This report provides an overview of the findings from a Farmer Innovation Study conducted by Find Your Feet in 2011, in the district of Rumphi, Malawi. This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The aim of the study was to acknowledge the creativity and ingenuity of smallholder farmers in Malawi and to reaffirm the valuable role that they play in the development and dissemination of new agricultural technologies, approaches and systems.
The study findings demonstrate that farmers in Rumphi are continually experimenting, adapting and innovating, in order to find new and better means of production and organisation to address the challenges they face, such as increasing demand, constrained natural resources, and the impacts of climate change and HIV and AIDS.
The report showcases a range of farmer innovations and calls for greater recognition of the knowledge and practice of farmers, wider dissemination of successful farmer innovations, and improved dialogue and collaboration between all actors involved in agricultural extension and innovation. In short, it calls for a democratisation of agricultural development, enabling the voices of resource-poor farmers to be heard.
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