoses, well-being and problem rankings and to apply the survey."},{"index":6,"size":14,"text":"Limitations: lnsufficient time available for analyzing the results befare closure of this reporting period."},{"index":7,"size":70,"text":"Accomplishments: Development of participatory research approach that could be extrapolable to similar agroecological and socioeconomic environments. The approach permits ranking of wealth, agricultura! and natural resource management problems and opportunities, and technological preferences. The tools developed have potential as key elements for adaptation and use by diverse R&D institutions. Such institutions could be included in integrated projects, focused on poverty alleviation in Honduras and in other areas of Latin America."},{"index":8,"size":136,"text":"Methodologl. Building on the well-beingranking method developed by Ravnborg 3 , and on the resulting poverty maps developed using GIS, community-level participatory diagnoses and household surveys were used to identify and rank problems and preferences related to food security, land tenure and use, crop and animal husbandry, market opportunities and integration, farm labor patterns, and NRM. The resulting georeferenced database represents 15 of Honduras's 18 states and covers a wide spectrum of biophysical and socioeconomic conditions. The data base can be mapped and queried by gender, well-being level, location and biophysical condition. lt can be used to map the spatial distribution of problems as perceived by local communities and to explore hypotheses about how these correlate with biophysical and socioeconomic conditions. lt represents a prototype information system and tool for targeting policy and prioritizing R&D agendas."},{"index":9,"size":101,"text":"Development of the database. Based on the sampling strategy discussed below, 95 villages were selected. Then about 1 O households/village were selected randomly by walking a transect through the village from its center (school, health center or community center), moving radially outward in arder to interview a random, representative sample of the inhabitants. A trained four-member team was responsible for conducting household interviews based on a survey instrument . Embedded in the survey were a series of questions developed by Ravnborg (1999) that permit classifying each household's poverty level based on locally meaningful criteria. A total of 968 surveys were conducted."},{"index":10,"size":26,"text":"The strength of the survey instrument is its capacity to capture gender-and well beingdifferentiated data on problems and preteren ces from a large sample of households."},{"index":11,"size":25,"text":"Participants were asked to rank problems according to their importance and to arder criteria for agricultura! technology options according to the strength of their preferences."},{"index":12,"size":41,"text":"A number of open-ended questions were included in arder to learn the reasons for different preferences and NRM practices. A limitation of the survey format as a diagnostic tool is that it may fail to capture tapies that are not addressed."},{"index":13,"size":81,"text":"A participatory diagnostic meeting (PDM) has the potential to capture much richer information from open-ended questions and the interaction resulting from discussion . However, considerable advance planning is required in arder to convene the participants, and the quality of the meeting depends heavily on the facilitator's skills. Disaggregation of information by gender or poverty level is more difficult than in a survey as it requires more time, effort and training to convene groups that are homogenous with respect to these categories."},{"index":14,"size":123,"text":"In this study the strengths of both approaches were combined by relying on the survey method in arder to obtain the opinions of a large number of people from a diverse set of communities and complementing the data with PDMs from12 of the communities. Conclusions from the PDMs are also intended to serve as a crosscheck on the interpretation of survey results. Although participants were not organized into gender and well-being groups, aggregate poverty level was determined by the meeting facilitators, who were specially trained for this purpose. Gender composition of the group was also recorded . Guides for facilitators , a flowchart for guiding the meeting process, forms for determining poverty level and for summarizing and recording the information generated were designed."},{"index":15,"size":15,"text":"The facilitators applied the following guidelines when convening community members to the PDMs. Participants should:"},{"index":16,"size":68,"text":"~ include representatives from as many community stakeholder groups as possible (eg. men, women, you ng, old, rich, poor, organized groups) ~ be drawn from the full range of land use/type areas present in the community ~ include people from as many different livelihood types as possible (e.g., subsistence farmers/commercial farmers/ storekeepers/wage laborers) ~ not include political groups or leaders as they can limit the participation of others"},{"index":17,"size":65,"text":"The full database will be used to identify geographic areas where gender and poverty differentiation will be important in identifying farmers' problems and priorities and for evaluating technologies. lt may be possible to use the database to predict where a certain cluster of problems or priorities is likely to occur. lt will be an important research tool for testing hypotheses such as the following :"},{"index":18,"size":132,"text":"~ Problems prioritized by farmers will vary by level of poverty, gender and age. ~ The poorest farmers will give low priority to resource-degradation problems. ~ In areas where poverty and serious degradation occur, poor and well-off farmers will give more similar priority to resource degradation problems. ~ Poor women will prioritize food security problems over resource degradation problems. ~ Varietal preferences will vary by gender in areas with low levels of market integration; but gender will be less important in areas with high market integration. ~ Varietal preference ranking is a more powerful diagnostic method for participatory plant breeding than asking farmers questions about their problems in a crop. ~ Varietal preferences can be described by a spatial distribution. ~ Farmers' indigenous knowledge will vary by poverty level and by gender."},{"index":19,"size":89,"text":"Results. To date, 717 of the 968 surveys have been digitized. A full analysis will be published as soon as the data analysis process is completed. Here we presenta descriptive overview of selected elements of the data. Soil conservation practices. People who reported planting beans and/or maize were asked whether they had ever taken action to prevent soil erosion or conserve the soil. Of the 147 men and 90 women who reported planting these basic staples, 51 (35%) and 35 (39%), respectively, described one or more practices (Fig. 1)."},{"index":20,"size":226,"text":"Various types of drainage canals, stone barriers, live barriers and contour ridges were the most common practices reported by both men and women. The majority of both men (32%) and women (31 %) who responded that they took no action to conserve the soil reported that they had no land of their own. Lack of resources or of knowledge of soil conservation practices was reported by 35% of men and 18% of women . Soil-fertility manaqement. When farmers who reported planting beans or maize were asked whether they had done anything to improve soil fertility, 74% of 290 men and 75% of 185 women reported that they had. Of these, 16% of men and 5% of women reported that they had stopped burning their fields; and the majority (74% of men and 80% of women) reported using fertilizers . Nearly all respondents (96% of men and 95% of women) reported that they had used chemical fertilizers. Use of green manures, animal manure or other organic fertilizers was the exception, reported by only 6% of people who reported using fertilizer. The reason given by nearly all respondents (94% of both men and women) for preferring chemical fertilizers was that they are better and more efficient than other kinds. This strong preference for chemical fertilizers is striking and should be taken into consideration planning research or development interventions."},{"index":21,"size":42,"text":"Commercialization of agricultura! commodities and opportunities for improving wellbeinq level. Of the men, 72%, and women, 55% , considered that they had problems in commercializing their agricultura! products. 8oth men and women identified low prices and transportation difficulties as the majar obstacles."},{"index":22,"size":103,"text":"Of the male and female respondents, 39 and 26% , respectively, perceived opportunities for improving their standard of living (Fig. 2). Only 4 women and 2 men reported that they had identified an opportunity other than field or horticultura! crop cultivation. This unusual group mentioned fish farming, an ornamental plant nursery, production of grafted fruit trees and flowers, shopkeeping and a food-selling enterprise. Men and women had similar perceptions of categories of opportunities: 57% of men and 66% of women perceived vegetable cultivation as a source of opportunity. Amo ng the vegetables , tomatoes and peppers were seen as having particularly high potential."},{"index":23,"size":43,"text":"Cultivation of staples such as common beans, rice , maize, plantains, potatoes and cassava was viewed as an opportunity by 21 and 18% of men and women, respectively. Among the staples, rice was viewed slightly more favorably than the other crops by 5%"},{"index":24,"size":185,"text":"of men and 3% of women. Among those who saw opportunity in permanent crops, the establishment or expansion of coffee planting was perceived as having potential by 9% of men and 6% of women. A few people (<2% of both men and women) saw a future in specialty and cash crops such as sugarcane, sesame, annatto tree (Bixa ore/lana) and tobacco. Among these sugarcane was the most preferred. Watermelon was the most preferred among the fruit crops, being perceived favorably by 4 and 3% of men and women, respectively. Environmental pollution Of those surveyed, 28% (110 men, 92 women) stated that environmental pollution was a problem. Respondents identified three major problem categories: agricultura! burning practices, contamination of water and health (Fig. 3). Health was by far the major pollution-related problem for both men (60%) and women (62%). More women were concerned about contaminated water; while men were more concerned about agricultura! burning practices. The main concern for both men (10%) and women (8%) relating to burning was about diminishing water supplies. Men (5%) were also concerned about reduced soil fertility as a result of burning."},{"index":25,"size":224,"text":"Most men and women who said that they suffered health problems as a consequence of environmental pollution cited no specific examples, but they did mention disease resulting from contaminated water, from mosquitoes, smoke from agricultura! burning practices and pesticide poisoning. The negative effect of forest-fire smoke on health was a specific concern mentioned by 7% of those surveyed. Water contamination for lack of latrines (16%) and agrochemical use involving pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers (16%) were the most frequently mentioned problems. Negative consequences of burning were mentioned by 17 and 11% of the mal e and female respondents, respectively, with water scarcity and soil destruction due to burning being the most commonly cited problems. Of the respondents who felt affected by environmental pollution, 12% (41 men, 47 women) reported having acted to reduce or prevent these problems (Fig. 4). The most frequently reported practices were related to waste disposal: 47% of women and 29% of men reported collecting, burning or burying rubbish. Of these, 29% reported avoiding agricultura! burning or participating in fire-prevention activities such as brigades. Sorne men (10%) and women (13%) reported having been involved in training or awareness activities. Water purification by chlorination (men, 10%) or boiling (women, 4%) anda series of other practices such as constructing latrines and isolating water sources were reported by 22% of men and 8% of women."},{"index":26,"size":100,"text":"People who reported taking no action to reduce or avoid pollution were asked why they had not acted (Fig. 5). Of the 73 people who responded, the main reason given (48% of men and 44% of women) was that they did not know how to solve the problems they were facing . Men felt they lacked time (17%), while 24% of women were frustrated by the non-cooperation of others. Men and women shared a common perception of powerlessness to act-lack of authority, organization and resignation were mentioned by a total of 12% of m en and 16% of women . "}]},{"head":"M en Women","index":8,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":5,"text":"•waste disposal •water treatment DAwareness "}]},{"head":"DISTRIBUTION OF FREQUENCIES BY PROBLEM RANK","index":9,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":217,"text":"Figure 6 shows regression curves for each problem. The greater the slope of the curve, the greater the importance of the problem and vice versa. lt can be seen that deforestation, training and production problems are of significantly greater importance (P= 15%) than problems related to animal production (e.g., disease management, feeding) or marketing. The latter were of less importance to the participants in the PDMs (same leve! of significance). We reject the null hypothesis and accept that there are significant differences in the degree of importance assigned to common problems identified via PDM in Yoro and Lempira. The agricultura! production problems identified by the participants referred to paucity of technologies, financi ng, technical assistance and irrigation systems. This analysis considers only those problems common to both regions (Y oro and Lempira); nevertheless, identification of the hierarchical structure of common problems permits prioritization of proposed development interventions for a specific region .  This study focused on ranking preferences and eliciting preteren ce criteria for maize and common bean varieties as these are the principal staple crops in Honduras. Soilmanagement preferences-including the use of organic and inorganic fertilizers, barriers, other practices-were al so included. T echnology-preference ranking was not handled separately from problem rankings. Both were approached in an integrated way via the aforementioned survey and PDM methodology."},{"index":2,"size":140,"text":"Maize varietal preferences. Most of the maize planted by the respondents consists of traditional varieties. A single traditional variety was planted by 245 men and 162 women . Only 2 men and 1 women reported planting more than one traditional variety. One improved variety was planted by 64 men and 29 women. Only one woman reported planting more than one improved variety. This indicates that maize genetic diversity on individual farms is extremely low. Of those who plant one traditional variety, 78 and 66% of men and women, respectively, reportad doing so because it costs less. The second most frequent reason given was that traditional varieties yield better than improved ones (7% of men and 11 % of women). The main reason for planting improved varieties given by both men and women was that they yield better than traditional varieties."},{"index":3,"size":366,"text":"The well-being levels of 643 of the households surveyed were categorized as low, medium and high. Planting of both traditional and improved maize varieties decreases as well-being level increases (Fig. 7). Planting of improved maize is less frequent than planting of traditional maize at every well-being level. At all well-being levels the main reason given for planting traditional maize was that it cost less to do so Sean varietal preferences. A preference for traditional varieties was also apparent among those who reported planting beans. Planting a single traditional variety was reported by 135 men and 95 women vs 35 men and 17 women who planted a single improved variety. Only 12 people reported planting more than one variety of beans. As with maize, the m a in re a son given by 7 4% of m en and 56% of women for planting a traditional bean variety was than it cost less. The second most common reason was that traditional varieties yield better than improved ones. Among the men who planted an improved variety, there was a greater diversity of reasons for their decision: yield advantage over traditional varieties (63%), better yields in dry years (29%), and greater resistance to pests and diseases (34%). Fewer households at all well-being levels plant beans than maize (Table 2) . As with maize, planting of beans declines with well-being leve l. > There is no mechanism in the CIAL approach for discovery and learning about ecological principies and key biological processes related to crop health management or for integrating these concepts with existing knowledge. > Crop health management requires a cyclical process of field monitoring, analysis of the information, and action based on the analysis. Currently the CIALs have no mechanism for developing these skills. > Crop health management requires integration among different technological components and within farm enterprise management as a whole. The CIAL process focuses on stepwise comparison of a few treatments in controlled experiments. Sorne CIALs are evaluating components for managing crop health problems involving pests, diseases and frost. but there is no clear mechanism for integrating the components as they are evaluated. > Collective action is frequently required in order to solve crop health problems."},{"index":4,"size":37,"text":"CIALs do not currently analyze whether collective action is required . There is a need to strengthen analytical skills in order to facilitate collective action for esolution of problems that involve spatial scales beyond a single field."},{"index":5,"size":41,"text":"> There are indications that men and women have different knowledge about crop health problems and that their management strategies are different. At the moment CIALs do not explicitly contemplate these differences or other gender-related aspects linked to their research processes."},{"index":6,"size":1,"text":"Strategies."}]},{"head":"Expected results","index":10,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":41,"text":"lnitiate case studies of CIALs that work with IPM; identify their strengths and weaknesses with respect to IPM; propase modifications to the methodology, initiate pilot-scale work with CIALs that have an crop health focus and evaluate changes accomplished with said modifications."},{"index":2,"size":25,"text":"(at end of 3 years). Case studies published on how the CIALs have worked with IPM to date, their achievements and difficulties. Develop mechanisms for:"},{"index":3,"size":120,"text":"> integrating the analytical and decision-making skills required for crop health management > discovery and learning of ecological principies and key biological processes and integrating these with existing local knowledge > integrating crop health management components > analyzing the need for collective action and strengthening the CIAL linkage with the community for carrying them out > lncorporating the gender perspective in a systematic fashion > lndicators for measuring the effectiveness of CIALs working with crop health issues > CIAL crop health manual for technicians and handbook for farmers > lncreased capacity for conducting crop health research in PROINPA and other participating NGOs > Evolution of the CIAL approach so that it can be applied in community-based research on NRM problems"}]},{"head":"Roles of Farmer Field Schools (FFS) and CIAL in participatory research","index":11,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":136,"text":"FAO and CIP have introduced IPM-FFS in Latin America. 