Introducing new agroforestry technologies, and encouraging farmers to use them, is never easy. However, research in Guinea suggests that when farmers themselves take a leading role in choosing and promoting the new technologies, the levels of uptake are likely to be significantly higher. The Farmers’ Initiative and Vision-Based Approach (FIVA) to disseminating agroforestry and agricultural innovations was piloted by the Landscape Management for Improved Livelihoods (LAMIL) project, which is jointly managed by the World Agroforestry Centre, the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the United States Forestry Service.

The LAMIL project seeks to reduce the pressure on the natural environment, and especially on forests rich in biodiversity, by improving the livelihoods of local villagers and raising their income. The implementation of FIVA involves seven distinct steps. First, project staff and farmers meet to discuss and analyse the problems and challenges. A number of ‘champion’ farmers are then selected to promote new agroforestry and agricultural technologies.

Community groups then establish a vision of how they would like the future to look. This is followed by capacity building of selected partners – including those working for government agencies – in natural resource management and the provision of services. Projects staff and the champion farmers then identify and promote selected agroforestry and agricultural technologies. The final step involves periodic evaluation of the project by the local communities. In 2007, 920 farmers adopted a range of new agroforestry and agricultural technologies.

Over 650 farmers planted improved varieties of groundnut, maize and cassava. The remainder transplanted 120,000 high-value tree seedlings as live fencing, fodder banks and to reforest degraded land. Most of the farmers significantly improved their incomes as a result of using these new technologies. For example, the 13 champion farmers involved in tree-seed production generated over US$12,000 of extra income in 2007. According to Serge Ngendakumana of the World Agroforestry Centre, the farmer-based approach to disseminating new technologies had a tangible impact. Take, for example, the improved varieties of groundnut. “We found that there were significant differences in yield for two introduced varieties,” he explains, “and these cannot be explained by variations in landscape or soil type. The difference in yield, we believe, can be attributed to FIVA. The communities that applied FIVA most rigorously had the higher yields.”

According to a recent evaluation by USAID, who fund the project, and private consultants: “The LAMIL project has been one of the most integrated resource management initiatives the team visited, since it has succeeded in integrating biodiversity, governance and livelihood improvement.” The plan now is to extend the project beyond Guinea into Sierra Leone, using similar approaches to improve livelihoods and protect the environment.

For more information,
contact Serge Ngendakumana,
s.ngendakumana@cgiar.org