3D. SOME ISSUES TO CONSIDER WHEN PLANNING OR ASSESSING
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT OR REHABILITATION PROGRAMMES
This section is concerned with issues which aid and development agencies, and their
staff working “in the field”, agricultural students, health staff concerned with nutrition
and others may wish to have a think about when they are attempting to understand the
agricultural situation in an area of interest.
The agricultural situation can be viewed from many perspectives, and it is important
that field workers have some understanding of at least some of these perspectives, or
“issues”, if they are to respond in a way which is aware of the predicaments and useful
to the people they are attempting to assist. Field workers can usually only discover the
answers to a few of the issues raised—time is always too short, there are often language
and cultural bridges to cross, and the worker may not be sufficiently well motivated to
get to the root of these fundamental issues. The following pages attempt to clarify some
of the questions that can be asked in order to either assess, or intervene in, an
agricultural system.
For any agricultural programme to succeed it is always important to spend plenty of
time talking with the local farmers. After all, it is the farmers on the spot who have the
best understanding of the problems in their area, and who hold the key to finding the
best solutions.
One current approach is to hold sessions called “farmer led discussions”; the
problems are discussed by the farmers themselves and the outsiders are just there to
facilitate and to listen and take note. This is part of the process known as Participatory
Rural Appraisal (PRA), a process of careful interviewing and observation to unlock the
principal factors involved.
Below are listed some of the issues to consider when planning to either study, or
intervene in, an agricultural system, under 14 headings:
Cropping Calendar, Climatic Data, Agricultural Practices, Land Area, Nutrition,
The questions following each issue are in italics, followed by notes on action which
may be taken, and other comments.
- Cropping
- What types of crops are normally grown in the area?
List crops in order of importance, including local names. Make sure that the species
(and variety names, if available) are correctly identified.
these times?
Give ranges, eg “October–November, 75% in November”, “all year round, mainly in
May–June”.
See1Ga, “Cropping Calendar”, page 59. Rainfall is normally the most critical factor.
Seed, Logistics, Soils, Altitude, Harvest, Markets, Livestock, Other Agencies/
NGOs and Information Bank.
GROWING FOOD – THE FOOD PRODUCTION HANDBOOK 317
- When are these crops normally planted and harvested? Why are they planted at