8oth Bolivia and Peru now host field schools. The Peruvian FFS are a collaborative effort between CIP and CARE-Peru, and FAO is developing FFS-related plans with the Ministry of Agriculture. In Bolivia PROINPA is working with both CIALs and FFS . Bolivia ís the only country where both approaches exist side-by-side. There is confusion in various NARS and NGOs in Central and South America about the advantages/ disadvantages and similarities/differences of the FFS and CIAL. This issue was addressed in an invited paper entitled \"The IPM Farmer Field School and the Local Agricultura! Research Committee: Complementary platforms to foment integrated decisions for sustainable agriculture,\" published in Sept. 1999 in the Forum section of CATIE's journal Manejo Integrado de Plagas. The following is the abstract of the paper:"},{"index":2,"size":160,"text":"The Fanner Field School (FFS) for IPM and the Local Agricultura! Research Committee (CIAL) are participatory platforms that foment improved decisionmaking capacity and stimulate local innovation for sustainable agriculture. FFS offers nonformal education related to agroecological principies through a participatory learning process that lasts an entire crop cycle. Each FFS has 25 farmers from a single community. The CIAL is a permanent agricultura! research service staffed by a voluntary team of 4 or more farmers . Each CIAL belongs to a community and creates a link between local and formal research . FFS and CIALs were initiated for different reasons and have different objectives, but they share various principies and processes. 8oth result in concrete solutions for local problems, but they apply different styles of experimentation and analysis for developing these. 8oth increase the capacity of individuals and local groups for critica! analysis and decision-making. 8oth stimulate local innovation and emphasize principies and processes rather than recipes or technology packages."},{"index":3,"size":134,"text":"The strength of the CIALs líes in the systematic evaluation of technological alternatives and their ability to influence the research agendas of formal research and extension systems on behalf of economically disadvantaged communities. In addition sorne CIALs stimulate the development of small rural enterprises. FFS fill gaps in local knowledge and increase awareness and understanding of phenomena that are not obvious or easily observable. Their strength líes in increasing farmers' skills as managers of agroecological processes. Depending on the problem or opportunity to be address one or the other may be a more appropriate entry point. A challenge for the future will be to integrate the complementary elements of the FFS and CIALs and/or to employ them in parallel in arder to expand the creative capacity of farmers to resolve problems and seize opportunities."},{"index":4,"size":9,"text":"OUTPUT 2: Organizational strategies and procedures for PR developed "}]},{"head":"Fostering concerted collective action in NRM among watershed users-Colombia","index":12,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":58,"text":"Objectives. The research objective with respect to the collective management of watershed natural resources in Colombia is to \"find ways to foster collective or concerted action among watershed users and other stakeholder groups in their day-today NRM and thereby enable them to deal with problems that cannot be solved effectively by individuals acting alone\" (Annual report, SN-3, 1998)."},{"index":2,"size":34,"text":"In 1998 work that dealt with problems related to water management and conservation , erosion control and pest control (white grubs and leaf-cutting ants) was reported. The stakeholder methodology was also developed and published."},{"index":3,"size":63,"text":"The objectives for 1999 were to identify new activities and strengthen ongoing activities through participatory evaluation and organizational strengthening. However, these objectives were changed during the year mainly dueto problems of social unrest in the focus area and project has initiated a phasing-out process in arder to turn over full control of financia! resources , decision-making and responsibility to the local farmers organization."},{"index":4,"size":12,"text":"Activity progress report. At the onset of 1999 the following capacity-building activities:"},{"index":5,"size":50,"text":"Presentation of ant-control experience and results by local farmers at a seminar on organic agriculture at the University of Cauca in Popayán. Paper sent for publication: Munk Ravnborg , H. et al, \"Collective action in ant control\" (submitted to the Systemwide Program on Collective Action and Property Rights, CAPRI) ."},{"index":6,"size":49,"text":"Visit to CIAL workinq with maize. The CIAL provided farmers with seed and manure. A local farmer with a large piece of unused land offered it to the group so they could cultivate the maize collectively. To strengthen ongoing activities, an ant-control competition was completed with good results ."},{"index":7,"size":79,"text":"Cultivation of sugarcane live barriers (In collaboration with CIAT Project PE-2). The objective was to analyze the impact of collectively implemented live barriers at the landscape level (soil erosion, soil fertility and water quality) besides strengthening the farmer organization's capacity to analyze and organize collective NRM. Dueto externa! factors (social unrest), however, work had to be suspended for long periods of the year, affecting daily contact and the farmers' trust and confidence, which is critica! to this kind ofwork."},{"index":8,"size":236,"text":"A phasing -out process was initiated in arder to enable the local farmers to control and manage the project and its resources independently. Thus far, action-research activities have been financed by a so-called \"Green Fund\" managed by CIAT. The independent local management of this fund is perceived to be essential for the success of locally based initiatives. At meetings with local farmers from both microwatersheds, the Cabildo and ASOBESURCA, it was suggested that an executive committee manage the fund with members from the local community and the aforementioned locally based organizations. Another committee with the participation of local NGOs and CIPASLA would supervise the community committee. lt was agreed that only the interest from the fund could be used and only for research or activities related to collective NRM. lt was suggested that project coverage should be the entire Rio Cabuyal watershed and that the preparation and selection of appropriate projects should be done in collaboration with the field assistant (secondary school graduate) who has been assisting CIAT from the onset of this research program (1996). Furthermore it was suggested that she train other members of the local community in identifying stakeholders, problems and conflict as well as in how to carry out participatory trials. Ata later meeting the communities selected an executive committee, but decided to limit initial activities to the municipality of La Laguna. Later on, other parts of the watershed will be included."},{"index":9,"size":27,"text":"The output of these activities will be a contract between the local population and CIAT, leaving project control and management with the farmers upon the conditions that:"},{"index":10,"size":13,"text":"~ Resources are applied to activities and research related to collective NRM only."},{"index":11,"size":9,"text":"~ Only interest from the Green Fund is used."},{"index":12,"size":39,"text":"~ Feedback about processes and outputs are given to CIAT every six months for the next two years. ~ Resources and the knowledge obtained through their experience will eventually benefit other parts of the Rio Cabuyal watershed as well."},{"index":13,"size":32,"text":"Telecenter concept note (submitted to IDRC, Sept. 1999) lmportant principies related to information and communication technologies (ICTs) include the concept of universal access. This project addresses this issue within a rural setting."},{"index":14,"size":15,"text":"Title: Fostering sustainable development in Cauca State (Colombia) through community telecenters; a project concept note."},{"index":15,"size":37,"text":"Project goal: To test appropriate telecenter models for building local capacity to obtain and use information about agricultura! production, processing, marketing, NRM and other topics relevant to sustainable development in a marginalized, hillside region of southwestern Colombia."},{"index":16,"size":26,"text":"Challenge: About half of the predominantly rural inhabitants of this state live in absolute poverty. Sorne are driven into narcotics production and processing or guerilla groups."},{"index":17,"size":21,"text":"Most of the population-including Cauca's numerous indigenous groups-are caught in the crossfire between guerillas, drug traffickers, paramilitary groups and the army."},{"index":18,"size":14,"text":"Many have abandoned the countryside, only to join the ranks of the urban jobless."},{"index":19,"size":77,"text":"Those who remain use farming practices that result in soil erosion and deforestation, threatening agricultura! productivity, biodiversity and water supplies-both locally and downstream. Meeting these challenges is also a high priority for nearby urban areas and for Colombian society as a whole. Numerous towns and cities in Southwest Colombia receive food supplies as well as water from rivers in Cauca State and therefore have a direct stake in the management of agricultura! land in its hillside watersheds."},{"index":20,"size":80,"text":"Democratizing agricultura/ development. Sorne rural Cauca communities are finding new ways to cope with the region's economic, social and environmental ills. Using a variety of participatory methods, they are solving problems in agricultura! production through local research ; identifying and creating opportunities for developing small agroenterprises; and organizing community initiatives for NRM. These developments are nothing short of revolutionary, amounting to the democratization of activities that have traditionally been driven from the top down by institutions and central government policies."},{"index":21,"size":117,"text":"Democratizing information access and management. For these approaches to gain strength and fulfill their potential, there must be a parallel democratization of information access and management. Activities such as agroenterprise development and land management planning at the local, regional and national scales are extremely information intensive. Communities that rema in information-poor will be unable to participate fully in and benefit from those activities. Fortu nately, in recent years there has been an explosion of information that could help the country address its daunting economic, social and environmental problems. There is, however, little material directly relevant to marginalized communities in the region and what could be useful to them is not readily accessible or exists in fragmentary form."},{"index":22,"size":55,"text":"Modern information and communication technologies, including access to the World Wide Web, could help overcome these barriers; but they are still mostly beyond the reach of the poor. Even if these technologies were more accessible, poor communities would not necessarily benefit because of their limited capacity to find, organize, use, create and exchange relevant information."},{"index":23,"size":88,"text":"Telecenters are public facilities, often integrated into the programs of local grass roots organizations, that offer a combination of telecommunications, information, multimedia and computing functions to help deal with a variety of community problems and needs. They appear to be an effective way of broadening access to new information tools and improving local capacity to use them. The challenge is to adapt this approach toa diverse array of geographic, social, economic, cultural and institutional settings, leading to the development of appropriate models for particular situations, regions and countries."},{"index":24,"size":83,"text":"The global telecenter movement, particularly recent work in Colombia, offers an important opportunity to promote democratization of information in Cauca and other rural areas. This project will work toward that end through an innovative, cooperative training and research program, focused mainly on the development of telecenters in selected rural communities of Cauca. These will be linked with an urban telecenter in a poor neighborhood of Cali, with a view to establishing new market links between producers and consumers of agricultura! and other products."}]},{"head":"Specific objectives","index":13,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":172,"text":"~ Form partnerships among local, national and international organizations to provide institutional frameworks for establishing and monitoring community telecenters and for drawing lessons from their experience. ~ Characterize perceptions of information needs and current patterns in the acquisition and use of information in selected communities to provide a baseline for subsequent comparison. ~ Locate and develop information relevant to community needs, focusing initially on agricultura! production and NRM, but eventually including other topics such as health. ~ Establish 3 telecenters in selected rural communities, linked with a single urban telecenter, and integrate these with local community radio programs. ~ Build a training program around the telecenters for enhancing community and local institutional capacity to access, use, produce and exchange information in electronic and conventional forms. ~ Monitor the experience, measure the telecenters' impact on local capacity to use information for sustainable development, and assess their institutional and financia! sustaínabílity. ~ Derive, document and disseminate lessons and insights from this experience as contributions to the their development elsewhere in Latín America . Objectives:"}]},{"head":"Project duration: 3 years","index":14,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":66,"text":"There is a risk that the instability of fonnal institutions will have an adverse effect u pon the sustainability of the CIALs as community-based services linking fonnal and local research . Organizations in Latín American countries that have not been involved in the ClAL movement are seeking training in arder to establish pilot experiences of their own. There is also interest in Asia and Africa ."},{"index":2,"size":153,"text":"~ Develop responsible second-order organizations of CIALs in severa! South and Central America countries so that the sustainability of CIAL process in this region is assured and the CIAL movement can fulfill its potential for impact. ~ ldentify and develop sustainable self-financing mechanisms for CIALs and CIAL associations. ~ strengthen monitoring and evaluation (M&E) processes in existing CIALs and establish them in second arder organizations so that learning from experience, accountability to the community can be enhanced and local leadership in these capacities can be developed. ~ continue facilitating the pilot experiences that various institutions are undertaking with the CIALs in Central and South America and exploring ways to extrapolate from the institutionallessons learned in other countries. ~ leam lessons from the consolidation and scaling-up processes in countries like Honduras, Bolivia and Colombia that can be applied towards the development of community-based organizations on a wider scale in Latín America and beyond ."}]},{"head":"Partners:","index":15,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":1,"text":"Duration:"},{"index":2,"size":18,"text":"Local communities , CIAL associations, CIALs, national agricultura! research organizations, NGOs and universities in Central and South America."},{"index":3,"size":2,"text":"3 years."},{"index":4,"size":12,"text":"Beneficiaries: At least 450 poor rural communities and sorne 650,000 disadvantaged individuals."}]},{"head":"Study of inactiva CIALs","index":16,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":267,"text":"CIALs can fail if timely, quality support is not consistently available during the early formation and the intermediate consolidatíon stages (Fig. 1). In 1990 SN-3 formed the first five CIALs in the State of Cauca in Colombia. The CIAL approach was welcomed by farmers , who felt for the first time that their needs and priorities were being taken into account by agricultura! professionals, and local organizations requested more detailed information on how to apply the CIALs in the communities where they worked . The demand has gone beyond state and national borders (see Appendix 1). From 1994-98, the Kellogg Foundation supported the Project entitled : \"Diffusion of a model for developing agricultura! technology at the community leve!, using a particípatory approach .\" Contacts were made wíth the interested institutions in severa! countries so that once their staff had been trained, they would begin to form new committees in their work zones. As a result of the training and diffusion of the approach in Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia, the CIALs increased in number and so did the demand. Methodology. In line with the philosophy of nonformal education, the selection of course tapies took into account the experience that the technicians had acquired. Prior to the course, technicians from organizations applying the CIAL approach were surveyed to identify the tapies in which they felt weakest ar wished ta strengthen . lnformatian alsa resulted fram SN-3's follow-up activities in the field , where it was possible ta identify other points that needed ta be explored in greater depth in the preparation of trainerfacilitators ."},{"index":2,"size":81,"text":"Processes inherent in working with groups: (communication skills, group dynamics), problem-solving skills and analysis of experimental results were emphasized. In addition to talks and discussion, apportunities were provided for the future trainerfacilitators to practice their skills in numerous practica! group exercises. Some activities were filmed in arder to provide direct and immediate feedback. The material used in the course was campiled in a loose-leaf two-volume handboak for the participants and is currently being edited by for publication in a CD-ROM farmat."},{"index":3,"size":107,"text":"Expected outcomes. As a result of participating in the course trainer-facilitators should be capable of: ~ identifying differences between a traditianal trainer and a facilitator ~ understanding principies of formal and nonformal education ~ expanding perceptions and abilities as facilitators of group processes ~ knowing how to prepare a training event ~ increasing skills for cammunicating with farmers ~ supporting and justifying work based an the CIAL approach ~ maximizing use of CIAL handbooks with the farmers ~ interpreting results from the CIAL research and the participatory planning of feedback to the community » preferenee ranking and its interpretation » analysis and interpretation of CIAL trial results"},{"index":4,"size":26,"text":"• Audiovisual aids included slides, overheads and filming. There was constant interaction between the participants and the SN-3 tea m in the implementation of the exercises."},{"index":5,"size":31,"text":"• Another important objective was to share plans, information, approaches and methodologies among course participants. Table 2 gives the tentative programming of events that participating institutions plan to offer during 1999. "}]},{"head":"Follow-up of facilitators trained in CIAL courses","index":17,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":54,"text":"As part of the Kellogg Foundation project  project, training of facilitators in the CIAL approach was provided in the countries of Honduras, Nicaragua, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia. Later this training was extended to the countries of El Salvador and Venezuela (financed with their own resources). The training for CIAL facilitators consisted of two phases:"},{"index":2,"size":41,"text":"~ a theoretical classroom segment including exercises, practice, reading materials and videos ~ visits and interaction with CIALs and field practice to be carried out by each participant in his/her work zone. This involved forming and facilitating at least one CIAL."},{"index":3,"size":83,"text":"Over the three-year period, 257 technicians from 105 institutions in 7 countries were trained. The majority applied the CIAL approach in their respective work areas. SN-3 is committed to monitoring the trainees' activities in the field to assess their skills, the need for further training, as well as identify any modifications or adaptations made with respect to the CIAL approach. Feedback is provided to facilitators. Different methodological areas in which the groups require strengthening are also identified for inclusion in future training events."},{"index":4,"size":26,"text":"Objective. ln-service training of facilitators in the CIAL approach through the monitoring of their work with farmers groups that wish to conduct research in their communities."