Failures in agricultural innovation due to poor understanding of farmers’ predispositions

ABSTRACT

Development projects in Madagascar have increased and evolved for half a century, yet they have failed to enhance farmers’ performances. Related literature attributes the causes of failure as external to the project instigators, who are mostly institutions and funders. This article aims to highlight the role of development agents and their responsibility in unsuccessful projects. Participant observation of participatory learning and action research conducted in the Malagasy highlands revealed that non-consideration of the target audience’s rationale makes the innovation processes provided by development projects obsolete.

KEYWORDS:

• Aid – Aid effectiveness
• Capacity development
• Environment (built and natural) – Agriculture
• Civil society – Participation
• Technology – ICT
• Sub-Saharan Africa

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the coordinators and staff members of the VLIR research project conducted in Madagascar from 2009 to 2014 who hosted the PLAR developed for this study. We are very grateful to VLIR for making scientific outcomes accessible to potential practitioners. We also thank the devoted farmers for their patience during the project. We are truly sorry to have not been able to maintain the innovation process any longer.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Onjaherilanto R. Razanakoto is an agronomist affiliated to the School of Agronomical and Environmental Sciences, University of Antananarivo, Madagascar. He was an engineer in the VLIR project, responsible for fieldwork and socio-economic aspects.

Rolland Razafindraibe is Director of the Economics and Social Sciences Department at the National Centre of Applied Research to Rural Development (FOFIFA) of Madagascar. He is a specialist in land tenure security in rural areas.

Andry Andriamananjara is a scientist working on nutrient availability and carbon dynamic in tropical agroecosystems at Laboratoire des Radioisotopes, University of Antananarivo. He was involved in the VLIR project as a research engineer.

Marie-Paule Razafimanantsoa is a research assistant at Laboratoire des Radioisotopes, University of Antananarivo. She was a VLIR staff member during the project.

Tovohery Rakotoson has a PhD in bioscience engineering, agriculture, and conducted his research within the VLIR project. He is currently a Research Fellow at the Laboratoire des Radioisotopes, University of Antananarivo.

Erik Smolders is a full Professor at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL), