Lilja, N. and J.A. Ashby. 1999. Types of participatory research based on locus of decision making. Working Document No. 6. PRGA Program. Cali, Colombia.

Lilja, N. and J.A. Ashby. 1999. Types of gender analysis in natural resource management and plant breeding. Working Document No. 8. PRGA Program, Cali, Colombia.The objective of the gender/stakeholder analysis is to assess what can be done to better involve all stakeholders in the innovation process. This assessment requires considering what patterns affect development among the stakeholders, analyzing what activities different types of stakeholders carry out, and assessing what resources different stakeholders have to work with. Gender and stakeholder analysis does not always directly provide answers to agricultural production or natural resource management problems, but it provides means for raising questions about links between and among different stakeholders and agricultural production or natural resource management. Moreover, carefully conducted and documented gender/stakeholder analysis provides convincing basis for developing strategies to incorporate gender issues that are key to the success of development efforts. (For gender analysis frameworks see for example: Wilde and Vainio-Mattila 1995; Lingen 1997) Similarly, a sound assessment of impacts of gender/stakeholder analysis provides convincing evidence on effectiveness of gender/stakeholder analysis on meeting the overall goals of the development.

Vernooy, R. 200. Seeds that Give: Participatory plant breeding. IDRC. ISBN 1-55250-014-4. 100 pp.Today’s agriculture is like a huge inverted pyramid; globally, it rests on a precariously narrow base. Less than three percent of the 250 000 plant varieties available to agriculture are in use today. The top-down system of agricultural research, where farmers are seen merely as recipients of research rather than as participants in it, has contributed to this dependence on a relatively few plant varieties. This trend, and the increasing industrialization of agriculture, are key factors in what can only be called genetic erosion.A new approach to agricultural research and development is needed in order to conserve agricultural diversity, improve crops, and produce food of quality for all. This publication examines this new approach to agricultural research in light of 10 years of support by IDRC for projects promote agricultural biodiversity and participatory plant breeding. It examines key issues in detail, from the research questions, design of on-farm research to farmers’ and plant breeders’ rights. It argues for the development of new, supportive policies and legislation. A series of project stories illustrates how farmers and plant breeders are working together in remote regions from the Andes to the Himalayas and beyond. Analysing the results — both the successes and the shortcomings — of a decade of research, the author comes up with a series of specific recommendations for governments and organizations involved in agricultural research and development. Finally the author takes a speculative look 10 years into the future of participatory plant breeding.This book also serves as the focal point for an IDRC thematic web site on participatory plant breeding: www.idrc.ca/seeds. The full text is available online and leads the reader into a virtual web of resources that explores a decade of research on agrobiodiversity and participatory plant breeding.

Grupo de Trabajo sobre Fitomejoramiento, Programa de Investigacion Participativa y Analisis de Genero. 2000. Pautas para desarrollar programas de fitomejoramiento participativo. Documento de Trabajo No. 1 (v3). Programa IPAG. Cali Colombia.

Bellon, M.R. 2001. Participatory Research Methods for Technology Evaluation: A Manual for Scientists Working with Farmers. Mexico, D.F.: CIMMYT. ISBN: 970-648-066-8

Bellon, M.R. 2003. Métodos de investigación participativa para evaluar tecnologías:Manual para científicos que trabajan con agricultores. Mexico, D.F. CIMMYT. ISBN: 970-648-097-8

Almekinders, C. 2001. Management of Crop Genetic Diversity at Community Level. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ).This report presents a conceptual framework for providing support to community management of agrobiodiversity. This topic has become an important issue for Technical Co-operation for two reasons. Firstly, because access to and availability of a diversity of plant and animal genetic resources are directly related to poverty, and offer potential for sustainable agricultural development. Secondly, the recognized value of agrobiodiversity that is managed by smallscale farmers in developing countries for humankind in general has underpinned the importance of conserving agrobiodiversity. The commitment of governments in the North and the South to support rural communities in the in-situ management of agrobiodiversity is laid down in the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) and other international treaties. This report starts from the premise that sustainable community management of agrobiodiversity is necessarily based on farmers' needs and priorities. Only when addressing farmers’ needs communities can be expected to utilize and maintain agrobiodiversity in a sustainable way. Recognition of the relationship between sustainable rural livelihood and maintenance of agrobiodiversity indicates that supporting the management of agrobiodiversity includes a wide range of activities. It covers the crops and seeds in farmers’ fields, and also includes marketing, empowering, and institutional and policy issues. Agrobiodiversity management is therefore a cross-cutting topic, relevant to all who are involved in community development.This report recognizes three entry points for the support of community management of agrobiodiversity: the community level, institutional level, and policy level. Together, these support-options can be considered as a basket of conceptual elements that can be integrated in programmes and projects. The conceptual elements are relevant for any organization and do not specifically refer to Technical Co-operation. Only the roles of institutional support and capacity building refer more specifically to options for International Technical Co-operation.