},{"index":5,"size":79,"text":"Methodology. As part of the course, each facilitator presents a proposal for application of the CIAL approach, including a tentative schedule of activities. Monitoring activities are scheduled for the period when the CIALs plant their trials or are about to evaluate them. Monitoring of these processes is given priority beca use of their their importance in the CIAL research process and their direct contribution to the accomplishment of the CIAL's objectives. Visits to monitor facilitators' work with CIAL include:"},{"index":6,"size":40,"text":"~ Meetinqs with facilitators who are implementing the CIAL approach in their work areas. Each facilitator presents the results obtained thus far, discussing the progress made, difficulties and accomplishments with respect to both the CIAL and themselves as facilitators ."},{"index":7,"size":100,"text":"~ Field visits to the CIALs. SN-3 staff implementa follow-up program planned with the facilitator of each community where a CIALhas been established . Committee members (i.e., leader, secretary, treasurer, extension officer and other participants) are convened in order to share experiences and comment on the results obtained to date. There should be at least three Committee members in order to apply the follow-up survey, which is based on group responses . An SN-3 team member asks each CIAL member a series of questions and then probes or verifies the answers within the group. The survey covers five broad topics:"},{"index":8,"size":28,"text":"> comprehension of the CIAL process > comprehension of the research process > the degree of self-management > the evolution of group maturity > feedback to the community"},{"index":9,"size":42,"text":"The results are tabulated and analyzed. Those tapies that require strengthening or greater effort by the CIAL and/or the facilitator are identified by the SN-3 team. These points are shared with the facilitators so that they can take corrective action as necessary."},{"index":10,"size":126,"text":"Results. Table 3 shows the organizations and facilitators involved in the CIAL follow-up activities conducted in 1999. The current status of the CIAL approach is presented on a country basis. In December representatives from CIALs from across the country will hold a nationallevel meeting to form an ASOCIAL. Through the ASOCIAL, they expect to be able to attract more resources and to seek more effective strategic alliances with institutions from the Honduran agricultura! R&D sector. As part of the Kellogg Project, US$30,000 was earmarked for initiating the ASOCIAL Fund, which will be managed by a commission of representatives from participating institutions. US$25,000 was placed in a savings account and the remaining funds were destined to support projects to motívate CIALs to continue with their research projects."},{"index":11,"size":37,"text":"Various CIALs have already developed projects to increase their CIAL fund through commercial production ventures. These projects have stimulated and strengthened them organizationally.  • lntegrated management of the Andean weevil (Premnotrsypes spp., Rhigopsídíus tucumanus) in potatoes (1)"},{"index":12,"size":11,"text":"• Evaluation of patato varieties resistant to Phythoptora infestans ( 1)"},{"index":13,"size":6,"text":"• Evaluation of bean varieties (1)"},{"index":14,"size":7,"text":"• Control of sclerotinia in onions (1)"},{"index":15,"size":12,"text":"• Evaluation of patato varieties resistant to the nematode Naccobbus aberrans CORPOICA:"},{"index":16,"size":6,"text":"• Evaluation of maize varieties (2)"},{"index":17,"size":3,"text":"Regional 3 and"},{"index":18,"size":12,"text":"• Evaluation of maize varieties and their 7 agronomic management (1) SENA"},{"index":19,"size":12,"text":"• Evaluation of papaya varieties (1) • Evaluation of cowpea varieties (1)"},{"index":20,"size":6,"text":"• Evaluation of rice varieties11l Ecuador."},{"index":21,"size":9,"text":"Aug. 3 8 • Evaluation of patato varieties (4)"}]},{"head":"INIAP","index":18,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":14,"text":"• Evaluation of guinea pig breeds (2) IIRR • Evaluation of blackberry varieties (1)"},{"index":2,"size":8,"text":"• E valuation of tomato varieties ( 1)"},{"index":3,"size":12,"text":"Photo 2. Honduran faci litators participating in SN-3 follow-up events during 1999"},{"index":4,"size":86,"text":"In general the CIAL approach has gained a great deal of ground in Honduras. Greater ernphasis needs to be placed on the use of the training handbooks in arder to strengthen the CIALs' cornprehension and cornrnand of the CIAL process and to facilitate their interactions with the facilitator. In sorne cornrnunities lirnited access to land has rnade it difficult to set up experirnents with sufficient replications. lt has been suggested that CIALs with land access problerns use srnaller plots and establish replications on the sarne farrn."},{"index":5,"size":77,"text":"Severa! CIALs have reached the production or cornrnercial experirnent stage, and are ready or nearly ready to rnake recornrnendations to their cornrnunities. Cornrnunication between the CIAL and the cornrnunity needs to be intensified given that sorne of thern have not been holding rneetings with due periodicity. Facilitators need to stirnulate th is activity; otherwise the results will not be socialized and the information will rernain in the hands of only a few, contrary to the CIAL principies."},{"index":6,"size":34,"text":"Bolivia. After visiting the states of La Paz and Cochabarnba, it was easy to appreciate the differences in the application of the CIAL approach arnong the diverse institutions and projects that are applying it."},{"index":7,"size":165,"text":"~ PROINPA Foundation : As part of a restructuring process PROINPA changed its operational structure frorn Departrnents to Projects. This has rneant that sorne CIALs, attended by facilitators from the Technology lnnovation Department (now called the Technology lnnovation and Gender Project, ITG), have been reassigned to other projects, whose status was not made clear in the annual operational plan. Sorne CIALs were left on their own because it was believed that they would be able to manage on their own. During the establishment of a new CIAL, frequent visits (ca. 2/mo) are required. Facilitators need to monitor CIAL progress, and to provide reinforcement whenever they note deficiencies. CIALs become more autonomous through a process of maturation that requires passing through severa! cycles of planning, conducting and evaluating experiments and presenting results to the community. The issue of commitment by PROINPA projects that are facilitating CIALs to should be resolved in the near future sin ce all ha ve expressed motivation to continue applying the approach."},{"index":8,"size":67,"text":"lnteresting linkages have been established between CIALs, local institutions and severa! new actors. The new linkages involve with animal traction projects, PROTRIGO, the National Sean Program, ASAGRO, agribusiness firms and university students doing thesis projects with CIALs . These new relationships are the result of the respect and credibility that the CIALs have earned; nevertheless, it is important that CIALs not be sidetracked from their research plans."},{"index":9,"size":228,"text":"The CIALs attended by ITG-PROINPA are progressing well. Severa! are testing IPM components for nematodes and frost problems. Their analytic capacity and comprehension of the CIAL process have evolved, as well as their ability to communicate their results to the community. Their commitment to the Sindicato• 8 that elected them is clear. The CIALs make progress reports or meet every two weeks, taking advantage of regular Sindicato meetings. This linkage could be an entry point for stimulating collective action and should contribute to the continuity of CIAL research. The CIAL of Boquerón Alto, a recently formed and highly motivated group, has progressed with respect to the clarity of their concepts and objectives. Cebada Jichana has more experience and has produced clear results with their research on chemical control of the Andean weevil. They are beginning trials on varietal resistance to frost. They have established good linkages with several institutions in the region, with which they are testing technologies prioritized by the community; e.g., management to prevent soil degradation with the CIAT Hillsides Project. The CIAL of Kewiña Pampa is the only one in the country formed by women from the local Mothers Club. The group is well organized and clearly knows where they want to go with their research . They are about to initiate the harvest of their trial of varieties resistant to the nematode N. aberrans."},{"index":10,"size":75,"text":"Based on results obtained via the CIAL approach in severa! of their projects, PROINPA has established a clear commitment to institutionalize participatory evaluation of technologies and participatory plant breeding. The foundation is pursuing plans (through their Marketing Project) to obtain funds for participatory research approaches. Several projects are planning to providing resources to support a facilitator from the ITG project, who will act as coordinator for participatory approaches and advisor to the other PROINPA projects."},{"index":11,"size":165,"text":"CEDEAGRO. This NGO from Mizque is in the process of refinancing their next phase and have had to let sorne of their CIAL facilitators go. This has affected the continuity of the process of sorne CIALs, which are clamoring for support. Although the CIALs continue to show great interest and dynamism , a great deal of valuable information is being lost for lack of a majar follow-up and analysis of their evaluations. One of these groups is Tucma Baja, the oldest CIAL in Bolivia. They have begun a crop diversification process, which is already spreading to other communities and neighboríng regions . The Tin-Tin CIAL has suffered as a result of deficiencies in their planning of the work involved in carrying out the experíment and misunderstandings among their members. These problems have been solved (one member was changed), and they are now preparing their confirmation trial on chemical control of Sclerotinia sp. , despite the fact that there is no facilitator responsible for the zone."},{"index":12,"size":34,"text":"The CEDEAGRO Director has expressed great interest in expanding the CIAL program to new communities. Until the expected resources arrive, however, they will require continued support from the PROINPA Foundation for training new facilitators."},{"index":13,"size":39,"text":"Universities: One student from the Universidad Tecnica de Oruro and 4 from the Universidad Mayor de San Simon are doing thesis projects related to the CIALs. The U. San Simon projects relate to soil fertility management and conservation issues."},{"index":14,"size":79,"text":"Nicaragua: On the visit made in April , SN-3 observed that sorne CIALs-despite their location in communities with a very low level of well being-are highly motivated to do research and improve their agrículture. Their level of self-management is evolving. A women's CIAL is raffling items to increase their CIAL petty cash fund. In another community they are selling soap and sugar in the local shop at a slightly higher price, and commiting the margin to the CIAL fund."},{"index":15,"size":31,"text":"A weakness is the deficient communication among the facilitators of participating institutions. Another important problem is the lack of technology alternatives for testing, especially improved germplasm of common beans and soybeans."},{"index":16,"size":216,"text":"Colombia: CORPOICA, through its Transfer and Development Program, has taken the initiative of disseminating the CIAL approach nationwide with support from SN-3. In line with this objective, a course for CIAL facilitators was given by SN-3 to CORPOICA staff the end of 1998. lt was attended by 32 people, including 4 from SENA, the institution funding CORPOICA's work with CIALs . In addition to the 26 CIALs set up by CORPOICA by mid-1998, they have formed another 29 groups in Regions 3 and 7 in northern and northeastern Colombia (Photo 3). CORPOICA also held their first regional meeting of CIALs where each group shared the results obtained with other CIALs and with facilitators from CORPOICA and interested staff from other institutions. The new CIALs have progressed substantially despite the short time that they nave been in exístence. They are mastering the process, although they still requíre more training expecially in the use of the CIAL handbooks. A number of CIALs have benefited from study tours to visit other CIAL with more advanced research -this is particularly important as a means to stimulate CIALs who are just beginning. Many CORPOICA CIALs have established good levels of contact with the their communities and with neighboring communities . This has stimulated many requests for the formation of new CIALs."},{"index":17,"size":21,"text":"Photo 3. Members of the CIAL from Guaracaca, Guajira, Colombia, and CORPOICA technícíans (right) at the harvest of their papaya trial."},{"index":18,"size":50,"text":"Follow-up activities by CORPOICA and SN-3 identified the need to strengthen facilitator capacity related to experimental design for the CIAL trials and analysis of the participatory evaluatíons with the farmer groups. A specia/ course was designed around these tapies. The course given in Paipa, Boyacá, was attended by 23 facilitators."},{"index":19,"size":128,"text":"The CIALs must respond effectively to the interest and expectations created in their communities around the results expected from their research. In arder to facilitate the mastery of the CIAL process, CORPOICA has placed a high priority on providing followup to faciltators and CIALs at each stage of the CIAL research process (trial, confirmation, production and comm ercial-scale lots). Facilitators are responsible for helping CIAL members to understand the process and the reasons behind it. SN-3 has suggested that greater attention should be given to in-depth analysis of the qualitative information developed through participatory work with farmers. This requires a radical departure from traditional research priorities, which generally stress quantitative results only. CORPICA plans to co-publish a book based on their experiences in research with farmers as partners."},{"index":20,"size":105,"text":"lnstitutionally a great deal has been gained. In the CRECED methodology1 and in the two regional offices where CORPOICA's CIAL Project is being carried out, the importance that the CIAL approach has acquired is readily perceived. Many of their facilitators are highly motivated and are exploring methodological aspects in greater depth. lmportant advances have been made in developing criteria (via a matrix approach) for selecting the communities where facilitators hold motivational meetings to explore the possibility of establishing aCIAL. CORPOICA is seeking resources to establish a network of CIALs (similar to CORFOCIAL) and to develop an information management system to support their work with CIALs."},{"index":21,"size":164,"text":"Ecuador: In the recent follow-up visit to the institutions implementing the methodology, the following was observed: The CIALs complement the \"farmer-to-farmer'' approach, which this IIRR has been developing for severa! years. An important highlight is the agreement IIRR has made with the University of Loja to train their farmer-promoters in distance courses on agricultura! technology and the CIAL approach. The final element in the training of farmer-promotors is the formation of a CIAL in their community. The weakness of this modalíty is that when the promoters graduate, the CIAL has just reached the trial stage and may be left alone if they do not receive prompt assistance from a facilitator. SN-3 has recommended that the CIAL should be formed at the onset of the training course so that over the three years of their course of study and practice, farmer-promotors can provide adequate levels of training and follow-up to the CIALs and the process will not be interrupted just as it is being consolidated."},{"index":22,"size":56,"text":"The Farmer Field Schools (FFS) are being introduced in Ecuador, and CIAL members are being coopted as trainers for the formation of FFS . This could create confusion among the farmers about goals and objectives of the different Table 4. Synthesis of strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats identified by the participants when implementing the CIAL approach."},{"index":23,"size":74,"text":"Strengths Opportunities -Persons trained, motivated -Current situation of the farmers -Pioneers of the CIAL approach in their motivates them to seek new respective countries alternativas lnstitutions share vision of participatory -Change in the orientation of the research approaches institutional missions, from supply to -CIALs are appreciated in the countries demand driven -Multiplier effect of training lnform managers and technicians of -Good approach for evaluating CIAL experiences technologies -Financia! entities that support -Farmers' technical knowledge "}]},{"head":"Training in the use of NRM decision-support tools, Cauca, the Dominican Republic and Honduras","index":19,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":197,"text":"The NRM decision-support tools consist of 8 guides developed by various projects at CIAT in collaboration with farmers and professionals from national counterpart institutions. As part of its objective to strengthen local institutions in their rural development work, a training process was initiated in Colombia and severa! Central American countries-specifically Honduras and Nicaragua. The main objective was to train trainers in arder to diffuse knowledge, capacity and the final application of the methodologies by a range of different local institutions, NGOs and GOs. Santander de Quilichao workshop. 14-23 April. This workshop consisted of a process of identifying partners, training them and presenting the methodologies for the end-users. The workshop was organized by CIAT and its partner organizations from CIPASLA and organizations related to the Guadalajara watershed in Buga. A total of 33 technicians from 20 organizations and 20 farmers were trained in the decision-support tools (see also final report by Olaf Westermann & Vicente Zapata)/ As a follow up to the workshop, the participants were asked to prepare action plans, specifying how and when they were going to apply the methodologies. At meetings in May and July, agreements were reached to carry on with two larger projects:"},{"index":2,"size":106,"text":"~ Ex-ante analysis of the economic feasibility of forage technologies and systems for conserving and recovering degraded soils in the Andean Region of Colombia. This analysis had been requested by international donors befare final approval of the main project to be executed by FIDAR ( Participants worked on the Consortium's vision, mission and objectives, as well as its strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats against it and its projects. Based on a summary of the workshop and a project propasa! previously prepared by Eco-Futuro in collaboration with CIAT (Vicente Zapata), members had until 20 September to make comments on the strategic plan and the first project proposal."},{"index":3,"size":52,"text":"The proposed project aims to incorporate the 8 decision-making tools in the member organizations' daily work in rural development and NRM . A first step will be to train from 40-56 professional, extension officers and community leaders within the consortium's area of action in the application, adoption and evaluation of the methodologies."},{"index":4,"size":58,"text":"Training will be done by the members already trained at the Santander de Quilichao workshop from 16-26 November. The next step will be to stimulate the formulation and execution of action plans that will be selected according to criteria established by the Consortia. Another important objective of the Consortia will be to coordinate and evaluate these action plans."}]},{"head":"Training courses in the Dominican Republic and in Honduras","index":20,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":44,"text":"The training course in the Dominican Republic took place from 22 June-3 July. More than 40 participants from 20 different organizations participated in the course, which basically had the same objectives as the course in Santander de Quilichao (See final report by Vicente Zapata)."