Soil Fertility Matters
A Newsletter on Soil Fertility and Fallow Management in the SEA
RESEARCH TOOLS AND STRATEGIES
Applying Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA): Outputs and Lessons Learned from the Baguio Workshop
Damasa B. Magcale-Macandog and Richard T. Yao
A methodology workshop on participatory rural appraisal (PRA) was conducted by the SEAMEO Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEAMEO-SEARCA) in collaboration with the Ecosystems Research and Development Service – Cordillera Autonomous Region (ERDS-CAR). This workshop, entitled Fallow Management Systems Documentation and PRA Methodology, was held on 17-19 May 1999 at ERDS-CAR regional office in Baguio City, Philippines. The Cornell International Institute for Food Agriculture and Development (CIIFAD) of Cornell University, USA funded the workshop.
Discussions on the application of PRA for documentation of fallow systems were a major part of the workshop. The importance of PRA and its major tools used for the conduct of documentation activities were presented.
The PRA site
Baguio is about 260 km north of Manila and is one of the major vegetable-producing areas in the province of Benguet. The province is the most popular upland agricultural area in the Philippines. Vegetables, tree crops, and rice are the major crops cultivated in this area.
To gain actual experience in using PRA tools and techniques, workshop participants had a practicum in the sub-village of Kedeng in the municipality of Sablan, Benguet, Philippines. The PRA site is located in the south central part of Benguet, nestling on a 1,500-meter high plateau in the Cordillera mountain range of northern Luzon.
The climate in Sablan is cool and crisp and offers a fine respite from the dust, heat, and bustle of the nearby lowland areas. It has only two seasons of about equal duration throughout the year — the wet and dry seasons. The dry season begins in November and ends in April and the wet season extends from May to October. Temperature ranges from 15 to 26 oC.
PRA tools and outputs
The PRA practicum participants walked across the area and met with village key informants. The participants were grouped into several teams, with each team assigned a specific activity. The activities include doing interviews to get data on general agricultural profile of the site, transect mapping, community resource mapping, and construction of time line.
The PRA tools used for fallow documentation were community map, semi-structured interview, transect line, seasonal calendar, and timeline. The activities and outputs of the five PRA tools applied in this workshop could be found in the next two pages. Ð
References:
Balbarino, E.A. 1999. Participatory Rural Appraisal Methodology. In: Proceedings of the Workshop on Fallow Management Systems Documentation and Participatory Rural Appraisal, 16-19 May 1999, Baguio City, Philippines. SEAMEO SEARCA, College, Laguna, Philippines.
Magcale-Macandog, D.B., dela Cruz, A.E. and Yao, R.T. 1999. Participatory Rapid Appraisal Synthesis: Process, Results and Lessons Learned from Field Practicum. In: Proceedings of the Workshop on Fallow Management Systems Documentation and Participatory Rural Appraisal, 16-19 May 1999, Baguio City, Philippines. SEAMEO SEARCA, College, Laguna, Philippines.
Magcale-Macandog, D.B., Ilao, R.O., Yao, R.T., Garcia, J.N.M., Dela Cruz, E.A., 1999. Fallow management systems documentation and participatory rural appraisal methodology. Proceedings of the Workshop on Fallow Management Systems Documentation and Participatory Rural Appraisal, 16-19 May 1999, Baguio City, Philippines. SEAMEO SEARCA, College, Laguna, Philippines.
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The Agroforestry Knowledge Toolkit for Windows' (WinAKT)
Agroforestry practices, particularly traditional practices in the tropics, are complex. Information on such practices are frequently qualitative, sparse, and uncertain. The knowledge sources are dispersed, and though complementary at times, may be incompatible to a greater or lesser extent (compare, for example, the knowledge held by farmers with that held by research scientists). Development professionals who plan research and extension activities need to use such knowledge, yet established approaches to decision support tend to be deterministic and therefore demand more precise base information.
The Agroforestry Knowledge Toolkit for Windows' ( WinAKT) software provides the user with an environment in which to create knowledge bases about a user-selected topic by collating knowledge from a range of sources. It facilitates the synthesis of that knowledge and its evaluation, and thereby facilitates its use in planning for agroforestry research and extension. This gives a powerful alternative to existing, less formal approaches to evaluating the current state of knowledge.
This article was accessed at <http://www.bangor.ac.uk/~afs40c/afforum/akt5/akt5_frame.htm> Ð
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Documentation of Indigenous Knowledge Practices in Shifting Cultivation in the Eastern Himalayan Countries
Atsuko Toda
The Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) was established in 1983, amidst rising concerns about environmental degradation and poverty in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas (HKH). The Centre’s focus spans 3,500 km of the Hindu Kush-Himalayan mountain range with its 140 million inhabitants, encompassing the mountain areas of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan. ICIMOD is a regional multidisciplinary knowledge management institution based in Kathmandu, Nepal, and brings together networks of mountain scientists and researchers, national and local government institutions, NGOs and farmers to promote the development of an economically and environmentally sound mountain ecosystem and to improve the living standards of mountain populations of the Hindu Kush-Himalayan area.
