This challenge is now being discussed since nearly 30 years. Robert Chambers pushed for feedback loops of 'participatory learning' setting the stage for a more people-centred view than (proven) technology-centred approaches, flagging the importance of the local context. Assuming most of us grew up with Robert's publications, and/or all those which followed, the questions could be, did we actually read those books, or are they already forgotten and we are running circles, or if we applied participatory approaches, what did we learn on how to do even better to understand adoption? In the earlier years we usually argued that many SLM practices might not offer sufficient short-term incentives for adoption. I guess this might still hold. The authors of the blog argue that indeed more knowledge is needed to understand (and facilitate) adoption as farmers operate under the influence of 'structural forces' and e.g. 'economic and cultural hierarchies'. What else did we learn?
This challenge is now being discussed since nearly 30 years. Robert Chambers pushed for feedback loops of 'participatory learning' setting the stage for a more people-centred view than (proven) technology-centred approaches, flagging the importance of the local context. Assuming most of us grew up with Robert's publications, and/or all those which followed, the questions could be, did we actually read those books, or are they already forgotten and we are running circles, or if we applied participatory approaches, what did we learn on how to do even better to understand adoption? In the earlier years we usually argued that many SLM practices might not offer sufficient short-term incentives for adoption. I guess this might still hold. The authors of the blog argue that indeed more knowledge is needed to understand (and facilitate) adoption as farmers operate under the influence of 'structural forces' and e.g. 'economic and cultural hierarchies'. What else did we learn?