},{"index":2,"size":92,"text":"The course in Honduras took place from 12-22 September and differed slightly in that it aimed at creating a national training team in the use and training of the decision-support tools for Honduras (and later on for Nicaragua and Colombia). Participants in previous courses have only trained professionals and extension officers within their own organizations. This team will carry out a series of national training events for local users of the tools. After their training, users will design \"action plans\" as was done in the case of Colombia and the Dominican Republic."}]},{"head":"Training of interviewers for country-wide survey and facilitators for communitylevel Participatory Diagnostic Meetings (PDM) in Honduras","index":21,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":116,"text":"T able 5 summarizes the training events for preparing facilitators for community-level PDMs conducted as part of the process of developing an approach for extrapolating results of participatory diagnoses and evaluation of technology (See Output 1) Training Objectives ~ Obtain support from regional directors for the participation of their staff in this project. ~ Enable facilitators to convene a representative cross-section of the community to a Participatory Diagnosis Meeting (PDM). ~ Enable facilitators to follow a flowchart for guiding the PDMs. ~ Enable facilitators to organize and summarize information generated during PDMs. ~ Enable facilitators to handle plenary and small group sessions. ~ Enable facilitators to determine aggregate well-being ranking and gender composition of PDM participants."}]},{"head":"Training objectives for survey team","index":22,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":45,"text":"A team of interviewers was trained to conduct surveys in Honduras related to the project on extrapolation of information and results from participatory research. Three secondary school graduates with sorne agricultura! training were trained in June 1999 by SN-3 team members. The training objectives included:"},{"index":2,"size":73,"text":"~ Able to understand content of survey questions. ~ Able to adjust the vocabulary used in the survey so that it is understandable to household members interviewed. ~ Capable of paraphrasing survey questions as necessary so that they are comprehensible to household members interviewed. ~ Capable of checking surveys for errors and making necessary adjustments and corrections befare leaving the area. ~ Capable of applying the entire survey within a reasonable time trame."}]},{"head":"ln-service training In use of the preteren ce ranking matrix","index":23,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":15,"text":"Actors. A total of 60 technicians and professionals have been trained to use the matrix."},{"index":2,"size":48,"text":"Procedure. Teach the philosophy of logit analysis and how the information is processed so that the user can construct and interpret the graphics of acceptance. Then the entities participating in the training evaluate it and provide feedback to made the necessary adjustment required to obtain the alpha version."},{"index":3,"size":38,"text":"Accomplishments. CNPMF in Brazil has been the leader in managing this tool, with a potential that goes beyond what was originally visualized. lt is being applied in the selection of varieties in both the breeding and pathology programs."},{"index":4,"size":21,"text":"Workshops: Statistical analysis of information generated in PB and PR work on highland crops in the Andean region (Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru)."},{"index":5,"size":82,"text":"farmer-based research service answerable to the local community. The committee (four or more people) is democratically elected to conduct research on priority tapies identified through a diagnostic process in which all are invited to participate. After each experiment, the committee reports its results back to the community, who decide whether they wish the CIAL to continue its work. Each CIAL has a small fund to offset the costs and risks of research. At least initially, CIALs are supported by a trained facilitator."},{"index":6,"size":107,"text":"Experience in the Cauca Department of Colombia, where the concept was first tested, showed that the CIAL approach can benefit the wider community as well as individual CIAL members. The benefits vary according to the tapie under research, but include increased crop production, greater availability of improved seed, the introduction of milling equipment, and improved access to credit, training and other inputs from the formal research and development system. The results of CIAL research may become widely dissemínated and there is strong participation by marginalized groups, including women, landless laborers and indigenous communities. Many CIALs develop into small businesses, selling improved seed or other products or services."},{"index":7,"size":136,"text":"Over 200 CIALs have now been launched in eight countries by various types of organization, including non-government organizations, universities and national research institutions. The CIAL process has proved replicable in different countries and by different types of supporting institution, provided its basíc principies are adhered to. The most important of these is provision of the fund, which empowers farmers to take control of the research process. Other principies include the generation of knowledge by building on experience and learning by doing, and mutual respect and shared decision making between the CIAL and externa! actors. lnstitutions launching a CIAL program need to invest in training if their staff is to facílitate the CIAL process effective/y. Second-order organizations, formed by the CIALs of a specific region or country, appear to be a cost-effective way of providing additional support."},{"index":8,"size":78,"text":"The CIAL movement is still young and its future evolution is uncertain. lf properly managed, CIALs seem likely to deliver substantial growth and equity benefits, although their effects on the sustainability of production are less predictable. By allowing adaptive research to be devolved to the farming community, CIALs may also cut the costs of formal research while increasing its impact. The long-term financia! sustainability of the CIALs and their second-order organizations is a majar challenge for the future."}]},{"head":"Video","index":24,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":70,"text":"The video entitled \"SEMBRADORES DE ESPERANZA\" (Pianting Hope) was fi/med at the 2nd National Meeting of the CIALs in Honduras, a forum where farmer researchers present the results of their experiments to other CIALs and to agricultura! professionals. The video also features interviews in which CIAL members talk about what the CIAL national meeting and their participation in community research means to them and how it has affected their lives."}]},{"head":"Analytical tools","index":25,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":24,"text":"Version 1.0 beta (in Spanish) of the statistical application for analyzing the preference ranking using the computer. For more information , see Output 1."}]},{"head":"Case studies","index":26,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":101,"text":"CIPASLA. This case study on CIPASLA (Spanish acronym for lnterinstitutional Consortium for Sustainable Hillside Agriculture) was initiated by a consultant in February. The objective was to describe the experience of the Consortium's work for the past 7 years. The following aspects were addressed: In addition to existing documents (e.g., project reports, committee meeting minutes, financia! statements), a series of interviews were conducted with representatives of entities that participated actively from the beginning, CIPASLA staff, Board members of ASOBESURCA, as well as members of other grassroots groups that have had something todo with CIPASLA (e.g. , the lndian Council from La Laguna-Siberia)."},{"index":2,"size":72,"text":"lt has not been possible to fin ish this case study because of problems of social unrest, which have made fieldwork difficult. In arder to overcome sorne of these impediments, two structured surveys were conducted: one with representatives from the participating entities and the other community members who participated in the execution of ASOBESURCA projects. lt is expected that the final report wi ll be finished by the end of the year."}]},{"head":"Training materials","index":27,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":29,"text":"English version of CIAL Handbooks 1-7 in process of translation and will go to press by the end of the year. Handbooks 8-13 will be translated in early 2000."},{"index":2,"size":71,"text":"CIAL Facilitator Training Resources. Two volumes of resource materials for CIAL facilitators are in the process of being revísed for subsequent publication. As a consequence of the CIAL training-of-trainers course given in August, it was decided to publish these materials, together with the specific materials developed for training trainers in the form of a CO-ROM. These materials will be ready in early 2000. For details on course orientation, see Output 2."},{"index":3,"size":39,"text":"MUNK R., HELLE; WESTERMANN, OLAF; GUERRERO, MARIA DEL PILAR.1999. Metodología de análisis de grupos de interés para el manejo colectivo de recursos naturales en mícrocuencas.Guia 4.En:lnstrumentos metodológicos para la toma de decisiones en el manejo de los recursos naturales.133p."}]},{"head":"Brochure","index":28,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":23,"text":"The CIALs at a Glance. The 1998 version is being updated for printing by the end of 1999 in both English and Spanish."}]},{"head":"Web sites","index":29,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":48,"text":"CIALs: This Web site (http://www.ciat.cgiar.org/cials) has been online since 1 April. The site contains information on CIAL principies, practices and processes in Spanish and English. A case study of the San Sosco CIAL is available in the English section of the site. Plans for expansion include addition of: "}]},{"head":"Presentations","index":30,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":8,"text":"The following presentations are available as Powerpoint shows: "}]},{"head":"lndicators for benchmarking progress","index":31,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":29,"text":"During 1999 progress was made in defining a series of indicators for benchmarking progress towards scaling up and institutionalization of the CIAL approach. The lndicators fall into 3 categories:"},{"index":2,"size":81,"text":"CIAL capacity as a community-based research service: For CIALs to have impact they must successfully provide a research service to their communities. Their capacity to do so depends upon their comprehension of the research process, their progress towards maturation, their capacity for self-management and whether their research products are taken up by the community: lndicators of maturity in CIALs include the number of experiments completed, diversity of research themes, involvement in community service, formation of microenterprises and formation of regional associations. "}]},{"head":"benchmark data","index":32,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":220,"text":"Comprehension of the research process: (learning curve index) Figure 1 shows the learning curve for the 53 CIALs established in Cauca from 1990-98. The data originate from routine monitoring and evaluation (M&E) visits to the CIALs in which the level of understanding of the research process is explored. CIAL members are asked to explain the experimental objective and design, its relevance and the expected results. They are asked about the role of treatments, the control and replications. The CIAL approach minimizes the economic risk associated with experimentation by initiating the research process with a very small-scale experiment and gradually increasing the scale in successive experiments. The M&E process also explores the CIAL's understanding of the reasoning behind this risk management tactic. The learning curve demonstrated that sorne concepts such as the role of replication , control, risk and comprehension of the kind of results expected from an experiment are less easily understood than the objective, concept and design. The curve suggests that comprehension of the research process develops as a consequence of conducting severa! experiments and that under the conditions of Cauca State, 5 or more experiments were required by 70% or more of those CIALs in arder to understand the research process fully. This pattern suggests that a mature CIAL is ene that has conducted more than 4 experiments."},{"index":2,"size":406,"text":"CIAL maturity. Based on the learning curve, a simple classification typology was developed (Novice: 1-2 experiments completed; lntermediate : 2-4; Mature: >4). From 1998-99, a demographic shift occurred with respect to maturity in the CIALs (Fig. 2). In 1998 the majority of CIALs were in the novice stage and only 14% were mature. By 1999 the majority of CIALs were in the intermediate stage, having completed 3-4 experiments, and 74 (30%) of the 244 CIALs in existence had reached the mature stage. Self-management capacity: (self-management index). The CIAL M&E process includes exploration of the development of self-management capacity (Fig. 3). The dimensions considered include: administration and status of the CIAL fund , ability to seek externa! support directly, ability to manage the CIAL process independently; member attendance record, group cohesiveness and capacity for interna! conflict resolution. The 1998 data for Cauca CIALs (n=53) reinforces the conclusion that maturity requires a process involving the implementation of 5 or more experiments. Good performance in most of the self-management dimensions required the experience of managing at least 5 experiments for the majority of Cauca CIALs. In this particular regional group, the most difficult challenge was related to replenishment of the CIAL fund . The fund consists of a small amount of money ($50-120 depending on research theme) that is provided to the CIAL as seed money. The CIAL is responsible for assuring that the fund is not decapitalized by reinvesting earnings from the sale of the harvest from the experiments. lf the cost of the experiment cannot be recovered directly, the CIAL and the community are jointly responsible for finding other mechanisms to prevent decapitalization of the fund. Diversity of CIAL research themes. In both 1998 and 1999 experimentation with germplasm involving evaluation of varieties or new crops was the most frequent research theme chosen by the CIAL communities (Fig 4) . Other main research themes were crop, pest and disease management, soil and water management, and small livestock. During 1999 there was an explosion in the diversity of experimentation with germplasm. In 1999 the number of CIALs experimenting with fruits (blackberries, lulo or naranjil/o 8 and papaya) jumped from 13 to 20 (Table 1). Another 10 CIALs initiated experiments with vegetables (bread common beans, bell pepper), small grains (rice, wheat, oats), coffee and flowers. Experimentation with varieties of common beans, maize and plantain remained the same or increased slightly; that with cassava and potatoes declined by 41 %."}]},{"head":"OALStage","index":33,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":5,"text":"8 Solanum quitoensís. -'-...::.::: en"},{"index":2,"size":1,"text":"<.9"},{"index":3,"size":162,"text":"No. of microenterprises created by CIALs. A total of 11 % of the CIALs have created small businesses based on the products of their research (Table 2): 14 in Colombia, 10 in Honduras, 2 in Ecuador and 1 in Bolivia. The majority are seed enterprises (common beans, maize, potatoes, blackberries, snap beans). Six CIALs in Honduras have established community shops to reduce the cost of acquiring basic products and to increase opportunities for commercializing local products. The San Isidro women's CIAL in Cauca originally formed because of women's concerns about child nutrition in the community. After experimentíng with soybean varieties and solving problems like the difficulty of shelling them so that they could be processed, the women initiated experimentation with several different soy products. No. of community service activities performed by CIALs. IPCA (Participatory Research for Central America) is an NGO that has formed 28 of the 56 CIALs in Honduras. IPCA reports 3 community development projects conducted by CIALs during 1999."},{"index":4,"size":82,"text":"Project 1. Twenty CIALs in the Yorito area have set up interna! rotating savings and credit systems to increase savings capacity and provide a source of credit that does not require extensive paperwork or collateral. Each CIAL has established rules and regulations for operating the rotating fund. The CIAL treasurer maintains records of the savings and loans made by each participant. Additionally each CIAL organizes fundgenerating activities. Proceeds are divided and deposited in the accounts of the participants according to prior agreement."},{"index":5,"size":108,"text":"Project 2: In arder to diversify the activities of each CIAL and provide a means of replenishing and incrementing the CIAL fund, 17 CIALs developed and submitted a project to ASOCIAL, the second-order organization formed by the IPCA CIALs in Honduras. The projects revolve around commercially oriented production of maize, beans, pig or chickens. Each CIAL could request up to LP$2500 (US$). Upon sale of the produce raised via the project, the CIAL agreed to return 50% of their loan to ASOCIAL and to deposít the remainder in their CIAL fund . A spin-off benefit is the building of local capacity in the formulation and presentation of projects."},{"index":6,"size":88,"text":"Project 3: Seven CIALs in Honduras have established community shops with the objective of reducíng the cost of purchasing basic products-thereby increasing opportunity for commercialization of local products and reducing the time and money spent on travel to commercial centers. The CIALs involved are those that have been the most successful in managing their CIAL fund and in envisioning their evolution towards a commercial enterprise. These CIALS have held consultative meetings with representatives from COMAL, a Honduran network that provides advice and other support services to small enterpríses."},{"index":7,"size":34,"text":"~ In Colombia CORFOCIAL, the second-order organization of CIALs in Cauca State, reports six community service projects as of 1999. ~ Ten CIALs have been promoting the planting of live barriers in their communities."},{"index":8,"size":118,"text":"One has established a germplasm and multiplication bank for tour live barrier species. ~ Eight CIALs have organized community participation in Agricultura! Expos. The San Isidro Women's CIAL won a trophy for these efforts. ro~--------------------------------------_, so 10 In addition to stimulating local technological innovation and enabling farming communities to leverage externa! resources, CIALs increase local experimentation with varieties and new species. The CIAL farmer-researchers are trying new varieties and crops as a way of spreading risk while raising their incomes. At the same time their experiments augment agricultura! biodiversity and contribute to local development and enhanced utilization of genetic resources. Other farmers often mimic the small plots with controls, treatments and replications, which they observe in CIAL experiments."},{"index":9,"size":156,"text":"In 1990 the Pescador CIAL (Cauca, Colombia) included seeds of the variety, Caucayá, in an experiment comparing local and improved varieties of beans. Seeds of Caucayá were not available commercially and were not distributed to any other CIAL or to individual farmers. By 1998, 87% of Pescador farmers had experimented with Caucayá and 79% continued planting it as a result (Fig. 7). Levels of experimentation and adoption of Caucayá were studied in the 8 communities from Patiño's original study. These communities are all within a three-hour traveling radius (by automobile) from Pescador. In communities that had formed CIALs, just under 50% of farmers had tried Caucayá by 1998 and just over 40% of those who tried the variety continued planting it. Penetration of Caucayá occurred to a significant extent even in the 4 communities without CIALs. In non-CIAL communities 38% of farmers had tried Caucayá by 1999, and 20% of those who tried it, adopted it. "}]},{"head":"Scaling up","index":34,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":43,"text":"Countries hosting CIALs. Colombia and Honduras have 65% of the CIALs between them (Fig. 8). CIALs were initiated there in 1990 and 1996, respectively. In Ecuador, El Salvador Bolivia and Nicaragua the first CIALs were also established in 1996; and in Venezuela, 1997."