INSARD (INcluding Smallholders in Agricultural Research for Development) is an EU-funded project that is working towards making it easier for civil-society organisations (CSOs) – both non-governmental organisations and farmer organisations – to be actively involved in influencing agricultural research systems in Africa.
Involving CSOs in agricultural research for development (ARD) is a great way for scientists to understand the needs of small-scale farmers. Such organisations are important for shaping ARD because, to have a positive impact on small-scale farmers, the research needs to involve them at all stages: in determining needs, identifying problems and opportunities, designing and testing new possibilities, sharing results, and assessing the way the research is done and the results shared.
Incorporating small-scale farmers into ARD in this way will help to better serve their needs and to discover and spread innovations that farmers have been involved in developing.
Some CSOs are already involved in ARD in different parts of Africa, but they know little about what each other is doing. Their efforts to influence the wider research agenda are not well coordinated. We try to help change that by:
Designing a method that allows CSOs to participate effectively in regional and international discussions on ARD Linking European and African CSOs trying to influence ARD policy and practice Helping CSOs define research priorities and the best way to communicate these priorities to researchers and policymakers Starting to design research interaction between scientists and CSOs, firmly based on small-scale farmers’ demands Working with key African and European research organisations and donors to strengthen demand-driven ARD and to increase funds for such research.