Exploring the impact of farmer-led research supported by civil society organisations

This paper asks: What have been the impacts of farmer- or community-led (informal) processes of research and development in agriculture and natural resource management in terms of food security, ecological sustainability, economic empowerment, gender relations, local capacity to innovate and influence on formal agricultural research and development institutions? An innovative conceptual framework was applied to a diverse set of farmer-led research initiatives in countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America to explore approaches, outcomes and impacts of informal agricultural research and development (ARD) facilitated by civil society organisations. Findings include the following: locally appropriate technical innovations emerging from these processes are readily taken up by other farmers; the most common channels of dissemination are farmer to farmer through informal networks and spaces created for farmer-researchers and other farmers to meet and exchange, such as innovation fairs; livelihood impacts are broad and substantial; local capacity to innovate is strengthened and institutionalisation through the formal sector has been limited. Lessons are drawn for future partnerships in promoting and supporting farmer-led research involving formal and informal ARD actors working with smallholder communities.

• Publication year

  2015

• Venue

  Agriculture & Food Security

• Publication date

  2015-03-06

• Fields of study

  Agricultural and Food Sciences, Sociology, Economics, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1186/s40066-015-0023-7
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Capacity to innovate from a system CGIAR research program perspective

  2017cited by this paper
• A Catalyst toward Sustainability? Exploring Social Learning and Social Differentiation Approaches with the Agricultural Poor

  2014cited by this paper
• Farmer-to-farmer extension approach in Malawi: A survey of organizations using the approach

  2014cited by this paper
• Study on impacts of farmer-led research supported by civil society organizations

  2014cited by this paper
• Voluntarism as an investment in human, social and financial capital: evidence from a farmer-to-farmer extension program in Kenya

  2014cited by this paper
• Social learning and sustainable development

  2014cited by this paper
• Innovation in smallholder farming in Africa: Recent advances and recommendations: Proceedings of the International Workshop on Agricultural Innovation Systems in Africa (AISA), Nairobi, Kenya, 29 - 31 May 2013

  2014cited by this paper
• Adaptation Actions in Africa: Evidence that Gender Matters

  2014cited by this paper
• Catalysing adaptive capacity for development and climate change: An exploration ofsocial learning and social differentiation in the CGIAR. CCAFS Working Paper No. 43

  2013cited by this paper
• Catalysing learning for development and climate change: an exploration of social learning and social differentiation in CGIAR

  2013cited by this paper
• Using theory of change to achieve impact in AAS

  2013cited by this paper
• The six "ins" of climate-smart agriculture: Inclusive institutions for information, innovation, investment, and insurance

  2013cited by this paper
• Options for support to agriculture and food security under climate change

  2012cited by this paper
• Boundary work for sustainable development: Natural resource management at the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)

  2011cited by this paper
• Principal Challenges Confronting Smallholder Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa

  2010cited by this paper
• Evolution of Models to Support Community and Policy Action with Science : Balancing Pastoral Livelihoods and Wildlife Conservation in Savannas of East Africa

  2009cited by this paper
• Linking international agricultural research knowledge with action for sustainable development

  2009cited by this paper
• Building on the positive: an actor innovation systems approach to finding and promoting pro poor natural resources institutional and technical innovations

  2007cited by this paper
• Reconciling the supply of scientific information with user demands: an analysis of the problem and review of the literature

  2007cited by this paper
• Knowledge systems for sustainable development

  2003cited by this paper
• Active Social Capital: Tracing the Roots of Development and Democracy

  2002cited by this paper
• Science and Technology for Sustainable Development

  1996cited by this paper

• Who Gets Included in Community Supported Agriculture? Governance Design, Transaction Costs, and Socio-Demographic Patterns among Small Organic Farmers in Indonesia

  2026cites this paper
• Identifying Barriers to Implementation of Regenerative Agricultural Solutions Through Convergence Research

  2025cites this paper
• Implementing responsible research and innovation and sustainability assessment in research projects: A framework and application