},{"index":2,"size":47,"text":"During 1999 SN-3 received inquiries from organizations in Panama, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia and southern Brazil about the possibility of initiating training in the CIAL approach. A CIAL course was held in Mexico in October, and funds are being sought for training by IAPAR in Southern Brazil."},{"index":3,"size":3,"text":"\\ tf •srazil8%"},{"index":4,"size":3,"text":"• Bolivia 7%"},{"index":5,"size":6,"text":"• Colombia 42% D Ecuador 11%"},{"index":6,"size":3,"text":"• Honduras 23%"},{"index":7,"size":3,"text":"O Nicaragua 3%"},{"index":8,"size":4,"text":"• El Salvador 4%"},{"index":9,"size":30,"text":"• Venezuela 2% Total number of CIALs. This year saw an increase in the number of CIALs from 236 to 244 in Colombia, Honduras, Ecuador, Venezuela and Nicaragua (Fig. 9). "}]},{"head":"Number and diversity of institutions facilitating CIALs.","index":35,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":166,"text":"There are 21 NGOs, 16 governmental organizations (GOs) and 2 universities are facilitating CIALs (Table 3). CIA T's Hillside Program is facilitating tour CIALs in Nicaragua. The greatest diversity of facilitating organizations is found in Ecuador, where a number of NGOs have been trained by the international NGO, IIRR. Colombia and Honduras also have high organizational diversity with GOs predominating in Colombia and NGOs in Honduras.  Overall, NGOs have facilitated the greatest proportion of CIALs, with 49% compared to 41% for GOs (Fig. 1 0). Mixed partnerships involving 2 different types of organizations have facilitated 5% of the CIALs. University involvement has been much weaker that that of other organizations . Estimated number of people benefited. Four is the mínimum number of members for forming a CIAL, but many CIALs have more than four members. In Honduras, for example, CIALs range in size from 5-25 members, and the average CIAL is staffed by 10 members. This pattern is becoming increasingly common in other countries as well."},{"index":2,"size":62,"text":"Newly formed CIALs benefit their members directly through the training they receive on information-gathering, planning, execution, evaluation, analysis and record-keeping related to the research process. A series of CIAL handbooks (13) were specifically designed to support this process. An average of 1 O households are estimated to benefit directly from the participation of one of their members in a newly formed CIAL."},{"index":3,"size":90,"text":"By the time CIALs have reached the intermediate stage of development, 83% (Cauca CIALs) have held at least one meeting to report their progress and results to the community which typically consists of 50-100 families. This is the first in a series of benefits that go beyond the CIAL members themselves. Many CIALs perform community service or community development roles . For example, 20 of the 28 CIALs formed by IPCA in Honduras have organized rotating savings/credit funds, and 7 have set up cooperative shops where basic products are sold."},{"index":4,"size":75,"text":"Mature CIALs have typically made recommendations to their communities based on the results of their research , and 80% report majar changes occurring in theír communities as a result of the CIAL process. Many have particípated in local and regional forums such as the CIAL \"Encounter\" organized by ASOCIAL (Honduras) and CORFOCIAL (Colombia) A quarter of the CIALs that have reached the mature stage have created a small enterprises that reach beyond the CIAL community."},{"index":5,"size":301,"text":"As a first step in estimating the number of people benefitted from the establishment of a CIAL as acommunity-managed research service, a scenario approach was taken. The driving torces for the scenario approach were based on inputs from experienced CIAL facilitators who participated in the 1999 course for trainer-facílitators (see Output 3). CORPOICA identified the importance of consolidating the CIAL maturation process by providing monitoring and evaluation input at each step of the research process. Their observations support the learning curve concept identified by SN-3 for the Cauca CIALs. The rate of maturation of the CIALs was therefore considered as a driving force in constructing scenarios around the issue of benefits. The second driving force was identified by the IDRC-funded IPCA Project in Honduras. The increase in CIAL membership in Honduras and elsewhere has been driven by the need to ensure that a small group does not privatize the benefits. A second driving force for the benefit scenario was therefore considered to be the capacity of CIALs to extend benefits within and outside the community. The rate of development from the novice to the intermediate to the mature CIAL stage was projected from the CIAL database and 2 scenarios were constructed by assuming conservative and more expansive capacíty to extend benefits. In the conservative scenario it was assumed that new, intermediate and mature CIALs benefit 10, 50 and 200 families respectively. In the more liberal scenario new, intermediate and mature CIALs were assumed to benefit 10, 100 and 400 families respectively. The results for 1998 and 1999 are shown in Table 4 the full projection of the two scenarios starting with the first 5 CIALs forrned in 1990 is shown in Figure 11 . The projections estímate that the current number of beneficiaries is between 22,000 and 41 ,000 families ."},{"index":6,"size":69,"text":"The benefit of this scenario approach is that it suggests concrete, testable hypothesis for measuring the impact of the CIAL approach.   No. of CIAL facilitators and trainers trained. As of October this year, 313 people were trained by CIAT as CIAL facilitators and 18 as CIAL trainers (Table 5) . In addition, CORPOICA (Colombia) has trained 33 facilitators, IIRR (Ecuador) has trained 64 and EAP-Zamorano (Honduras) has trained 18. "}]},{"head":"Requests for publications and training materials","index":36,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":3,"text":"See Table 6. "}]},{"head":"Participatory research projects initiated by institutions working with the CIAL approach.","index":37,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":19,"text":"The following institutions have initiated participatory research projects working with the CIAL approach. For greater detail, see Output 3."}]},{"head":"Equity","index":38,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":89,"text":"Equity is a concern in the process of disseminating and scaling up participatory research approaches. In this case the question is whether the CIALs are reaching poor groups and women. Benchmark data (1999) on CIALs by gender for all CIALs and for Colombia and Honduras, where 65% of the CIALs are located, are presented (Figs. 12 & 13) as a baseline for tracking women's participation in CIALs. Currently most of the women's participation occurs through membership in mixed CIALs although 17% of the Committees are composed solely of women."},{"index":2,"size":4,"text":"•Men 57% oWomen 17%"},{"index":3,"size":173,"text":"•Mixed 36% To examine whether the benefits of the CIAL process are reaching poor groups, respondents from the 8 communities included in the 1998 CIAL impact study in Cauca (Colombia) were classified into poverty classes based on local indicators of well-being. The composition of the poverty classes is given in Table 7 and shown graphically in Figure 14. In the 4 communities with CIALs, 45, 40 and 17% of the respondents were of the poorest, intermediate and nonpoor groups (Table 8), respectively. The proportion of respondents in the poorest group in the 4 CIAL communities is the same as that in the overall sample of 8 communities. This classification will facilitate analysis of respondents' opinions about the CIALs according to their poverty level and will permit testing of hypotheses about whether the benefits of the CIAL research process are reaching the poorer segments of the community. These preliminary results show that the 4 communities with CIALs are composed mainly of poor and intermediate-level people. Table 9 gives the costs associated with backstopping CIALs.       "}]},{"head":"2-3 2","index":39,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":2,"text":"Facilitator costs"},{"index":2,"size":4,"text":"• Salary (first year)"},{"index":3,"size":2,"text":"$1000 $450"},{"index":4,"size":187,"text":"• IPCA supports more than 50% of the CIALs, sorne of which were \"adopted\" in the absence of consistent support from other entities. The formal nature of the methodology, involving the application of carefully controlled comparisons through splitplot trials and replicates, requires a significant amount of agronomic support at the outset, which is costly. In Colombia, for example, the NARS (CORPOICA) estimates that tour or more experiment cycles are necessary to permit more than 60% of CIAL members to grasp the methodology fully. This cost of $830-$1250 11 . In Honduras the set-up period is likely to be particularly long because illiteracy in the countryside is much higher than in Colombia (Table10). According to the 1988 Honduran census, 42.4% of the rural population is illiterate and therefore likely to take longer than this to fully understand the CIAL methodology. Thus unless organizations supporting the CIALs are reasonably well financed and dedicated to research , the CIAL method is unlikely to find easy acceptance. Of the 12 organizations trained by SN-3 in Honduras, only three can be said to be practicing it seriously with 6 or more CIALs."},{"index":5,"size":199,"text":"Baseline data collected in CIAL communities suggest that CIAL members come disproportionately from the two upper welfare categories, while the lowest ranking group is under-represented. The sample consisted of 113 individuals drawn from 11 communities spread across the three regions 12 , 55 individuals, or just under half the respondents , were CIAL members (members of the executive or members at large).  Analysis of land ownership showed that only 7% of the members were landless (vs 19% in the nonmember group), 47% had 3.2 ha or less (vs 34% for nonmembers). The landless and \"extremely peor\" were under-represented in the CIALs, while the \"medium peor''(~ 3.2 ha) were somewhat over-represented. These land-ownership categories are correlated with diet, another important component of welfare ranking. Of those who have >3.2 ha consume meaUdairy products once a week or more, while only 9% of the landless do, and 28% of those with ~3 . 2 ha (IPCA baseline data). These results are not surprising given that the landless must work on a regular basis as wage labor and do not have the time to become involved in voluntary research activities; nor do they likely have the political standing to get themselves elected."},{"index":6,"size":78,"text":"A key characteristic of Committee members (N=41) is that they are joiners: 85% have been involved in past projects; 81% have served their communities as leaders. In contrast nonmembers are less involved in projects: only 35% have previously been in projects and 40% have held community leadership roles. Among CIAL noncommittee members (N=14), 50% have experience in past projects but only 21 % have served in a community leadership capacity. Literacy rates are key in explaining these differences."},{"index":7,"size":72,"text":"In our sample, 60% of heads of household were literate (similar to rural average). Among the Committee members, however, 81 % are literate vs 52% among nonmembers, and 42% among noncommittee members. Literacy is key to being elected onto a committee or assuming a localleadership role although it has not prevented a group of indivíduals, with below average literacy, from becoming involved in the work of the CIAL in a nonexecutive capacity."},{"index":8,"size":15,"text":"Gender. Most of the women's CIALs were formed after the baseline data were collected ."},{"index":9,"size":195,"text":"In rural Honduras, as in other poor Central American countries, gender relations are strongly affected by machismo, characterized by excessive male jealousy andan overly sensitive ego. They are also affected by the very different daily activities performed by men and women in largely different physical spaces. The women's domain is in the heme and patio garden; men take primary responsibility for the cultivation of basic grains, generally conducted a good distance from the house. For many Honduran women , movement outside their homes is severely restricted by their husbands' sense of their rightful place and fear of unwanted attention from other men. Women who have joined the CIALs or were previously members of other projects, have often had to endure long struggles with their husbands over their right to associate. They also have to combat community disapproval around the appropriate female role. Women who join CIALs are criticized as having weak husbands whose virility is questionable. Most women CIAL members are active in the Church and have been able to branch out into taking on community projects. Women involved in organizations all report much higher levels of personal freedom than other women in the community."},{"index":10,"size":95,"text":"Broadening the CIAL process. Baseline data, collected through in-depth interviews in 11 communities within the first three years of the project, led IPCA staff to adopt a new tactic in forming CIALs. Those outside the CIAL tended to feel that members were receiving special help; and as the data showed that CIAL members, particularly those on the Committee, are among the more privileged members of the communities, it was necessary to address this perceived inequality in the membership. Thus IPCA sought to increase the number of people present at the initial motivation and election meetings."},{"index":11,"size":69,"text":"The number of women's CIALs that have developed in the Yorito area, where most of the CIALs were formed after 1997, is likely a consequence of this change of orientation as women have been personally invited to the meetings with the knowledge that they may form CIALs, independent of men. Average membership in the newer CIALs is 12; and in 6 communities there are both men's and women's teams."},{"index":12,"size":137,"text":"Opening up the CIAL process is likely to increase the amount of time involved in acquainting people with the methodology. Non-commitee members are more likely to be illiterate, which will, of course, increase the costs of establishing a CIAL. On the other hand, a larger CIAL provides continuity when people leave for one reason or another. Another effect of the more open CIAL process is that more people are likely to be aware of their work. Beca use the newer CIALs are achieving a higher profile in their zone, surrounding communities have begun to request CIALs. This indicates a certain level of social capital or capacity for collective action present in the community. This capacity is critica! to the functioning of a successful CIAL. This means that projects need good data characterizing communities befare they begin ."},{"index":13,"size":94,"text":"Successful experiments help make the transition to more sustainable farming more likely. CIAL farmers consistently reported using smaller amounts of seed and employing closer spacing on their own plots. Not all had switched to contour planting beca use of the extra labor time involved in sowing across the slope or because their land was too rocky to make this feasible. This is an area where more assisted learning is required; farmers need to be sensitized to the problem of soil loss. Other areas of learning acquired through the CIAL process include the following :"},{"index":14,"size":157,"text":"~ stopped burning ~ planting more on less land ~ producing more with less work ~ use of organic manure (chicken manure, cane bagasse, liquid cattle manure, coffee pulp, Gliricidia leaves) ~ zero and mínimum (in-row) tillage ~ use of legumes (Mucuna, Canavalia, pigeon pea, Erythrina) ~ recognizing different soils ~ live and dead barriers ~ covering soil and incorporating weeds into soil to slow erosion and increase fertility ~ working with herbicidas and a machete instead of burning and using a hoe ~ selecting seed ~ improving traditional cultivars through plant and seed selection practices ~ use of chemical and natural (neem, Gliricidia) insecticidas These different components of the assisted leaming process demonstrate how the CIAL is functioning as a small-scale learning or field school. These components are the building blocks of more sustainable land use and offer a partial solution to the \"fallow crisis.\" The CIAL approach makes farmer adoption of these components more likely."},{"index":15,"size":170,"text":"Building research capacity and social capital through the CIAL. Based on the findings it appears that the CIALs function successfully as research committees when they are closely tied to longer term social programs. While farmers are fairly easily motivated by research that has short-term payoffs (e.g., varietal research that leads to the rapid selection of new materials that outperform local cultivars), farmer enthusiasm tends to wane over repeated trials unless there is a longer term goal of building group resources for agreed-upon purposes. Where experiments are long term, such as those involving soil improvement and conservation, agreed-upon social goals and the social organization needed to attain these should be in place from the outset. Good leadership, clear ru les and regulations regarding members obligations to the group, etc. are a sine qua non of farmer ability to undertake longer term experiments. The effectiveness of the CIALs at building social capital in rural communities was evident from survey responses. Along with the agricultura! skills and practices listed earlier, people also reported:"},{"index":16,"size":164,"text":"~ learning how to manage funds and make savings plans ~ using the CIAL step process to diagnose and analyze social problems in the home and in the community ~ learning how to plan time (mentioned by women's groups who reported that normally their time was not their own) ~ women reported that men had learned to be more respectful of their work and to lend them a hand ~ women reported earning greater freedom for their activities outside the home ~ learning public-speaking skills ~ leaming not to be intimidated by outsiders such as agronomists and other professionals Agricultura! research is but one element of a broader process of social change leading to empowerment, which the CIALs are helping to stimulate in the communities. Organizational and leadership skills required for conducting the weekly or monthly meetings held in many of the CIALs are also critica! elements that also serve to involve members in a number of social and economic activities beyond research. 13"},{"index":17,"size":132,"text":"Federating the CIALs. In 1998 a decision was taken by the various organizations supporting the CIALs to form a federation across the country. IPCA has led this process, which has resulted in ASOCIAL (Asociación de CIALs). CIAT donated US$25,000 to be invested in perpetuity for the CIALs. The ASOCIAL models itself after the Colombian CORFOCIAL. While current funding does not permit the federation to underpin CIAL operations in Honduras, a start has been made. In Yorito and Lake Yojoa, where most of the IPCA-supported CIALs are located, regional chapters were set up at the start of 1999. CIAL Committee members attended the inaugural meetings and selected a regional executive committee. In Y arito this is a subcommittee of the locally organized watershed committee, thereby providing a strong community presence at that level."},{"index":18,"size":41,"text":"Each local chapter will be responsible for selecting participants to present their findings at the annual national gathering of CIAL groups. When the number of CIALs in Honduras was smaller, each group reported the results of their research at this meeting."},{"index":19,"size":28,"text":"Given the current number of CIALs and the potential for future growth, presenters will be selected by ASOCIAL on the basis of diversity of research theme and findings."},{"index":20,"size":53,"text":"Given the popularity of this event, selectivity m ay help encourage communities to elect tapies other than varietal selection of maize and beans. The diversity of presentations should also stimulate interest in new research areas and in the idea of sharing research results instead of necessarily replicating the same experiments in adjacent communities."