Learning to work with and for local people

As income and food security have increased for many agricultural communities, the challenge of environmental protection and natural resource management has taken centre stage. Addressing this challenge requires a new approach that involves understanding and sharing of knowledge about livelihood outcomes directly benefiting the poor, enabling the poor to engage in agricultural production while conserving natural resources on a long-term basis, and facilitating joint learning and action within and among local communities. Besides simply transferring technology, the goal of agricultural Research and Development (R & D) has become more complex and emphasis on sustainable management of natural resources has increased.

A number of R & D organizations around the world have adopted the concept of Participatory Research and Development (PR & D) in an effort to capture the essence of this approach. PR & D was also the focus of a collaborative regional programme for capacity development in South Asia.