Demonstrations of an interdisciplinary approach to planning adaptive agricultural research programmes

Abstract

The Ministry of Lands and Agriculture, Zambia, expressed interese in this approach to planning adaptive agricultural experimental programmes and cooperated with Cimmyt to demonstrate it in part of Serenje District. Chapter one describes the background to the demonstration and Cimmyt's programme objectives and methodology. Chapter two describes farmers' circumstances in the study area. Chapter three describes farmers' objectives, lays emphasis on their subsistence priorities and their limited resource endowments of capital and labour. While there is plenty of land there is also the problem of rapid soil degradation. Chapters four and five give the details of farming activity in the zone and chapter six evaluates the way the system is developing and opportunities for its further improvement.