},{"index":21,"size":272,"text":"In the Y arito area, Hurricane Mitch donations from the Unitarian Service Committee of Ganada were used as credit to fund productive projects elected by each CIAL. The monies loaned on credit will be returned to separate CIAL and ASOCIAL funds; profits will be kept by each CIAL. The goal is to build up capital at the community and regional levels. CIAL capital maintained in the petty cash fund is being used to finance the purchase of goods in bulk, which are then being resold locally in small quantities at a profit. Members may also use the CIAL Fund for savings and loans purposes. In this case, the amount of loan money available to members will depend upon their previous investment in the Fund. The rate of interest on savings will be set by the rate established on loans. When sufficient funds have been accumulated in the local CIAL, they may transfer a portian of their funds to the ASOCIAL federation fund. ASOCIAL savings will be used to finance productive projects undertaken by each CIAL as is currently being done with Mitch monies. As with the village stores in the communities of California and Paraíso, these CIAL and ASOCIAL funds are visualized as a means of building up local and regional capital to enable the members to undertake community development projects that the members themselves are helping to fund. This is being tried on an experimental basis to see whether it is generally viable within the CIALs. This may well preve to be a powerful cohesive ingredient permitting the CIALs to undertake longer term research while ensuring their sustainability as research institutions."}]},{"head":"Agronomic and farmer participatory evaluation of live barriers of Axonopus scoparius and Saccharum officinarum","index":40,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":130,"text":"This undergraduate research project is being conducted in the area covered by the interinstitutional consortium CIPASLA in the township of Caldono, Cauca, Colombia. 14 Given the importance of soil degradation in hillside areas where smallholders strive to subsist, a number of organizations are introducing a participatory planning approach to the integrated management of hillside agriculture. One of the areas where considerable work is being done is the introduction of live barriers in the farmers' traditional crops such as cassava, common beans, coffee and blackberries. Th is thesis research is evaluating the performance of two forage species: imperial grass (Axonopus scoparius) and noble cane (Saccharum officinarum). They were selected because they are found on many farms in the region (Fig. 14) and are also established on CIAT's lnter-Program demonstration farm ."}]},{"head":"Specific objectives","index":41,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":46,"text":"~ Oetect farmers' perceptions and identify their criteria for evaluating live barriers ~ Determine reasons why farmers decided to include (or not) live barriers in their farming system ~ Evaluate quantitative production of barriers, ta ki ng into account nutrient content, digestibility and dry matter content"},{"index":2,"size":51,"text":"Reasons for establishing barriers. Survey results showed that farmers used live barriers to control erosion, feed animals, meet credit requ irements, manage rainwater runoff, retain and increase effect of fertilizers applied to associated crops, and take advantage of organic matter generated when live barriers are cut and incorporated in the soil."},{"index":3,"size":62,"text":"Negative aspects of barriers. Sorne farmers discontinued live barriers for the following reasons : aggressiveness of sorne species (compete with crops and difficult to manage, see Fig. 15) , poor adaptation of sorne species, others not consumed by animals. lt is also interesting to note that those farmers who had adopted live barriers in arder to obtain credit, abandoned them afterwards.   Purpose:"},{"index":4,"size":27,"text":"To enable IPM programs and projects to incorporate participatory learning and research strategies in their approach and design and to strengthen linkages with IPM implementation by farmers."},{"index":5,"size":1,"text":"Outputs:"},{"index":6,"size":32,"text":"1. Effective model for fa cilitating learning exchanges among IPM projects 2. Collaborating systems/institutions given an in-depth, firsthand view of IPM projects where participatory learning and research are central strategies Project strategy:"},{"index":7,"size":62,"text":"3. IPM professionals from collaborating systems/institutions enabled to apply a variety of participatory methods, tools and approaches in order to involve farmers as decision-making partners in their activities 4. Analysis and synthesis published of the main concepts, principies and best practices currently applied in IPM experiences based on participatory learning and research worldwide 5. Horizontal and vertical linkages established among participating projects"},{"index":8,"size":110,"text":"Many IPM professionals are convinced that increasing the impact of IPM depends on greatly enhancing the participation of farmers as partners in research and leaming. Despite this favorable attitude towards participatory processes, they may not know how to initiate and sustain them. This project will address this need by providing frontline IPM professionals with opportunities to visit and learn firsthand from projects where participatory learning and research have contributed to improved agroecosystem management by farmers and more client-oriented responses by R&D systems. This is envisioned as taking place in two stages. The initial pilot phase is the subject of this proposal. The replication phase would have the following additional outputs:"},{"index":9,"size":131,"text":"1. Concepts and principies of participatory learning and research translated into practice so that IPM professionals can: 2. Evaluate the costs and benefits of participatory approaches for themselves 3. ldentify ways of making their work agendas more responsive to farmer priorities 4. identify ways to strengthen links between farmer and conventional research 5. A dynamic online database and resource materials established containing documents, video data, publications and narrated participatory IPM experiences 6. A resource guide for IPM research and training programs focused on developing and maintaining linkages between farmer leaming groups and researchers 7. An increased number of participatory IPM projects 8. A platform established for convincing colleagues, donors, decisionmakers, extension agents and farmers that a participatory IPM approach can result in implementing IPM more quickly and effectively than nonparticipatory approaches."},{"index":10,"size":45,"text":"Outputs of FPR-IPM listserver moderator/assistant coordinator ~ Brochure on FPR-IPM project, developed ~ Different interest groups within listserver and task force for support on developing proposal and for assistance in identifying potential project partners, lobbied Basically the program will be divided into three research themes:"},{"index":11,"size":101,"text":"~ Conflicts, institutions and collective action ~ Delimiting and understanding the landscape ~ Technologies for landscape-level NRM A doctoral student from Denmark will contribute directly to the program on issues related to the first research theme \"conflict, collective action and institutions.\" Given that the focus is on collaborative interaction among the different actors, it is expected that there will be a two-way flow of information to the benefit of all concerned. The general objective of the doctoral dissertation and related research will be to contribute to the understanding of long-term NRM to the benefit of rural communities. The specific objectives include:"},{"index":12,"size":86,"text":"~ Analysis in retrospect of collective NRM, focusing on landscape perspectives and NRM institutions ~ Comparative analysis of landscape perspectives and NRM institutions in four watersheds of the municipality of San Dionisia, Nicaragua with emphasis on stakeholder-group differences participatory approaches to working with farmers. CIAT project leaders [SN-3 and PE-2 (Soils)] were invited to participate in the creation of a common vision of the problem and provide input 15 into the concept note developed by David Gibbon, 16 extracts of which are presented he re ."},{"index":13,"size":16,"text":"Five key components are crucial for the success of this type of initiative (see Fig. 2):"},{"index":14,"size":76,"text":"Natural resources orientation . An agroecological systems approach to understanding farm and village level contexts and a broader systems conceptual framework Farmer participatorv focus . Mutualleaming, opportunities, exercises and action, essential ingredient of research, extension and development programs on NRM. lt is accepted that farmers should be active participants in multidisciplinary teams at all stages of planning, monitoring, reviewing and replanning of activities and that farmer knowledge is an important input into the process of learning."},{"index":15,"size":55,"text":"Multi-stakeholder participation. lnvolvement of concerned stakeholders and institutions in the analysis of problems and in the development of options and alternative solutions. This may involve all key actors from farmers and farmers organizations, NGOs, NARS, regional and intemational development organizations. There are now well-developed methods of resolving conflict and interests through forms of stakeholder analysis."},{"index":16,"size":94,"text":"Multidisciplinarv and multi-perspective scientific approach . Combination of reductionist scientific methods with adaptive action research, hard and soft systems approaches within an iterative co-learning process. lntegrated institutional and policy perspective. An international and national policy framework that is supportive of the approach and that seeks to reduce or reverse the impact of older policies that are particularly antagonistic to poorer farmers. lt is important that the IPM/ISFM approach be placed in an appropriate institutional\"home,\" both to enable effective facilitation of the approach and to ensure effective dissemination of the principies and lessons from experience."},{"index":17,"size":50,"text":"lt was recommended that the World Bank seek opportunities to encourage the incorporation of these principies in existing pilot projects. A joint WB/Giobal IPM/ISFM Web site will be set up to facilitate dissemination of information and papers presented at the meeting. Centro de Investigación Agrícola Tropical (CIA T)-Santa Cruz, Bolivia."},{"index":18,"size":161,"text":"From 15-17 September a visit was made as part of a first phase of a consultancy contracted by FORCIAT (lnstitutional Strengthening Project, U. of Wolverhampton) to carry out an initial diagnosis of CIAT-Bolivia's actual PR capacity and potential demand, interinstitutional linkages, status of the existing CIAL, and strategies for enhancing the participatory generation and transfer of technology. This information will be used as input into a proposal for training. There is also the potential for developing a PR model at the level of the townships given that the government has established funds for agricultura! development but has not yet devised an efficient way to implement this scheme. There is great interest in the CIAL model, in small agroenterprises linked to production and commercialization, methodologies for M&E, impact studies and systematizing qualitative results. The report will be presented in mid-October for discussion by both parties, followed by the design of a joint project that CIAT -Bolivia would use to search for funds."}]},{"head":"Other services","index":42,"paragraphs":[{"index":1,"size":41,"text":"Support for the project \"Seeds of Hope\" for Honduras and Nicaragua• 17 Hurricane Mitch is considered the worst natural disaster in Central America in this century. Damage to infrastructure carne to about 70%, equivalent to a 50-year delay in their development."},{"index":2,"size":79,"text":"Sean harvest losses ranged from 60-80%; maize, 40%maize. With respect to seed production, it is considered that most of the genetic materials were lost, especially in Honduras and Nicaragua. Low-resource farmers use seed from their own harvests. This means that they will not have common beans or maize-basic staples in their diet-either to eat or to plant in the first growing season. Another problem is the loss of their native varieties, many of which are only in their hands."},{"index":3,"size":70,"text":"CIAT, CIMMYT, CIP and IPGRI presented a proposal to several donors to contribute to the restoration of agricultura! production in an area apt for seed production. Each Center acquired responsibilities in their respective mandates. CIA T's commitment was with respect to the bean crop. The special Task Force requested the collaboration of SN-3, given its experience in the region, its institutional contacts and the CIAL structure at the community level."},{"index":4,"size":1,"text":"Objectives:"},{"index":5,"size":29,"text":"~ Obtain basic seed to multiply seeds in Honduras, Nicaragua and neighboring countries ~ Produce commercial-quality seed to meet farmers' needs for the 1999 planting seasons, beginning in ?  "}]}],"figures":[{"text":"! ) Capacity of the SN-3 team strengthened .Gains~ Users involved at early stages in decisions about technology development. .-Methods available for incorporating end-user preferences . .-Participatory methods applied on a routine basis in CIAT research . .-At least three universities in Latín America with capacity to teach PR methods. ~ At least 1000 trainees and 40 trainers able to apply these methods in the region . ~ Contribution of PR to technology adoption rates measured in targeted areas. ~ Lessons learned , methodologies and materials disseminated globally in conjunction with the Systemwide Program on Participatory Research and Gender Analysis (SP-PRGA) convened by CIAT and through the Farmer Participatory Research for IPM project of the Systemwide IPM Program (SP-IPM). "},{"text":"• Train staff from local, national & international organizations in use of decision-making tools for NRM (Colombia, Dom. Rep. & Honduras) • Train facilitators for communíty-level PDMs • Write propasa! for IPM study tour • Train survev interviewers , Honduras . "},{"text":"4.• Material and information on participatory 5. lmpact of SN-3 Project activities, 6. Interna! projects and other institutions o on \"lnvesting in farmer-• Define indicators for benchmarking • Contribute toWB concept on A researchers: Experiences in Latin progress towards scaling up and integrating IPM with integrated soil & e America institutonalization of CIAL approach fertility management approaches T • Translate into English and publish CIAL • Analyze 1999 CIAL benchmark data for • Carry out diagnosis of PR focus and 1 Handbooks 1-7 impact case study capacity in Technology Transfer V • Prepare for publication vol. 1 of materials • Conduct participatory evaluation of live Division , CIAT-Bolivia as input to 1 Develop presentation on PR and IPM • Distribute software for statistical "},{"text":" of the SN-3 tea m strengthened • Update and expand interna! database A • Hold planning workshop for SN-3 C • Provide training in team building with T emphasis on communications skills 1 • Create functional structure for horizontal V leadership (co-coordinators) 1 • Organize cross-Program seminar series T "},{"text":"Figure Figure 1. Preferences related to soil conservation management practices disaggregated by gender. "},{"text":"Figure 2 . Figure 2. Perception of opportunities for improving well-being level by men and women . "},{"text":"Figure 3 . Figure 3. Problems related to environmental pollution disaggregated by gender. "},{"text":"Figure 4 . Figure 4. Practices to prevent or reduce environmental pollution disaggregated by gender. "},{"text":"Figure Figure 6. Hierarchical structure of agricultura! and NRM problems common to Yoro and Lempira, Honduras. "},{"text":"Figure 7 . Figure 7. Preferences for traditional vs. improved maize varieties differentiated by well being leve l. "},{"text":"- Difficult cconomic, political and social -More facilitators need to be trained situation in sorne countries -Lack of knowledge of participatory -Lack of committed institutional support approaches at managerial/directorial lnstitutional rivalries level -Lack of continuity in the facilitators -Experiences not systematized and support to CIALs documented -Qualitative information from farmers' -Lack of coordination in the municipal research not systematized environment -Lack of ínter-and intra-institutional communication "},{"text":"~ Historical overview of the development of CIPASLA. ~ Organizational development of the Consortium and of the Association of Beneficiaries of the Cabuyal River Microwatershed, ASOBESURCA ~ Analysis of the results of CIPASLA with respect to: }> lnterinstitutional coordination }> Projects implemented }> Financia! resources obtained. }> Conservation, management and recovery of the natural resources of the Cabuyal River microwatershed }> Community participation in the implementation of projects and resulting benefits in terms of: > agricultura! production > conservation of the resources > quality of lite. > other specific indicators "},{"text":"~ Participatory Research and IPM: CIALs and Farmer Field Schools ~ Farmer Participatory Research Approaches for Technology Development and Natural Resource Management ~ Community Telecenters and Participatory Research ~ What is a CIAL? ~ Approaches to Participatory Research ~ Participatory Research in Latín America ~ Los CIAL en Breve ~ El Proyecto CIAT sobre Enfoques Participativos en la Investigación Project reports and proposals SUSTAINING CIALS: Extending Lessons Learned from Community-based Agricultura! Research Services in Latin America; Concept note, submitted to W .K. Kellogg Foundation, June 1999. Extrapolation of participatory diagnoses and evaluations of technology via GIS and Poverty Mapping. Final report to 108 on the Poverty Mapping Project, Sept 1999. Stake and stakeholders: Analysis of the benefits and beneficiarias of building capacity for collective NRM in hillside watersheds (SN-3, BP-1 ). Concept note submitted to CGIAR Systemwide program for collective action and property rights (CAPRi). Landscape management: Between consensus and conflict. Collaborative research proposal involving CIAT projects SN-3, PE-3, PE-4; lnstitute of Research Assessment-Output 5: lmpact of SN-3 Project activities documented Person Responsible: Ann Braun Researchers: Ann Braun, Elias Claros, Jorge Luis Cabrera, James Garcia, Maria del Pilar Guerrero, Luis Alfredo Hernandez, Carlos Arturo Quirós, José lgnácio Roa, Olaf Westermann Milestones in 1999 * lndicators for benchmarking progress towards scaling up and institutionalization of CIAL approach, defined * CIAL benchmark data processed and systematized * Case study by IPCA, a Honduran NGO, on their experiences with CIALs * Second-order associations created in three states of Honduras; national-level federation , forthcoming * Farmer participatory evaluation of live-barrier technology disseminated by CIPASLA, initiated. "},{"text":"~ Number of countries hosting CIALs ~ Total number of CIALs ~ Number and diversity of facilitating organizations ~ Estimated number of people benefited lnstitutionalization: lndicators include: ~ Number facilitators trained ~ Number of trainers trained ~ Number of requests for publications and training materials ~ Number of participatory research projects initiated by organizations forming CIALs Gender and poverty class equity. Equity is a concern in the process of disseminating and scaling up the CIAL approach to participatory research. Of particular concern is whether CIALs are reaching poor groups and women. lndicators include: ~ Participation of women in CIALs ~ Perceptions of poorer community members regarding local impact of CIALs "},{"text":"Figure 1 . Figure 1. The learning curve of 53 CIALs located in Cauca, Colombia. "},{"text":"Figure 2 . Figure 2. CIALs by maturlty level in 1998 (n = 236) and 1999 (n = 244). "},{"text":"Figure 3 . Figure 3. Capacity for self-management in Cauca CIALS (n=53, 1998). "},{"text":"Figure Figure 4. Main CIAL experimental themes in 1998 and 1999. "},{"text":"~ Three CIALs have provided training on the cultivation of soybeans and/or on the preparation of soy-based food products. ~ One CIAL has organized a rotating savings/credit fund. ~ Two CIALs have organized com munity drives to clean up a locallake. ~ Two CIALs have facilitated the formation of other CIALs • One CIAL has organized vaccination campaigns to protect village children from disease. ~ One CIAL has been offering their experiments as a learning lab where local school children can experience the research process firsthand ~ One CIAL has involved the community in protecting and conserving local water resources . "},{"text":"Figure 7 . Figure 7. Experimentation with and adoption of the Caucayá bean variety in the community where it was first tested by a CIAL (Pescador) and in 4 communities with and 4 without CIALs. "},{"text":"Figure 8 . Figure 8. CIALs by country. "},{"text":"Figure 9 . Figure 9. Growth of CIALS during the 1990s. "},{"text":" Figure 1 O. Percent CIALs by type of facilitating organization. "},{"text":"Figure 11 . Figure 11. Two scenarios for estimating the number of families benefitted by the CIAL process. Both assume the a rate of maturation from the novice to the mature stage extrapolated from the CIAL database. Scenario 1 (high impact) assumes that new, intermediate and mature CIALs benefit 1 O, 50 and 200 families respectively. Scenario 11 (low impact) assumes that new, intermediate and mature CIALs benefit 10, 100 and 400 families respectively. "},{"text":" lnstitutionalization "},{"text":" materials produced by institutions facilitating CIALs (see Output 3) . "},{"text":"FigureFigure 13 . Figure 12. CIALs by gender (n=244). "},{"text":"Figure 14 . Figure 14. Distribution of respondents from the Cauca CIAL impact study into poverty classes accordlng to local indicators of well being (Cluster 1 = poor; Clusters 2,3 = intermediate; Cluster 4 = not poor). "},{"text":"9 Summarized from unpublished report to IDRC by S. Humphries, Juan Gonzales, Josa Jimenez y Fredy Sierra.Searching for sustainable land use practices in Honduras: Lessons from a program of participatory research with hillside farrners. 