  2025cites this paper
• Farmer-centric On-Farm Experimentation: digital tools for a scalable transformative pathway

  2025influential citation
• Antibiotic use and resistance awareness among ruminant and poultry farmers in Tunisia

  2025cites this paper
• Artificial intelligence in sustainable agriculture: Towards a socio-technical roadmap

  2025cites this paper
• Climate-smart agriculture: adoption, impacts, and implications for sustainable development

  2024cites this paper
• Co-designing innovative cropping systems with stakeholders

  2024cites this paper
• Entrepreneurial orientation and research in sub-Saharan Africa for sustainable development: Where to focus?

  2024cites this paper
• Nature's laws of declining soil productivity and Conservation Agriculture

  2024cites this paper
• Farmer-Centred Multi-stakeholder Platforms: From Iterative Approach to Conceptual Embedding

  2024cites this paper
• A bibliometric analysis of smallholder farmers’ climate change adaptation challenges: a SADC region outlook

  2024cites this paper
• Patterns of investment in agricultural research and innovation for the Global South, with a focus on sustainable agricultural intensification

  2023cites this paper
• Supporting the capacities and knowledge of smallholder farmers in Kenya for sustainable agricultural futures: a Citizen Science pilot project

  2023cites this paper
• Gendered determinants of adaptation in growing maize in smallholder agriculture in East Africa

  2023cites this paper
• What agricultural transition means for women in male-headed households in South Asia: an in-depth exploration of intrahousehold evaluation processes

  2023cites this paper
• ICT4Agroecology: a participatory research methodology for agroecological field research in Tanzania

  2023cites this paper
• Elements for Re-Designing Sustainability Strategies with Groups of Small Coffee Producers

  2023cites this paper
• Research legitimacy as a precursor to effectiveness: the role of equitable partnerships in transforming aquatic food systems

  2023cites this paper
• Sowing Seeds of Sovereignty: A Qualitative Exploration of Chapter Leader Experiences Who Belong to an African, Caribbean, and Black Women’s Agriculture Advocacy Collective

  2023cites this paper
• Farmers’ perceived pathways for further intensification of push-pull systems in Western Kenya

  2023cites this paper
• Farmer knowledge as formal knowledge: A case study of farmer-led research in Ontario, Canada

  2023influential citation
• On-farm agricultural inputs and changing boundaries: Innovations around production of microorganisms in Brazil

  2023cites this paper
• Women farmers leading and co-learning in an agroecology movement at the intersections of gender and climate

  2023influential citation
• Uncovering the Research Gaps to Alleviate the Negative Impacts of Climate Change on Food Security: A Review

  2022cites this paper
• Co-inquiry in agroecology research with farmers: transdisciplinary co-creation of contextualized and actionable knowledge

  2022cites this paper
• The role of learning in farmer-led innovation

  2022cites this paper
• Smallholder farmers’ engagement with climate smart agriculture in Africa: role of local knowledge and upscaling

  2022cites this paper
• Farmer-centered and structural perspectives on innovation and scaling: a study on sustainable agriculture and nutrition in East Africa

  2022cites this paper
• Strengthening agroecological resilience through commons-based seed governance in the Philippines

  2022cites this paper
• Factors influencing smallholder farmers to participate in farmer-led research of agro-ecological practices in selected areas, Tanzania

  2021cites this paper
• More than fish: Policy coherence and benefit sharing as necessary conditions for equitable aquaculture development

  2021cites this paper
• Food security and climate-smart agriculture in the lower Mekong basin of Southeast Asia: evaluating impacts of system of rice intensification with special reference to rainfed agriculture

  2021cites this paper
• Bringing evidence to bear for negotiating tradeoffs in sustainable agricultural intensification using a structured stakeholder engagement process

  2021cites this paper
• The evolution of community forestry through the growth of interlinked community institutions in Java, Indonesia

  2021cites this paper
• Changing the Way We Produce Food: An Overview of the Current Agricultural Food Production Industry and Worldwide Trends for Sustainable Production

