Early Farming Systems Research and Extension experience in Africa and possible relevance for FSR in Europe

Abstract

Early forms of FSR/E, including farm economic analysis, participatory, on–farm trial methods and gender analysis, began with experiences in Africa, Asia and Latin America. These approaches were initially driven by economists and other social scientists who were exploring more ef fi cient ways of developing ‘off-station and on–farm’ research and development that was more relevant to the lives and livelihoods of poorer, small-scale farmers. However, they also addressed the key issues of: building on historical research experiences, developing more appropriate organisational structures, tackling major inter–institutional relationships, and supporting the training of the next generation of systems researchers. Indications from these experiences were that there might have been many relevant lessons generated for European Farming Systems Research and extension systems, and for the continuing education of the next generation of systems researchers. However, major changes in world and regional food policies, funding streams, trade and power relations has meant that the application of the basic principles and the learning processes have been very different in the European context.