10 These institutions and projects are the Escuela Agrícola Panamericana, Zamorano (EAP-UNIR), Fomento Evangélico para el Progreso de Honduras (FEPROH); Instituto Hondureño de Desarrollo Rural (IHDER); Investigación Participativa en Centroamérica (IPCA); Programa de Reconstrucción Rural (PRR); Programa de Desarrollo de Area (PDA), a program of World Vision in Honduras; Servicios Técnicos para el Desarrollo Sostenible ~~ERTEDESO). "},{"text":"Figure 14 . Figure 14. View of farm with live barriers in Cauca. "},{"text":"Figure 15 . Figure 15. Difficulties in managing live barriers in farmers' fields. "},{"text":"~ national NGOs and GOs ~ international organizations including NGOs and Global IPM Facility ~ key IPM contacts in Asia, Africa and Latín America ~ lnternet-based AltaVista Systrans ínterlanguage translation program among listserver members, publicized ~ brochure text translated into Spanish ~ listserver discussion issues/topics prepared with respect to ~ definitions, concepts ~ project objectives ~ criteria study tour participants and stops ~ pre-and post-tour components ~ Preparations made for SP-IPM meeting in Rome ~ FPR-IPM Web site updated Collaborative research lntegration of both biophysical and social/institutional aspects of landscape-level NRM as a new approach to the sustainable increase of poor farmers' agricultura! production in Nicaragua. The central research problems are the landscape-level interdependencies of the various elements and the recognition of landscape users' diverse interests in different natural resources and potential common benefits from managing them collectively at the landscape level. The program is based upon a comparative approach between sites in Nicaragua and Tanzania, drawing upon the partners' extensive research experiences in Central America (Honduras and Nicaragua, SN-3, PE-3 and PE-5) and Tanzania (lnstitute of Resource Assessment (Tanzania), Center for Development Research (Denmark), lnstitute of Geography at Roskilde University Center (Denmark) and University of Copenhagen. "},{"text":"* Administrative responsibilities and decision-making shared, with monthly rotation of co-coordinators * lnformation system, updated and expanded * 5 cross-Program seminars organized by team to interchange experiences and receive training in new approaches, methodologies and analytical tools * Interna! cross-training fostered via 5 sessions of \"Da re to Learn\" hypermedia education developed for the team by a team member A great deal of time and effort have been invested this year in strengthening the SN-3 team and enabling members to understand and participate in the different R&D activities being implemented. There have been several main thrusts: ~ updating the intemal information system and databases, ~ organizing interna! networking ~ training in team building and shared responsibilities (co-coordinators are rotated on a monthly basis); ~ cross-training through interna! seminars and hypermedia education to develop skills within SN-3 and among CIAT projects. lnformation systems lnventory completed Documentation of formal and grey litera tu re that should be consolidated and shared Data bases CIAL database designed in Microsoft Access. Contains information on CIALs in the following countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Venezuela. The information includes geographic data, gender, research tapies (e.g., treatments, varieties, type of crop, supporting organization, evaluation of trials for each treatment), The database permits consultations(queries), randomization of treatments for experimental designs and faciltates data input and with both internal and external information. "},{"text":"• Support SOH project, Honduras  • Support Coffee Growers Fed. in R&D activities for earthquake zone  "},{"text":"Outputs Measurable lndicators Means of Verification lmportant Assumptions  Develop and disseminate participatory methodological participatory methods, analytical tools and organizational principies • lmpact study • lnstitutional reports • Publications • lnstitutional economic stability • Financing for training Develop and disseminate participatory methodologicalparticipatory methods, analytical tools and organizational principies• lmpact study • lnstitutional reports • Publications• lnstitutional economic stability • Financing for training approaches , analytical tools, • No. entities in the LAC region • Proceedings activities and publication/ approaches , analytical tools,• No. entities in the LAC region• Proceedingsactivities and publication/ autochthonous knowledge and teaching participatory methods  dissemination of materials autochthonous knowledge andteaching participatory methodsdissemination of materials organizational principies that • No. meetings among stakeholder  • lnstitutions willing to organizational principies that• No. meetings among stakeholder• lnstitutions willing to strengthen the capacity of R&D groups  prepare and support strengthen the capacity of R&Dgroupsprepare and support institutions to respond to the • No. participatory projects  facilitators and to share institutions to respond to the• No. participatory projectsfacilitators and to share demands of stakeholder groups implementad by R&D institutions  information demands of stakeholder groupsimplementad by R&D institutionsinformation that contribute to improving   • End-users-above all, that contribute to improving• End-users-above all, levels of well-being and IMA   producers-willing to levels of well-being and IMAproducers-willing to    participate participate  --   --  "},{"text":" Evaluation by institutions. During 1999 this software was tested by the following institutions as a decision-support too/ for Participatory Plant Breeding (PPB): The systematization of the information for PPB and the capacity for interpretation of user preferences offered by this tool have facilitated its diffusion and acceptance by plant breeders. lt has also contributed to the greater acceptance of the PPB model in germplasm development by breeders with conventional profiles. Commodity Organizations CommodityOrganizations Potatoes 1 N IAP-Ecuador Potatoes1 N IAP-Ecuador  PROINPA-Bolivia PROINPA-Bolivia  INIA-PNICA and INIA-PNIMA-Peru INIA-PNICA and INIA-PNIMA-Peru Cassava CNPMF-Brazil CassavaCNPMF-Brazil  FIDAR-Colombia FIDAR-Colombia Common beans Dept. of Agronomy;EAP Zamorano-Honduras Common beansDept. of Agronomy;EAP Zamorano-Honduras Maize and common beans Undergraduate thesis project, EAP Zamorano- Maize and common beansUndergraduate thesis project, EAP Zamorano-  Honduras Honduras multiple commodities CORPOICA-Colombia multiple commoditiesCORPOICA-Colombia  FONAIAP -Venezuela FONAIAP -Venezuela lnstitutional impact.  lnstitutional impact.  "},{"text":"Table 1 . Logistic regression matrix applied to problems ranked vía participatory diagnoses in Y oro and Lempira , Honduras. • Prevent burning • Others • Prevent burning • Others Figure 5. Reasons given by men and women for not acting to prevent or reduce Figure 5. Reasons given by men and women for not acting to prevent or reduce effects of environmental pollution.  effects of environmental pollution. 100%  100% 80% • Not a priority O Lack authority 80%• Not a priority O Lack authority  t::J Lack time t::J Lack time 60% • Don't know what 60%• Don't know what  111 Lack money 111 Lack money 40% • Not within our power 40%• Not within our power  • Not organizad • Not organizad 20% O No cooperation 20%O No cooperation  • Don't know how • Don't know how 0%  0% Men W omen MenW omen  21 21  "},{"text":"Table 2 . The effect of well-being level on planting of beans. Weii-Being Level No. Households % Planting Beans Weii-Being LevelNo. Households% Planting Beans Low 152 42.1 Low15242.1 Medium 314 33.4 Medium31433.4 High 159 23.9 High15923.9  "},{"text":"Exploratory evaluation of CIALs researching agroecosystem health topics  Ttitle: Adjusting the CIAL approach for agroecosystem health research Ttitle:Adjusting the CIAL approach for agroecosystem health research Executing CIAT-Colombia, PROINPA Foundation-Bolivia ExecutingCIAT-Colombia, PROINPA Foundation-Bolivia agencies:  agencies: Partners: CIALs and NGOs, to be defined Partners:CIALs and NGOs, to be defined Possible Socioeconomic Methodology Program, DfiD (UK) PossibleSocioeconomic Methodology Program, DfiD (UK) donors:  donors: Project 3 years Project3 years duration:  duration: Rationale: CIALs are community-based research services staffed by farmer Rationale:CIALs are community-based research services staffed by farmer  volunteers. Over 250 have been established in 8 Latín American volunteers. Over 250 have been established in 8 Latín American  countries, and the number is expanding rapidly. Over 60% of existing countries, and the number is expanding rapidly. Over 60% of existing  CIAL communities have prioritized research on varieties. CIALs function CIAL communities have prioritized research on varieties. CIALs function lssues well for varietal evaluation and other relatively simple, \"closed\" agricultura! lssueswell for varietal evaluation and other relatively simple, \"closed\" agricultura! problems that can be managed at the plot scale. After varieties, crop Challenges of agroecosystem health (AH) research . After varieties, AH is the most health including IPM is the next most frequently prioritized research frequent research theme among CIALs. This broad area includes pest, disease, soil, (14%). Community-based investigation related to crop health water and crop management. Training in IPM is the support most frequently requested management requires an approach that reflects the complex, open nature by CIALs from their partner organizations. Despite the popularity of IPM and of the problems and their greater spatial scale. The CIAL approach has agroecosystem health as a research theme, anecdotal information about difficulties not been adjusted for crop health research , which is perhaps the most faced CIALs in confronting such research has come from various sources, particularly concrete and tangible of NRM problems. Crop health is a good starting from PROINPA-Bolivia and CORPOICA-Colombia. Most of the CIALs that have chosen point for extending the CIAL approach beyond varietal testing to an AH-related research theme are in Bolivia or Colombia, and the majority of these are community-based NRM research . Making this extension will require in potato-growing areas. Dependence on pesticide use in potato cultivation is notorious worldwide , presenting a tremendous challenge to IPM. The anecdotes have various addressing the following : problems that can be managed at the plot scale. After varieties, crop Challenges of agroecosystem health (AH) research . After varieties, AH is the most health including IPM is the next most frequently prioritized research frequent research theme among CIALs. This broad area includes pest, disease, soil, (14%). Community-based investigation related to crop health water and crop management. Training in IPM is the support most frequently requested management requires an approach that reflects the complex, open nature by CIALs from their partner organizations. Despite the popularity of IPM and of the problems and their greater spatial scale. The CIAL approach has agroecosystem health as a research theme, anecdotal information about difficulties not been adjusted for crop health research , which is perhaps the most faced CIALs in confronting such research has come from various sources, particularly concrete and tangible of NRM problems. Crop health is a good starting from PROINPA-Bolivia and CORPOICA-Colombia. Most of the CIALs that have chosen point for extending the CIAL approach beyond varietal testing to an AH-related research theme are in Bolivia or Colombia, and the majority of these are community-based NRM research . Making this extension will require in potato-growing areas. Dependence on pesticide use in potato cultivation is notorious worldwide , presenting a tremendous challenge to IPM. The anecdotes have various addressing the following : thrusts, the main ones being: thrusts, the main ones being: ~ AH/IPM research doesn't give tangible results as quickly as research on varieties; in ~ AH/IPM research doesn't give tangible results as quickly as research on varieties; in some cases this leads to CIALs becoming demoralized or losing community support. some cases this leads to CIALs becoming demoralized or losing community support. ~ The experimental designs recommended for CIALs (very small plots, single factor ~ The experimental designs recommended for CIALs (very small plots, single factor experiments) do not give meaningful results. experiments) do not give meaningful results. ~ The \"1\" in \"IPM\" is missing --CIALs are focusing on pesticide trials. ~ The \"1\" in \"IPM\" is missing --CIALs are focusing on pesticide trials. ~ The CIALS need training in AH/IPM before they can do meaningful experiments. ~ The CIALS need training in AH/IPM before they can do meaningful experiments. Participatorv diagnostic assessment (PDA). The issue of challenges faced by CIALs in Participatorv diagnostic assessment (PDA). The issue of challenges faced by CIALs in conducting AH research was addressed by conducting a PDA of the situation in Bolivia , conducting AH research was addressed by conducting a PDA of the situation in Bolivia , involving visits to 3 CIALs and a technology evaluation group, evaluating solutions to involving visits to 3 CIALs and a technology evaluation group, evaluating solutions to nematode problems in pota toes. The output of the PDA was the following concept note, nematode problems in pota toes. The output of the PDA was the following concept note, which has been submitted to DFID for consideration: which has been submitted to DFID for consideration:  "},{"text":" Ann Braun, Jorge Luis Cabrera, Eduardo Figueroa, Maria del Pilar Guerrero, Carlos Arturo Quirós, José lgnácio Roa, Nathan Russell, Olaf Westermann Milestones for 1999 * Strategies for accomplishing concerted collective action in NRM on a watershed scale, identified Milestones for 1999 * Strategies for accomplishing concerted collective action in NRM on a watershed scale, identified  "},{"text":"Frequency of CIAL failures by length of time they were active before folding, Cauca, Colombia, 1990-99. From 1991-96, 29  ClALs in Cauca (Colombia) became inactive and/or ended. As part of the M&E process, a survey instrument was designed to explore possible explanations underlying CIAL deactivation such as the following: conditions of insecurity that do not permit facilitators to travel in the region. ~ adverse climatic conditions (e.g., the Niño phenomenon in 1994 and 1997) ~ overcommitment of CIAL members due to excessive institutional presence ~ conflicts among families in the community that affect the continuity of participation of CIAL members ~ failure of supporting organizations to respect the essential principies underpinning the CIAL approach Survey. The instrument was applied in the 29 Cauca communities where CIALs became inactive and/or ended. At least one ex-CIAL member and the facilitator of each of these CIALs were interviewed. Questions were oriented towards the following issues:  10 10  8 8 >. u e: Cl) 6 >. u e: Cl)6 :S cr 4 Cl) ... LL :S cr 4 Cl) ... LL  2 2  o o ~ lack of continuity as a result of changes in policies that leave institutions without < 1 1 2 3 4 5 ~ lack of continuity as a result of changes in policies that leave institutions without < 1 1 2 3 4 5 financia! support for facilitating CIALs No. years financia! support for facilitating CIALs No. years ~ job instability of professionals working with CIALs ~ job instability of professionals working with CIALs ~ institutional paternalism, where material benefits are exchanged for passive ~ institutional paternalism, where material benefits are exchanged for passive participation in on-farm research participation in on-farm research  ..35 ..35  "},{"text":"Table 1 . lnactive CIALs in Cauca, Colombia    Yr Facilitating Reason for Becoming Date YrFacilitatingReason for BecomingDate CIAL Community Began Organization lnactive Ended CIALCommunityBeganOrganizationlnactiveEnded Camposanto Timbío 1994 GO A member died  CamposantoTimbío1994GOA member died Octavio Piendamó 1991 NGO Sorne members left  OctavioPiendamó1991NGOSorne members left Cinco Oías Timbío 1990 SN-3 Sorne members left  Cinco OíasTimbío1990SN-3Sorne members left San Miguel Piendamó 1993 CORFOCIAL Did not name  San MiguelPiendamó1993CORFOCIAL Did not name     replacements after  replacements after     members left  members left Arrayán Piendamó 1994 NGO Sorne members left  ArrayánPiendamó1994NGOSorne members left Farallones Piendamó 1992 SN-3 lnexperience of technician  FarallonesPiendamó1992SN-3lnexperience of technician Atamira Tunía 1995 NGO Problems w/ supporting  AtamiraTunía1995NGOProblems w/ supporting     organization  organization Loma Corta Piendamó 1991 NGO Lack oftime  Loma CortaPiendamó1991NGOLack oftime San Rafael Morales 1993 NGO Problem with supporting  San RafaelMorales1993NGOProblem with supporting     organization  organization El Centro Cal dono 1995 CORFOCIAL lnterested only in coffee  El CentroCal dono1995CORFOCIAL lnterested only in coffee     cultivation  cultivation Las Piedras Tambo 1991 NGO NGO left the zone  Las PiedrasTambo1991NGONGO left the zone La Florida Cajibío 1992 NGO Sorne members left  La FloridaCajibío1992NGOSorne members left La Laguna Caldo no 1993 SN-3 Technician did not return  La LagunaCaldo no1993SN-3Technician did not return Ventanas Caldono 1996 CORFOCIAL Death of two members  VentanasCaldono1996CORFOCIAL Death of two members El Tablón Timbío 1996 CORFOCIAL No support from  El TablónTimbío1996CORFOCIAL No support from     community  community Potrerillo Caldono 1993 CORFOCIAL NGO entered with housing  PotrerilloCaldono1993CORFOCIAL NGO entered with housing     program  program La Llanada Caldono 1996 CORFOCIAL Guerrilla presence, no  La LlanadaCaldono1996CORFOCIAL Guerrilla presence, no     support from technician .  