Participatory client-orientation of research in low-input cropping systems of Ethiopia: a viewpoint

It is argued that agricultural research in Ethiopia has failed to yield the desired impact because of inadequate understanding of farmers' circumstances in the research process. Of recent, stronger participation of the client farmers in order to influence of focus and content of the research has been suggested. The clients in Ethiopia by and large are small-scale subsistence farmers with little resources. It is often advocated that low-input based research results in environmentally healthy low-cost technologies that would easily be adopted by the low-income clients, in the end improving their livelihoods. This paper contends that low-input based research may not result in the intended livelihood improvements, but instead exacerbates the misery of the poor and environmental malady. Lack of client-orientation was not the only cause of past failures and therefore cannot be a future panacea. Rather the lack of skillbase and motivation for cutting-edge technology development research and the lack of the wherewithal for expanded adoption of inputs particularly chemical fertilizers were the major roadblocks to making progress. Past successful cases of agricultural research services in the country were associated with technical than methodological innovation, in the presence of a strong backstopping from international centers of excellence in agricultural research particularly CIMMYT. Future successes are also more likely to result from an improved skill-base and commitment particularly of the biological scientists in understanding the biophysical challenges to raising crop yields on smallholder farms in this environment and heretofore providing a better research service. Closing the current gap in food supply and meeting future demands of the growing population from a shrinking land area per person requires a high level of input use mainly nitrogen fertilizer. Depending on the extent of N use efficiency, cereal nitrogen fertilizer use in Ethiopia is expected to grow 4 to 6 fold from the current level of 82000 metric tons if the minimum food requirements were to be met from domestic production by the year 2010. It is suggested that research should focus on maximizing input use efficiency than minimizing input use.