The Mountain Farming Systems Division of ICIMOD aims to (i) document compelling examples of shifting cultivators that have successfully managed the practice as an integral part of the upland farming system, and (ii) illustrate the contribution of indigenous knowledge in the management of natural resources in the eastern Himalayas. The documentation process involves
(a) documenting and evaluating indigenous strategies in shifting cultivation system in the eastern Himalayan region;
(b) understanding the most promising indigenous practices and human adaption mechanisms in the context which they are used; and
(c) illustrating experiences of productive fallow management and shifting cultivation systems.
Documentation will cover Myanmar, the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh, Bhutan, and northeast India. Gender will be given particular emphasis, since it is known that women play a primary role in subsistence farming in upland areas. Findings from this activity are envisioned to lead to a ‘farmer-based workshop’, which would be an opportunity for interface between researchers, farmers, and practitioners in each of the four target countries. In addition, a regional policy workshop to disseminate findings and influence policy makers’ perspectives about shifting cultivation will be held in Shillong City which is located in the northeast part of India.
ICIMOD is in search of individuals or institutions to act as focal points for documentation of indigenous knowledge and farmers’ innovations in shifting cultivation in each of four countries. Interested individuals are encouraged to contact ICIMOD not later than 15 February 2002, through email or postal mail.
Eklabya Sharma
Head, Mountain Farming Systems Division
Email: <e.sharma@icimod.org.np>
and
Atsuko Toda
Assistant Coordinator of the IFAD/ICIMOD Programme Email: <atoda@icimod.org.np>
Postal address and contact numbers:
ICIMOD
4/80 Jawalakhel, PO Box 3226, Kathmandu, Nepal
Tel no.: 977-1-525-313
Fax no.: 977-1-524-509
| ICIMOD’s
Objectives and Function The ICIMOD primarily aims to help promote the development of an economically and environmentally sound mountain ecosystem and to improve the living standards of mountain populations, especially in the HKH region. In pursuing its mandate, ICIMOD works mainly at the interface between research and development and acts as a facilitator for generating new mountain-specific knowledge relevant to mountain development. ICIMOD also attempts to ensure the sharing new knowledge among all relevant institutions, organizations, and individuals in the region. As such ICIMOD functions as
For more info on ICIMOD, visit: <http://www.icimod.org.np/> Ð |
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An Invitation to Join Documentation of Smallholder GMCC Systems in the Tropics
Milton Flores Barahona, Marcel Janssen and Ruud Kortekaas
T
he International Cover Crops Clearinghouse (CIDICCO), an NGO based in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, conducts an inventory of agricultural systems in the tropics including the use of leguminous (and nonleguminous) species as cover crops, green manures, or improved fallows, collectively called GMCCs. This is undertaken through a project entitled A Catalog of GMCC Systems Used by Smallholders of the Tropics, which is financially supported by the Rockefeller Foundation. The Project aims to explore potential cropping systems to improve productivity and sustainability of small-scale agriculture on marginal lands in the tropics.To gain a better understanding of smallholder GMCC cases in the tropics, proper documentation and description of various GMCC systems including both successful and unsuccessful cases are being initiated by the project. The prospective GMCC systems for documentation could be with or without formal support of extension or research agencies, as well as systems that are still under research but have been tested with farmers. The documentation of GMCC systems is facilitated though the use of a structured questionnaire designed by the Project team. This questionnaire comes in two forms (which could be downloaded from the internet):
MS Word format in electronic form – <http://www.cidicco.hn/survey_form.zip >
Adobe Acrobat format in printable form - <http://www.cidicco.hn/survey_eng.pdf>
Submission of Entries
The accomplished questionnaire could be submitted through the following channels:
1. Email to any of the following addresses: <mjanssen@bigfoot.com>, <cidicco@sdnhon.org.hn> or <rkortekaas@mayanet.hn>
2. Fax to 504-239-58593
3. Hard copy via airmail to CIDICCO, Aptdo. Postal 4443, Tegucigalpa. Honduras CA
Rewards for joining the Project
Individuals, groups, organizations or institutions who will join the documentation of GMCCs will receive from CIDICCO the following rewards:
CD-ROM, which contains the database;
Inclusion in the directory of individuals, institutions, and organizations involved in smallholder GMCC research; and
US$60.00 per GMCC case
CIDICCO looks forward to including you in our growing list of dynamic promoters of the use of GMCCs in the tropics. Your queries are welcome. You may send an e-mail to <cidicco@sdnhon.org.hn> for questions and clarifications. More power to you all!
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Fallow Management Initiatives in Vietnam
Chun K. Lai
Over the past 5 years, Southeast Asian countries have undertaken steps to study and/or document indigenous fallow management. In the Philippines, for instance, a 3-day national workshop on fallow documentation methodology was conducted on 17-19 May 1999. Details of this workshop are on pages 7, 8 and 9.
