Background
There is widespread concern that despite the
existence of an impressive array of improved
technologies and methods generated by NARO and
other research institutions, farmers have not
adopted many of the technologies. The reasons
are varied, but in most cases the improved practices
are either unavailable or inappropriate to the
circumstances of specific categories of farmers,
particularly the poor.
Farmers
continue to rely on traditional methods that
lead to low levels of productivity and contribute
to an attrition of the natural resource base.
Such ineffectiveness and irrelevance of technologies
are due to a lack of adequate interface between
research and extension, on the one hand, and
farmers on the other. Even when technologies
and knowledge are relevant, they are not widely
taken up by farmers, suggesting a lack of resources
and ineffectiveness in the transfer of technologies.
Most
research institutes now utilize adaptive research
approaches as integral components of research
project planning and implementation. The Institute
realised that their impact could be increased
mainly through scaling up off-station adaptive
research and expanding linkages with extension
staff, NGOs and CBOs and mounting joint demonstration
activities in communities adjacent to on-farm
trial sites.
The
current set up of NARO and its research institutes
is not well suited to respond effectively to
these challenges. Most of the institutes were
established in and around Kampala, making it
difficult for farmers in other regions distant
from the institutes to participate and benefit.
The challenge for NARO and other organisations,
which constitute Uganda's Agricultural Knowledge
and Information System (AKIS) is to develop
efficient means of empowering farmers to make
demands on agricultural service providers and
to improve the capacities of those providers
(including NARO) to respond to the demands.
Through a process of mutual learning, NARO seeks
to develop affordable ways of broadening farmer
participation in these new processes.
Uganda
can no longer rely solely on public delivery
of services and therefore an expansion in the
private sector involvement in the provision
of agricultural research services is envisaged.
The number of NGOs with agricultural programmes
has increased rapidly in recent years, although
the geographical and commodity or subject area
coverage remains limited.
NAADS
will provide additional support to enable local
authorities to make effective demands on agricultural
service providers. However, very few service
providers engage in agricultural technology
and knowledge generation . Research services
remain predominantly in the public domains.
Most farmers do not get the materials, information
and associated agricultural services that could
assist them to escape poverty. NARO will therefore
build on the current and past experience, involve
the private sector, NGOs, NAADS and farmers
in generating appropriate technologies that
could lift farm families out of poverty and
contribute to the modernisation of the agricultural
sector.
There
are a number of programmes, past and present
that provide positive guidance in designing
an outreach strategy. For example, NARO's Cassava
Programme successfully established the National
Network of Cassava Workers (NANEC) to organise
research, extension and farmer linkages (Otim-Nape
et al., 1994). The experiences of several organisations
contain features that are being selectively
incorporated into NARO's own strategy and plan
of action.
Objectives
NARO as the main public research institution
has a statutory obligation to provide relevant
and effective research services to the farmers.
Specifically, NARO must help ensure that technologies
acceptable to farmers are identified, developed
and disseminated. Toward this end, the Outreach
Initiative will seek to expand direct contact
with farmer groups, including the existing Farmer
Research Groups (FRGs), which NARO staff has
been working with for several years. These grass
root level organisations offer the best opportunity
for NARO to understand farmer constraints and
requirements; and for effective collaboration
in addressing the demands of these clients.
Although
some direct interaction between research staff
and farmer groups is regarded as essential,
NARO's capacity will necessary limit direct
contacts to a relatively few groups and areas.
Interactions with most farmers will necessarily
involve other public and private sector service
providers, including extension staff, NGOs and
commercial firms. Hence, a major objective of
the Outreach Initiative is the development of
a network of relationships with service providers
throughout the country and more generally to
dramatically improve the flow of information
from and to farmers via these agencies.
The
Outreach Initiative gives expression to NARO's
policy of decentralisation by posting of scientists
to each of the 12 agro-ecological zones in the
country. Zonal programmes of activities will
be defined by zonal stakeholders and guided
by steering committees in each of the zones.
They will seek support from local agencies and
authorities for these activities in an effort
to ensure that most of their activities are
'demand driven'. NARO's outreach strategy seeks
to build a strong community spirit and ownership
among clients by employing participatory approaches
in all aspects of its activities. Concurrently,
the Outreach Initiative incorporates measures
to ensure strong, working relationships between
zonal teams and scientists at the institutes.
NARO's
Outreach Initiative must be sustainable while
being in line with government policies of decentralisation,
privatisation, commercialisation, liberalisation
and democratisation and be fully compliant with
the PMA.
The
Outreach Initiative has been developed in consultation
with representatives of NAADS, donor agencies
and other stakeholders at the national and zonal
levels. The form of the Initiative will continue
to evolve in response to local requirements,
capacities and experiences as well as adjustments
in national policies and programmes. Accordingly,
NARO will seek to ensure that the Outreach Initiative
retains a degree of flexibility and that its
programmes can be adjusted by zonal steering
committees.
