Defoer, T. and A. Budelman (Eds) 2000. Managing Soil Fertility in The Tropics: A Resource Guide for Participatory Learning and Action Research.. Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) Institute in collaboration with IIED, IER, FAO and CTA.

Gündel, S. 1998. Innovación, desarrollo y difusión participativas: Adopción y adaptación de leguminosas introducidas en el sistema agrícola tradicional de rozatumba y quema en Yucatán, México. Begleitprogramm Tropenökologie, GTZ, Eschborn, Germany.

CIAT (Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical) JIRCAS (Japanese Internacional Research Center for Agricultural Science); PRGA Program. 2002. Proc. Workshop on “How participatory research can complement conventional research approaches”, held in Tsukuba, Japan, 4-8 march 2002. (CD-Rom).

Snapp, S.S., G. Kanyama-Phiri, B. Kamanga, R. Gilbert and K. Wellard. 2002. Farmer and researcher partnerships in Malawi: developing soil fertility technologies for the near-term and far-term. Experimental Agriculture Forthcoming

Conroy, C., Y. Thakur and M. Vadher. 2002. The efficacy of participatory development of technologies: experiences with resource-poor goat-keepers in India. Livestock Research for Rural Development 14(3) 2002.The adoption by resource-poor livestock-keepers of technologies developed by livestock and forage researchers has been poor. It has been argued that a participatory approach to technology development can help to ensure that new technologies are more appropriate to livestock-keepers’ needs and circumstances, and hence increase the likelihood of adoption. This paper describes trials conducted in India by a goat research project that adopted a participatory approach, and assesses to what extent the postulated benefits of participatory technology development have been realised, and the factors affecting this. It describes trials involving two of the most promising technologies developed by the project. It then discusses: (a) the prospects for adoption of these and other technologies investigated by the project; (b) methodological issues relating to control groups; and (c) the challenges associated with achieving a high degree of participation by livestock-keepers. Finally, it identifies what conclusions can be drawn, and lessons learned, from the project’s experiences.

Horne, P. and W. Stür. 2003. Developing agricultural solutions with smallholder farmers -- how to get started with participatory approaches. ACIAR Monograph No. 99 120 pp.Contents1 - Before you start2- Why should I use participatory approaches3 - A participatory approach that has worked for us- Selecting villages- Agreeing on issues - Participatory Diagnosis- Searching for technology options with the focus-group- Testing and evaluating options - starting small- Reporting back to the village- Integrating promising solutions on farms- Reaching other farmers in the village- Sharing successful technologies with other villages4 - Communication and facilitation skills- Why is it important to be neutral?- What type of questions should I use?- How do I facilitate group meetings?- Using cards to analyse ideas5 - Tools- Ranking,scoring and weighting- Village walks- Village resource maps- Wealth analysis- Historical calendars- Seasonal calendars- Problem-cause diagrams- Preference analysis6 - Just do it!7 - Where can I get more information

van de Fliert, E and A. R. Braun 2001. Conceptualizing Integrative, Farmer Participatory Research for Sustainable Agriculture: From Opportunities to Impact. Working Document No. 16. PRGA Program. Cali, Colombia.

McDougall, C., Isbadi, I.R., Santoso, L., Corless, M. and Purnomo, H. (eds.) The CIFOR Criteria and Indicators Resource Book DatabaseThe CIFOR Criteria and Indicators Resource Book Database offers information on attributes; definitions, relevance, method for assessment, how to go about measuring a particular indicator, how to design a sample plot etc. The Resource Book Database is a work in progress at CIFOR and subject to further improvements.

Kanyama-Phiri, G.,S. Snapp, B. Kamanga and K. Wellard. 2000. Towards integrated soil fertility management in Malawi: incorporating participatory approaches in agricultural research. IIED Series on Managing Africa's Soils. No. 11.In order to effectively develop integrated soil fertility management strategies and disseminate the resulting technologies, we need new approaches that will enable farmers and researchers to build working partnerships. Participatory research is one option, but it is often considered too time-consuming and criticised for not generating quantitative data. Researchers in Malawi have taken up the challenge to overcome these constraints, and have developed both a short-term and a longer-term approach to participatory research. This paper describes the various steps followed in two case studies that followed each approach. The short-term approach tested and disseminated ‘best bet’ technologies in target villages in four different agro-ecological zones. Over three years researchers developed a ‘mother & baby’ satellite trial that was designed to meet both their own and farmers’ requirements. They used innovative trial designs and consultative methods, and in many sites obtained promising results from on-farm trials with intensified cropping systems incorporating legumes. Biological performance was measured against the farmers’ assessments of the new technologies, and farmers also stressed the importance of testing a range of options, such as a wide range of legumes grown with small amounts of mineral fertiliser. The longer-term programme was implemented over a period of more than five years. This involved a participatory, community-oriented approach to work in a watershed located in a densely populated area of southern Malawi. The research addressed the problem of eroded slopes used by farmers with limited access to resources. It was difficult to make progress on these degraded sites: maize generally performed very poorly on the steep slopes, and without nitrogen fertiliser the legume-based technologies were not very productive. In flatter areas and valleys the Sesbania sesban inter-crop system produced the highest yields, but the drawback of this system was that it required the highest investment in terms of labour. We believe that it is important for researchers and farm advisors to have a long-term commitment to working with farm communities, particularly for problematic areas such as the eroded, degraded sites and small land holdings typified by the Songani watershed in Southern Malawi. Our findings indicate that there is considerable scope for using participatory research methods to develop more appropriate technologies. These two case studies show how farmers’ input can be incorporated regularly into the early stages of research. Policy makers may need to be drawn into this work as well, as there appear to be no easy answers to the problems posed by degraded sites. Dissemination of ‘best bet’ technologies for other, better-endowed sites may also benefit from policy interventions.

cSnapp, S. 2003. Quantifying Farmer Evaluation of Technologies: The Mother and Baby Trial Design In: Bellon, M.R. and J. Reeves, (eds.). Quantitative Analysis of Data from Participatory Methods in Plant Breeding. Mexico, DF: CIMMYT.

Onduru, D., G.N. Gachini, A. de Jager and J-M. Diop. 1999. Participatory Research on Compost and Liquid Manure in Kenya. IIED Series on Managing Africa's Soils.No. 8.Soil fertility is declining in Kenya’s low potential areas. Soil fertility management technologies which are more appropriate to farmers’ socio-economic circumstances are needed. This paper presents the methodology and results of an on-farm experiment with the use of compost and liquid manure on maize, using a Participatory Technology Development (PTD) approach. One group comprised conventional farmers while the second comprised farmers using a Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture (LEISA) approach. The study shows that with this approach, farmers and researchers can come to agreement on technologies to be tested, treatments and research design.

Gündel, S. 1998. Participatory Innovation Development and Diffusion: Adoption and adaption of introduced legumes in the traditional slash-and-burn peasant farming system in Yucatan, Mexico. Begleitprogramm Tropenökologie, GTZ, Eschborn, Germany.

Baltissen,G., E. Wabwile, M. Kooijman and T. Defoer. 2000. IIED Series on Managing Africa's Soils. No. 20. Facilitating Learning Processes in Agricultural Extension: lessons from Western Kenya.

Ashby, J, J. Beltran, T. Gracia, M. Guerrero, C. Quiros, J. Roa, C. Trujillo and F. Escobar. 1993. Cartillas para Comites de Investigacion Agricola Local 1-13/. Primers for Local Agricultural Research Committees 1-13 (translated by A. Braun). CIAT, Cali, Colombia.