  2021cites this paper
• From the researched to co-researchers: including excluded participants in community-led research on urban agriculture in Cape Town

  2021cites this paper
• Effect of market information quality, sharing and utilisation on the innovation behaviour of smallholder pig producers

  2021cites this paper
• To what extent can local-led innovation platforms tackle complex agricultural development challenges? Insights from Madagascar

  2021cites this paper
• On-Farm Experimentation to transform global agriculture

  2021influential citation
• Moving beyond the opposition of diverse knowledge systems for food security and nutrition

  2020cites this paper
• Agroecology and Climate Change: A case study of the CCAFS Research Program

  2020cites this paper
• Empowering Women and Building Sustainable Food Systems: A Case Study of Cuba's Local Agricultural Innovation Project

  2020cites this paper
• Citizen science breathes new life into participatory agricultural research. A review

  2020cites this paper
• Integrated Pest Management (IPM) for Small-Scale Farms in Developed Economies: Challenges and Opportunities

  2019cites this paper
• Agroecology on the periphery: A case from the Maya-Achí territory, Guatemala

  2019cites this paper
• Making space for women: civil society organizations, gender and hydropower development in the Mekong region

  2019cites this paper
• REQUIREMENTS FOR ESTABLISHING INNOVATIVE RURAL INSTITUTIONS TO PROMOTE THE FOOD SECURITY OF RICE GROWERS IN MAZANDARAN , IRAN

  2018cites this paper
• Empowering through collective action

  2018cites this paper
• Local innovators in Uganda: Experimenting with improved seeds in a low adoption environment

  2018cites this paper
• Farmer innovation system and government intervention: An empirical study of straw utilisation technology development and diffusion in China

  2018cites this paper
• REQUIREMENTS FOR ESTABLISHING INNOVATIVE RURAL INSTITUTIONS TO PROMOTE THE FOOD SECURITY OF RICE GROWERS IN MAZANDARAN, IRAN

  2018cites this paper
• Agriculture 4.0: Broadening Responsible Innovation in an Era of Smart Farming

  2018cites this paper
• The Role of Pest Management in Driving Agri‐environment Schemes in Switzerland

  2017cites this paper
• Swiss farmers don’t adopt agroforestry because they fear for their reputation

  2016cites this paper
• El enfoque participativo aplicado a la extensión ganadera: teorización del caso de AGAZA

  2016cites this paper
• Farmer led innovations: Retrospect and prospects

  2016cites this paper
• Social and Technological Transformation of Farming Systems: Diverging and Converging Pathways

  2016cites this paper
• Learning from the lagoon: Research in development in Solomon Islands

  2016cites this paper
• Reducing risks to food security from climate change

  2016cites this paper
• Facilitating Climate Change Adaptation on Smallholder Farms Through Farmers’ Collective Led On-Farm Adaptive Research: The SAF-BIN Project

  2016cites this paper
• Multi-level transitions in the community forestry system for development in Indonesia

  2016cites this paper
• Network formation, learning and innovation in multi-stakeholder research projects : experiences with Adaptive Research and Learning Alliances in rice farming communities in Southeast Asia

  2016cites this paper
• Mieux évaluer et accompagner l’innovation agricole en Afrique. Leçons d’une analyse transversale de 13 cas d’études

  2016influential citation
• Building Bridges to an Uncertain Future Lived Now: Lessons from the Use of Participatory Action Research and Theory of Change Towards A Realistic Community-Based Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation System

  2016cites this paper
• Prospects of photosynthetic research for increasing agricultural productivity, with emphasis on the tropical C4Amaranthus and the cassava C3-C4 crops

  2016cites this paper
• Influence of Seasonal On-Farm Diversity on Dietary Diversity: A Case Study of Smallholder Farming Households in Western Kenya

  2016cites this paper
• Promoting multiple ecosystem services with flower strips and participatory approaches in rice production landscapes

  2015cites this paper