During the past few years in Vietnam, various fallow management initiatives have been spearheaded under the coordination of the Hanoi Agricultural University (HAU). These initiatives were developed as a follow-up to the international IFM workshop held in Bogor in 1997, as well as a response to the fact that very little attention had been given to the study of fallow management in Vietnam.
As an initial step, eight institutions collaborated during 1999-2000 to conduct an extensive literature review of fallow management-related research work in Vietnam.
These partners were:
1. Hanoi Agricultural University
2. Forest Science Institute of Vietnam
3. Xuan Mai National Forestry University
4. Tay Nguyen Central Highlands University
5. Institute of Ethnology
6. Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry
7. Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry
8. Department of Sedentarized Cultivation and New Economic Zones, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
This collaborative effort culminated in a draft synthesis report in Vietnamese, describing the country’s experiences on improved fallow management practices used by upland farming communities. The 100-page draft report highlighted swidden cultivation and fallow management in Vietnam. It also listed and described major government policies related to indigenous fallow management. In addition, the report also provided some recommendations for the improvement of the conduct of research, development, and extension of fallow management in Vietnam.
During 14-16 November 2000, a national workshop on Indigenous Fallow Management in Vietnam was held in Bac Kan Province, northern Vietnam. With support from the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA)-funded Vietnam Agroforestry Capacity-Building (VACB) Project, the Hanoi Agricultural University, the Vietnam Agricultural Science Institute and ICRAF jointly organized and facilitated this event.
The workshop aimed to evaluate the present status of swidden farming and fallow management in Vietnam, identify superior fallow management practices, increase the awareness of policymakers on the importance of fallow management, formulate possible future activities in IFM research and development; and publish an IFM synthesis report and workshop proceedings.
Highlights of the workshop included an overview and case study presentations on IFM policies, research activities, and promising practices in Vietnam – including perspectives from swidden farmers, field visits to see IFM activities in Cho Don District, and working group deliberations on future IFM directions and activities.
Participants came from different parts of Vietnam, representing swidden farming communities, research institutions, academe, policymakers, provincial departments of agriculture and rural development, NGOs, and international organizations and projects. The workshop proceedings have been published by HAU in Vietnamese.
These initiatives have been supported by small grants from the VACB Project. The initial phase of VACB was funded by the SIDA from May 1998 to June 2001 and implemented by Vietnamese partners and ICRAF. Through the VACB Project, ICRAF collaborates with an informal network of Vietnamese institutions and international organizations active in agroforestry. Within this network, collaborating scientists, researchers, trainers, and extension staff were given the opportunity to enhance their capacity to conduct research, development, and training on upland agroforestry and alternatives to slash-and-burn agriculture.
An expanded 5-year follow-up phase — entitled the Agroforestry Support Project for Vietnam and Lao PDR (ASP-V&L) — was approved by SIDA and became operational in July 2001.
For more information on fallow management initiatives in Vietnam, please contact Dr. Tran Duc Vien, director, Center for Agroecological and Environmental Studies, HAU.
<lenam@netnam.org.vn>. For more information on VACB/ASP-V&L, please contact Mr. Chun K. Lai, senior capacity-building specialist, ICRAF Southeast Asian Programme <ChunKLai@cs.com>. ÐReferences
Hanoi Agricultural University. 2000. Synthesis report of IFM in Vietnam. A draft report compiled by Hanoi Agricultural University, Vietnam.
Hanoi Agricultural University. 2001. Proceedings of the National Workshop on Indigenous Fallow Management in Vietnam, 14-16 November 2000, Bac Kan, Vietnam. Hanoi Agricultural University, Vietnam (in Vietnamese).
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The Alternatives to Slash and Burn (ASB) Programme: An Overview
The Alternatives to Slash and Burn (ASB) Programme works on the assumption that the development of agroforestry-based forms of intensified land use as an alternative to slash-and-burn can help alleviate poverty and improve human welfare. By identifying alternatives to slash-and-burn and providing options from which farmers can choose, the ASB Programme aims to provide benefits from household to global scales.
ASB is a system-wide initiative of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. Since it began in 1992, the Programme has developed into a consortium of nine international research centers and 62 national research institutes, universities and other government and nongovernment organizations. ICRAF is the convening centre for ASB because there is a close link between agroforestry options and alternatives to unsustainable slash-and-burn practices.
ICRAF contributes to the ASB Programme through its researches in the humid ecoregions of Latin America, and Southeast Asia and the humid lowlands of West Africa. In Indonesia, the peneplain zone of Sumatra is ASB’s focus of interest, with research sites in Jambi and North Lampung. Associated research is carried out in West Lampung (Krui) and West Kalimantan. The Mae Chaem watershed in Thailand and Claveria and Lantapan in the Philippines were also chosen as ASB benchmark sites.
This information was accessed at
<http://www.icraf.cgiar.org/sea/Seaasb/ASBSEA>.