• Agricultural credit

Agricultural credit and insurance

This document reviews the demand-led participatory model of farmer research and extension implemented by FARM-Africa Tanzania in their Babati Rural Development Research project (2000–2005). Farmer Participatory Research (FPR) was formally incorporated as a component in the project operating district-wide in 2000, following the success of earlier FPR-type work by FARM-Africa and demand from farmer groups across the district. The review describes the project’s approach, evolution and impact, as well as identifying remaining challenges for developing the model.

The paper highlights two important two key methodological differences in the FPR approach as compared to the earlier crop improvement work:

• farmers themselves identified the problems to be addressed, rather than the project
• Farmer Research Groups (FRGs) were formed through a process of village selection rather than by the project with the local extension officer.

The project’s approach to FPR involved a six-step process including:

• group formation (two to three farmers per sub-village for a 12 member FRG) by village selection
• leadership election
• planning (including selecting technologies for testing and capacity building)
• design of on-farm trials/plots
• implementation of on-farm trials (including exchange between groups and training foragricultural innovation)
• dissemination and information sharing to other farmers (each FRG member trains three to five other farmers, two field days/season, exchange visits).

The review finds that the project had a considerable impact in terms of the productivity improvements of the innovations tested through on-farm trials with 24 farmer research Groups, leading to a substantial degree of uptake by farmers outside the research groups.

Specific findings include:

• the impact of FPR work, diversification into vegetable production, seed multiplication, linkage with research partners, seed certification agencies, seed retailers and Multiflower Seeds has been particularly effective and is highly regarded by both farmers and partner agencies
• the relevance and impact of technologies tested to farmer priorities has created social capital amongst the groups and a motivation from group members
• there is a need for specific additional capacity building and more direct training and continuous mentoring, especially of their committees, in the critical early stages of their credit activities and in their first credit recovery phase
• remaining challenges in developing the model primarily revolve around issues related to extending FPR to priorities not yet addressed, the strengthening of microfinance institutions and the enhancement of smallholder marketing capacity
  

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