Suchergebnisse

Southern non-governmental organizations (NGOs) now act as important intermediaries in the transfer of agricultural science and technology for the development of Third World food production and markets. This paper presents an ethnographic exploration at the interface of Peruvian agricultural development NGOs and highland peasant communities, who are encouraged to leave subsistence farming and produce instead for wider markets. Following a methodology of symmetrical anthropology based in actor-network theory, I show how sociotechnical processes that underpin agricultural development rely on constructions of 'traditional' and 'modern' categories of practice in order to perpetuate efforts to change the peasant production methods. Yet as peasants appropriate and reinvent development's technologies and resources, NGOs are pressured to further control the 'discrepant' responses and behaviours of peasants. Focusing on a number of NGOs and indigenous, Quechua-speaking communities in the southern Andes, I argue that the incorporation of peasants into markets is made problematic by both entrenched racial tensions and the creative capacity of peasants to circumvent the disciplining and social planning strategies of NGOs.

Not Available ; Over the years Indian agriculture had made tremendous progress, which in a large measure is due to its human resources and public investments in agricultural research, education and development. Such investments in agriculture are of long gestation, and needs considerable advance planning. In the context of national demands and changing global agricultural scenario, detailed data on agricultural human and financial inputs, and research outputs and outcomes are central to systematic assessments and, hence, are of strategic importance. Evidences on the impact of agricultural R&D have always been sought for by the policy makers and senior managers to know the utility of the allocations. The present project is the latest in this direction, and has been executed by the National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM) in partnership with International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) to generate such evidences on agricultural R&D in India. India has substantially increased its public funding of agricultural research since the late 1990s and this trend is likely to continue in coming years. Nonetheless, the public agricultural R&D spending as a share of agricultural output continues to be relatively low. In its upcoming years, the Indian Government seeks to address this deficiency by committing a significant percentage of AgGDP to agricultural R&D. ICAR and the AU system are making concerted efforts to improve coordination of research programmes across various institutions. Evidence clearly indicates that an enabling policy environment and attractive market opportunities play important role in the diversification of R&D through participation of the private sector. This is essential for enhancing research intensity and making the system more demand driven. The datasets generated in this study would augur well for such insights into the planning process. It gives me immense pleasure to present the project report jointly prepared by NAARM and IFPRI. The report is timely and useful in preparing the future course of action on impact driven development in agriculture and allied sectors. ; Not Available

The thesis of this paper is that the "rational fool" syndrome can be applied to mainstream public sector agricultural research that is conducted in a way that is rational in the short term, but acts against its own long-term viability. Historically, a main concern of such research has been to maximize high levels of food production together with low prices to consumers. As a result, mainstream agricultural science has ignored negative impacts or externalities, which has contributed to a crisis of credibility with the general public and politically sensitive decision makers. A long-term strategic research agenda for the public sector is being defined that is new and relevant to present efforts to integrate natural resource management and sustainable agricultural production. Such an agenda must be understood as a way of managing natural resources for the production of food and environmental services essential to human well-being. If agricultural systems are viewed and managed as parts of whole ecosystems, the key properties of complex systems that need to be taken into account will force researchers to consider long-term effects and environmental externalities. Research products will then be increasingly strategic in nature, and the research process will be "democratized" as it involves and gains the support of a broad set of stakeholders. Private sector research cannot be expected to meet this need because strategic studies of resource management are required that cannot be made exclusive or proprietary and are, in other words, public goods. Several innovative research initiatives are under way that signal opportunities for change. This paper first elaborates on this argument and then illustrates key elements of the integrated natural resource management approach, with examples of approaches that show promise as alternatives to mainstream agricultural science. Although numerous and diverse, integrated approaches manifest several properties that can be defined as the keystones of a new paradigm. ; Peer-reviewed