support from technician . Caimito Caldono 1992 SN-3 Economic support  CaimitoCaldono1992SN-3Economic support Palermo Caldono 1992 SN-3 Economic support  PalermoCaldono1992SN-3Economic support Santa Elena Piendamó 1992 Corpotunia No support from  Santa ElenaPiendamó1992CorpotuniaNo support from     community  community La Conquista Piendamó 1993 Corfocial No support from  La ConquistaPiendamó1993CorfocialNo support from     community  community Guambía Silvia 1994 GO/NGO Unmotivated  GuambíaSilvia1994GO/NGOUnmotivated San Isidro Sotará 1991 NGO Sorne members left  San IsidroSotará1991NGOSorne members left La Esperanza Sotará 1991 NGO Sorne members left  La Esperanza Sotará1991NGOSorne members left La Buitrera Cal dono 1996 NGO Guerrilla presence  La BuitreraCal dono1996NGOGuerrilla presence  "},{"text":" Consequently, institutions and technicians were identified in arder to forrn country-level teams of CIAL trainer-facilitators. Eighteen candidate trainers, representing 9 institutions from 5 countries, attended a course given at CIAT from 26 July-4 August 1999 (see Table1, Photo 1). Recognized skills as a trainer, based on performance in Level 1 ~ Outstanding skills in communication and management of interpersonal relationships with professionals, trainees and farmers ~ lnstitutional support and willingness to work as trainer-facilitator for at least one year Course Objectives   Course Objectives Gritería for selecting participants   Gritería for selecting participants Photo 1. Participants in training course for CIAL Trainer-facilitators Photo 1. Participants in training course for CIAL Trainer-facilitators T bl 1 P rt' . a e . a 1c1pan s m ramer-ac1 1 a or course.  T bl 1 P rt' . a e . a 1c1pan s mramer-ac1 1 a or course. N ame lnstitution Country N amelnstitutionCountry Jorge Cusicanqui IBTA Bolivia Jorge CusicanquiIBTABolivia Juan Almanza PROINPA Foundation Bolivia Juan AlmanzaPROINPA FoundationBolivia Alfonso Truque CORFOCIAL Colombia Alfonso TruqueCORFOCIALColombia Luis Humberto Fierro CORPOICA Req . 1 Colombia Luis Humberto FierroCORPOICA Req . 1Colombia Manuel Arévalo CORPOICA Req . 1 Colombia Manuel ArévaloCORPOICA Req . 1Colombia Fabio Sierra CORPOICA Req . 1 Colombia Fabio SierraCORPOICA Req . 1Colombia Gustavo Basto CORPOICA Reg. 1 Colombia Gustavo BastoCORPOICA Reg. 1Colombia Roberto Alvarez CORPOICA Re_g. 1 Colombia Roberto AlvarezCORPOICA Re_g. 1Colombia Beatriz Franco CORPOICA Req. 1 Colombia Beatriz FrancoCORPOICA Req. 1Colombia José Antonio Corredor CORPOICA R~ 1 Colombia José Antonio CorredorCORPOICA R~ 1Colombia Manuel Romero CORPOICA Req. 3 Colombia Manuel RomeroCORPOICA Req. 3Colombia María Elena Morros CIAE/Lara Venezuela María Elena MorrosCIAE/LaraVenezuela Angela Bolívar FONAIAP Venezuela Angela BolívarFONAIAPVenezuela Doming_a Tij_erinos CIAT/Hillsides Nicaragua Doming_a Tij_erinosCIAT/HillsidesNicaragua Juan González IPCA Honduras Juan GonzálezIPCAHonduras Fredv Sierra IPCA Honduras Fredv SierraIPCAHonduras Nelson Gamero UNIR/Zamorano Honduras Nelson GameroUNIR/ZamoranoHonduras Carlos Amava FEPROH Honduras Carlos AmavaFEPROHHonduras  "},{"text":" Results obtained. The following are the highlights of the results obtained from the course:Training materials orepared. As this course was being offered for the first time, it was important to prepare training materials that met expectations and needs identified by the participants and reflected SN-3's experience as CIAL facilitators and master trainers. For this purpose, an expert in nonformal education was contracted, the course was prepared, and new materials were developed in tour specific areas:• Nonformal education.The development of knowledge is a continuous process, that involves development of the whole person, both outwardly and inwardly, stimulating the mind to draw on the innate capabilties of each person. Collaborating and sharing stimulates leaming and learning is acceferated when there is joy, curiosity and passion. The talks developed for th is area were: The objective of this tapie was to expand participant knowledge of aspects identified as weak points or that required greater depth. Based on their own experiences, discussions were held around the tapies of selection of communities, motivation of the community, participatory planning of CIAL experiments and analysis of results. • The CIAL concept. • The CIAL concept. An overall theme of primary importance when working with farmers is An overall theme of primary importance when working with farmers is communication techniques. communication techniques. » the CIALs at a glanee » experiences in use of the handbooks » meeting to motivate farmers » planning the trial » statistical concepts » force-field analysis in evaluating technologies with farmers » the CIALs at a glanee » experiences in use of the handbooks » meeting to motivate farmers » planning the trial » statistical concepts » force-field analysis in evaluating technologies with farmers };> presentation and organization of talks };> presentation and organization of talks };> audiovisual aids };> audiovisual aids };> group processes };> group processes };> nonformal education and participatory techniques };> nonformal education and participatory techniques };> conscientization };> conscientization };> the art of communicating };> the art of communicating  "},{"text":"Table 2 . Tentative programming of events offered by participants in the CIAL trainer-facilitator course. lnstitution Country/City Event Date  CORPOICA Colombia: Follow-up 23-28 Aug . CORPOICAColombia:Follow-up23-28 Aug .   CIAL course 20-30 Sept. CIAL course20-30 Sept. IPCA Honduras National CIAL 14-15 Dec. IPCAHondurasNational CIAL14-15 Dec.   Meeting  Meeting UNIR/Zamorano Honduras CIAL course 8-19 Nov. UNIR/ZamoranoHondurasCIAL course8-19 Nov. FONAIAP Venezuela CIAL regional 8-12 Nov. FONAIAPVenezuelaCIAL regional8-12 Nov.   course  course   Course on 15-19 Nov. Course on15-19 Nov.   participatory  participatory   research  research IBTA Bolivia Course on Oct. IBTABoliviaCourse onOct.   participatory  participatory   research  research  "},{"text":" Table4provides a synthesis of the strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats identified by facilitators in implementing the CIAL approaches.Honduras. The rate of expansion has been considerable this past year. At present there are 58 active CIALs, working on 11 crops or systems. The commodities of greatest interest are common beans and maize-basic dietary staples in Honduras. The local empowerment achieved by CIALs, participating institutions and facilitators is readily seen. lnitially CIAT assumed the role of catalyst and convenor; whereas today, several local organizations have assumed responsibility. At least six meetings have been held by local organizations to discuss issues related to the CIALs. Two universities (EAP-Zamorano and CURLA) have assumed an active role in disseminating the approach, now being presented as part of the currículum for ingeniero agronomo studies. Six students from CURLA and one from EAP-Zamorano are doing thesis research related to the CIALs.  "},{"text":"Table 3 . CIALs, organizations and facilitators involved in follow-up activities during 1999 Country/  No. No.  Country/No.No. Organization Month facili- CIALs Research Themes OrganizationMonthfacili-CIALsResearch Themes   tators Visited JNo. CIALs/to~icl tatorsVisitedJNo. CIALs/to~icl Honduras IPCA FEPRHO IHDER SERTEDESO UNIR/Zamorano Fund. Pico Bonito PRR Feb 16 23 • Evaluation of bean varieties (10) • Evaluation of maize varieties (6) • Evaluation of cassava varieties (2) • Evaluation of onion varieties (1) • Evaluation of soybean varieties (1) • Soil conservation in common beans (1) • Phase of the moon for planting maize Honduras IPCA FEPRHO IHDER SERTEDESO UNIR/Zamorano Fund. Pico Bonito PRRFeb1623 • Evaluation of bean varieties (10) • Evaluation of maize varieties (6) • Evaluation of cassava varieties (2) • Evaluation of onion varieties (1) • Evaluation of soybean varieties (1) • Soil conservation in common beans (1) • Phase of the moon for planting maize    (1)  (1)  "},{"text":" Legumes). Furthermore, institutions such as SENA, CVC, Comité de Cafeteros, UMATA, CORPOCUENCAS and the Producers' Environmental Association will participate. The final project will allow sorne of the research results obtained by CIAT projects (IP-5 and Laderas) to reach at least 150 farmers and more than 20 extension officers.August 25-27. a Strategic Planning Workshop (using SWOT analysis) was held to form an interinstitutional consortium and develop a project propasa! for its initial activities. This initiative emerged because sorne of the participating institutions at the Santander de Quilichao workshop wished to join torces in the use and application of the decisionsupport tools. At the moment the consortium COMVALLE (Consorcio lnterinstitutional para el Manejo de los Recursos Naturales del Norte y Centro del Valle del Cauca) consists of more than 11 organizations: Eco-Futuro, CORPOCUENCAS, Planeación Departamental, INTEP, CIAT, CIPASLA, CORPOICA, FIDAR, UMATA, ASIA VA and ITA. • .... ! ---• 1 • ... '• ~ . . - ~ 4 .. ... • ~~-- , 11 •....!---•1 •... '• ~ . . -~4.. ...• ~~--,11  "},{"text":"Table 5 . Training events in 1999 related to community-level participatory diagnosis meetings.  Participants Participants  "},{"text":" in utin Americam 1990 a&I:a ,.ll'tie4 • .,., R.uutcn PTottoet ~d n ...... ,_ •-wm cacoao..-.. (c.nill6 die rm...tlpcóin ÁpÍC»Uo L-.1, cu.J. ) in C.~•'• C...,. o.ar-tw tttrt.,. ~ tw .,..,. r-..-.c~.-IQiftl.lral.._ctl ' '\"'IIOini:UtiOfVIn ll ~lnQall p~ • • Slncla 1tlen mor•UYn ZSO CIAI.JI LA. HERNÁNDEZ. 1999. Mejoramiento de yuca en Latín America y el Caribe: Interface entre los mejoradores y mercados de la yuca [Cassava breeding in Latin America and the Caribbean: Interface between the breeders and the markets for cassava] Chapter on participatory breeding: In J.A. Ashby & L. Sperling (eds), Participatory Plant Breeding and Rural Development, Systemwide Program on Participatory Research and Gender Analysis, CIAT, Cali, Colombia. (English and Spanish versions in revision) . BRAUN, A.R. 1999 Participatory Research in Latin America. Proceedings. Forages for Smallholders Workshop. Oct. 1999, Cagayan de Oro, Philippines. CSIRO. Papers and book chapters Papers and book chapters BRAUN, A. R., G. THIELE & M. FERNANDEZ. 1999. La escuela de campo para MIP y BRAUN, A. R., G. THIELE & M. FERNANDEZ. 1999. La escuela de campo para MIP y el Comité de Investigación Agrícola Local: Plataformas complementarias para fomentar el Comité de Investigación Agrícola Local: Plataformas complementarias para fomentar decisiones integrales para la agricultura sostenible [The IPM Farmer Field School and decisiones integrales para la agricultura sostenible [The IPM Farmer Field School and the Local Agricultura! Research Committee: Complementary platforms to foment the Local Agricultura! Research Committee: Complementary platforms to foment integrated decisions for sustainable agriculture], Manejo Integrado de Plagas. (CATIE integrated decisions for sustainable agriculture], Manejo Integrado de Plagas. (CATIE Costa Rica) 53:1 -23. See Output 1 for summary. Costa Rica) 53:1 -23. See Output 1 for summary. IGLESIAS, C. & IGLESIAS, C. &  "},{"text":"Table 1 . Diversity of CIAL experimentation with germplasm in 1998 and 1999. No. CIALs   Experimenti~g Experimenti~g  1998 1999 19981999 Crop   Crop Common beans 36 41 Common beans3641 Maize 31 32 Maize3132 Fruits 13 20 Fruits1320 Pota toes 30 14 Pota toes3014 Cassava 28 10 Cassava2810 Onions 7  Onions7 Plantain 4  Plantain4 Snap beans 2  Snap beans2 Soybeans 2  Soybeans2 Sugarcane 4  Sugarcane4 Tomatoes 4  Tomatoes4 Forages 3  Forages3 Peas 6  Peas6 Broad beans o  Broad beanso Flowers o  Flowerso Bell peppers o  Bell pepperso Coffee o  Coffeeo Oats o  Oatso Rice o  Riceo Tobacco o  Tobaccoo Wheat o  Wheato  "},{"text":"Table 2 . Small businesses created by CIALs Product or Business No. Microenter~ises  lmproved common bean seed 7 lmproved common bean seed7 lmproved maize seed and processed maize in  lmproved maize seed and processed maize in different presentations 2 different presentations2 Seed potatoes 2 Seed potatoes2 Communitv shop 7 Communitv shop7 lmproved maize seed 2 lmproved maize seed2 Organicpane/a 1 Organicpane/a1 Guinea pig meat 1 Guinea pig meat1 Sunflower oil 1 Sunflower oil1 Soy products (milk, flour and bread) 1 Soy products (milk, flour and bread)1 Blackberry fruit and seed 1 Blackberry fruit and seed1 Snap bean seed 1 Snap bean seed1 Rental of oxen for land preparation 1 Rental of oxen for land preparation1  "},{"text":"Table 3 . Number and type of organizations facilitating CIALs, by country.   No. Organizations Facilitating CIALs  No. Organizations Facilitating CIALs Country NGOs GOs Univ. In ti. TOTAL CountryNGOsGOsUniv.In ti.TOTAL Bolivia      Bolivia  "},{"text":"Table 4 . Estimated number of families benefiting from the CIAL process. lt is estimated that new, intermediate and mature CIALs benefit 10, 100 and 400 familias, respectively   1998   1999  19981999 CIAL Stage New lntermed iate Mature New lntermediate Mature CIAL StageNewlntermed iateMatureNewlntermediateMature No. 121 83 32 67 103 74 No.12183326710374 CIALs/stage       CIALs/stage No. 1,210 8,300 12,800 670 10,300 29,600 No.1,2108,30012,80067010,30029,600 beneficiaries *       beneficiaries * TOTAL  22,310   40,570  TOTAL22,31040,570 Average no.  95   166  Average no.95166 families       families benefitted per       benefitted per CIAL       CIAL  "},{"text":"Table 5 . Training of CIAL facilitators and trainers (indicated with italics). No. No.  "},{"text":"Table 7 . Well-being indicators and composition of poverty classes.   Food Work as    FoodWork as  Poverty Security Da y Contract Permanent Size of Poverty SecurityDa yContractPermanentSize of Cluster Class Problems Laborer Laborers  Laborers Farm (ha) Cluster ClassProblems LaborerLaborersLaborers Farm (ha) 1 Poor Y es Y es No   No 2.32 1PoorY esY esNoNo2.32 3 lnter- Y es Y es Up to 6 mo/yr  No 5.15 3lnter-Y esY esUp to 6 mo/yrNo5.15  mediate      mediate 2 lnter- Y es Y es Up to 6 mo/yr  No 7.38 2lnter-Y esY esUp to 6 mo/yrNo7.38  mediate      mediate 4 Not poor No No Up to 12 mo/yr  Y es 4.84 4Not poorNoNoUp to 12 mo/yrY es4.84  Mean area No.   Occupati Mean areaNo.Occupati  under  home No.  on other underhomeNo.on other  cultivation improve electronic Ha ve than cultivationimprove electronicHa vethan Cluster 1 {ha} 1.17 Have cattle ments appliances business farming 3.85% o <2 12.50% 8.65% Cluster 1{ha} 1.17Have cattle ments appliances business farming 3.85% o <2 12.50% 8.65% 3 2 1.96 2.12 17.54% 29.41% >O o >2 >2  26.32% 14.71% 24.56% 23.53% 3 21.96 2.1217.54% 29.41%>O o>2 >226.32% 14.71%24.56% 23.53% 4 2.93 48.78% >O >2  39.02% 26.83% 42.9348.78%>O>239.02%26.83%  "},{"text":"Table 8 . Distribution of respondents participating in CIAL impact study according to poverty class.  No./%  No./%  No./%No./% Poverty Respondents (all 8 Respondents (com- PovertyRespondents (all 8Respondents (com- Class communities) unities with CIALs) Classcommunities)unities with CIALs) Poor 104 44.07% 63 43.45% Poor10444.07%6343.45% lntermediate 34 14.41 % 22 15.17% lntermediate3414.41 %2215.17% lntermediate 57 24.15% 36 24.83% lntermediate5724.15%3624.83% Not poor 41 17.37% 24 16.55% Not poor4117.37%2416.55%  "},{"text":" •  "},{"text":"Table 9 . lnstitutional costs (US$) associated with facilitation of CIALs (Source: CORPOICA-Colombia and PROINPA-Bolivia 1999}.  (Source: CORPOICA-Colombia and PROINPA-Bolivia 1999}.  CORPOICA PROINPA CORPOICAPROINPA Average no. facilitator visits to a CIAL 20-24 20 Average no. facilitator visits to a CIAL20-2420 during first year   during first year Average no. facilitator visits to a CIAL in 4-6 4-6 Average no. facilitator visits to a CIAL in4-64-6 subsequent years   subsequent years Average no. CIALs/facilitator   Average no. CIALs/facilitator  "},{"text":"Lessons from CIAL Hillside Program 9 In Honduras the IPCA Project, which supports more than half the country's CIALs, is financed by IDRC-Canada, through the Sociology and Anthropology Department at the University of Guelph. The project coordinator is a Canadian rural sociologist; she is backed by three Honduran agronomists.The CIALs have mushroomed rapidly over the past few years in Honduras. In 1999 there were 58, up from two pilot CIALs established in 1993-94. These CIALs are located in distinct agroecological zones ranging from very humid (3000 mm rainfall/yr) conditions in the Atlantic coastal hillsides to drier conditions involving seasonal rains (1400 mm/yr) in the south. The CIALs are made up of poor hillside farmers, supported by a variety of NGOs and research programs• 10 Transportation, materials (first $1500 $400 Transportation, materials (first$1500$400 year)   year) Facilitator traininq (first year} $500 $500 Facilitator traininq (first year}$500$500 CIAL fund (seed capital provided once $50-150 $50-150 CIAL fund (seed capital provided once$50-150$50-150 when CIAL is formed)   when CIAL is formed)  "},{"text":" CGIAR Systemwide IPM Program task forceFarmer Participatory Research for lntegrated Pest Management (FPR-IPM). SN-3 is responsible for coordinating the CGIAR Systemwide Program's task force on FPR. The sponsor of this task force is the Systemwide Program for lntegrated Pest Management (SP-IPM), and the convening center is IITA-Nigeria. The task force is in the process of developing an FPR-IPM project as a joint ventura of the SP-IPM, the Global IPM Facility (GIPMF) and the CGIAR Systemwide Program on Participatory Research and Gender Analysis (SP-PRGA). The project will develop strategies that will reduce the gap between IPM research and implementation , by enabling IPM projects around the world to involve farmers as decision-making partners in their activities (see concept note below).A art-time consultant was hired for a six-month period to serve as listserver moderator and assistant coordinator of the task force.The main products of the coordinatorship this year were as follows:FPR-IPM Web site (http://www.ciat.cgiar.org/fpr-ipm). The FPR-IPM Web site has been online since February 1998. A Spanish version was added in February of this year. To contribute to sustainable agricultura! development by increasing the number and quality of IPM programs/projects undertaking PR with farmers and improving farmer agroecosystem management skills. (See Output 4) (See Output 4) Concept note entitled \"Enabling IPM programs to include farmers as partners in Concept note entitled \"Enabling IPM programs to include farmers as partners in research and learning.\" An executive summary follows: research and learning.\" An executive summary follows: Proponents. This project is joint venture of: Proponents. This project is joint venture of:  1. CGIAR Systemwide Program on lntegrated Pest Management (SP- 1. CGIAR Systemwide Program on lntegrated Pest Management (SP-  IPM), convened by liTA IPM), convened by liTA  2. Global lntegrated Pest Management Facility (GIPMF), based at FAO in 2. Global lntegrated Pest Management Facility (GIPMF), based at FAO in  Ro me Ro me  3. CGIAR Systemwide Program on Participatory Research and Gender 3. CGIAR Systemwide Program on Participatory Research and Gender  Analysis (SP-PRGA), convened by CIAT Analysis (SP-PRGA), convened by CIAT  4. CIAT's Participatory Research Project as host for SP-IPM Task Force 4. CIAT's Participatory Research Project as host for SP-IPM Task Force  on Farmer Participatory Research on Farmer Participatory Research Duration: 6 months Duration:6 months Goal:  Goal:  "},{"text":" 15 Braun, A. R, (1999} Contributíon toan Expert Consultation on combining IPM and Soil Management. Presented to the Expert Consultation 14-15 June 1999. Wor1d Bank, Washington. Thomas, R.J . & M.J. Swift. (1999) Towards sustainable land management -a rationale for linking soil fertility with pest and disease management. Joint proposal: CIAT and TSBF. Presentad to the Expert Consultation 14-15 June 1999. Wor1d Bank, Washington. 16 Dept. of Rural Development Studies, Swedish U. of Agricultura! Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden. Concept paper on lntegrated Pest and Soil Management, commissioned by the Rural Development Department of the World Bank. Final Draft, Aug. 1999. lncludes extensiva bibliography.  "}],"sieverID":"bcda186b-2cdf-49da-b66a-eed53ccd1721","abstract":"for 1999 * Analytical tool for preference ranking developed and tested by interested R&D institutions developed * Participatory methodology for community-level analysis and ranking of wealth, production problems and technological preferences developed * Strategy for extrapolating results of participatory diagnoses and evaluation of technology developed * Methodological issues to be addressed in CIALs doing research on landscapescale such as agroecosystem health, identified through participatory diagnosis * Comparative analysis of FFS/CIAL developed in concept paperas preliminary Methods for diagnosing poverty 2 This study was designed and conducted by a team consisting of three CIAT projects (PE-4 Land Use, IP-5 Tropical Forages, and SN-3) with the collaboration of DICTA, EAP-Zamorano and FAO-Honduras and logistical and technical support from the CIAT PE-3 Hillsides Project. The CIAT BP-1 lmpact Assessment Project provided support on data analysis.3 Ravnborg, H. 1999. Desarrollo de perfiles regionales de pobreza basados en percepciones locales. CIAT, Cali, Colombia. (in press)."}