Can agricultural research and extension be used to challenge the processes of exclusion and marginalisation?

ABSTRACT

Purpose: This paper examines if and how agricultural researchers and extension officers can see, understand and change processes that exclude some people and influence marginalisation.

Design and methodology: We used participatory action research (PAR) in a programme building sustainable farming practices for nutrition and income in Solomon Islands as our case study. Two qualitative PAR data streams were analysed: (i) documentation of community activities over three years including action planning, learning activities, training workshops, focus group discussions, key informant and informal interviews and (ii) documentation of the research teams’ own learning and reflection sessions.

Findings: Agricultural research and learning activities facilitated through PAR can help researchers and extension officers see, understand and challenge processes that cause social exclusion and marginalisation and lead to inequitable access to agricultural opportunities. A combination of (i) starting with a collective vision; (ii) facilitating systematic reflection exercises; and (iii) having locally tuned facilitators creating safe spaces; makes processes of social exclusion tangible, discussable and ultimately actionable, illustrating the potential of the research and extension processes to facilitate social change in real time.

Theoretical Implications: The paper makes a contribution to the growing body of theory and literature on innovation systems and people-centred approaches to agricultural development, by highlighting the facilitation challenges and opportunities that can create more learning focused and power-aware agricultural programming.

Practical Implications: Our approach, examined in this paper, can improve implementation of policies such as the Solomon Islands Agriculture and Livestock Sector Policy (2015–2019), which aims for active participation of women and youth in agricultural development.

Originality: Using a PAR approach to discover how agricultural research and extension activities can help transform the processes that cause social exclusion and create disadvantage and marginalisation.

KEYWORDS:

• Marginalisation
• social exclusion
• participatory action research
• reflection
• collective learning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Michelle Rice was a knowledge sharing and learning researcher working with WorldFish at the time of this research. She is currently with UNRWA in Gaza working with Palestine refugees. She has extensive experience working on international humanitarian and development programmes and with marginalised people. Her research experience and interests include participatory action research and collaborative learning.

J. Marina Apgar was knowledge sharing and learning scientist at WorldFish and responsible for the design and implementation of PAR in the AAS program. She is currently Research Fellow in Participation at the Institute of Development Studies and her research interests are in learning from use of participatory approaches as vehicles for engaging with complex social-ecological systems and supporting transformative change. She has extensive experience working in multiple contexts with marginalised communities.

Anne-Maree Schwarz is a scientist working in small-scale fisheries and was Program leader at WorldFish Solomon Islands at the time of this research. She is currently Team Leader Mekem Strong Solomon Islands Fisheries Programme and is a Senior Fellow at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security, University of Wollongong. She has extensive experience working in research teams with rural communities in Solomon Islands.

Enly Saeni was a social science researcher at WorldFish, Solomon Islands during this research. He is currently completing a Masters in Sociology at the University of Hawaii. He has experience of research and development with organisations in Solomon Islands.

Helen Teioli is a gender researcher at WorldFish, Solomon Islands. She has been part of an international team developing the WorldFish gender research program over recent years.

Notes

1. The CGIAR is an international consortium of 16 independent agricultural research organisations focusing on poverty reduction.

2. See http://www.communitylifecompetence.org/en/ for more information.

3. We saw community members – farmers, fishers and community groups – as our partners in the research and called them co-researchers. The intention was to build their research capacity and our relationship as a partner.

4. Fumamato’o can be spelled in several ways, including Fumato’o which is considered an abbreviated version.

5. Lead farmers is a term used within Solomon Islands to refer to farmers trained by local NGO Kastom Garden Association to teach others.