Guidelines For Training In Rapid Appraisal For Agroforestry Research And Extension

These guidelines are for training research and extension personnel in rapid appraisal methods for development of agroforestry in peasant land use systems. The guidelines are illustrated through reference to a training and research exercise where an agropastoral farming system in Shurugwi Communal Area, Zimbabwe was appraised in 1998.Four key principles underlie the methods used:* agroforestry interventions are identified and developed through working with and learning from farmers and the local community, as well as through conventional research assessment - "interactive research"* interactive research is best learned through real application not lectures or classroom exercises and simulations - "learning by doing"* "interdisciplinary" is a key to successful interactive research* agroforestry interventions are developed from an understanding of constraints and conflicts existing within the rural community over access to production resources.Nick Abel is a Lecturer in Natural Resources at the School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia with twenty years of research experience in rural East, Central and Southern Africa; Mike Drinkwater is a lecturer in Rural Sociology for Developing countries at the Agricultural University in Wageningen, The Netherlands and was formerly working with the Departments of Physical Planning and Agricultural, Technical and Extension Services in Zimbabwe; Julie Ingram is a soil scientist with experience in developing countries in Africa and Asia; Jonathan Okafor is the Chief Conservator of Forests in Enugu, Nigeria; and Roslyn Prinsley is the Project Officer for Agricultural Sciences at the Commonwealth Science Council in London, UK.