West Sumatra field exercise

NGOs and the ASB research process

Mr Efnizon (Bina Kelola), representing a development NGO based in Padang, West Sumatra, addressed the concerns of NGOs as they interact with and take part in this programme. He emphasized the value of the bottom-up approach in determining the research agenda and the utility of decentralizing the working groups implementing the programme. He pointed out the diversity of agroecosystems and problems observed among the three villages surveyed. He also urged the scientists involved to consider the degree to which the programme will be engineered to address their concerns, which may not be in line with the priority problems that farmers are experiencing.

His presentation was followed by open discussion on the prospective roles of NGOs in a research programme such as ASB. Because NGOs are so often involved predominantly in the extension and development arena, there is uncertainty among scientists as to their possible role in research collaboration.

The rationale for NGO involvement in the research process appears to be driven mainly by the view that they may have unique experience and abilities in working with local communities. As such they may be in an advantageous position to help establish the research agenda, help farmers test and adapt technologies and provide a base in villages for useful research to be conducted.

The ASB programme will be exploring the model of GO-NGO collaboration as one of its experimental objectives. To achieve this, more dialogue and joint field work between GO and NGO personnel should be planned during the diagnostic and research planning phase at each of the benchmark sites.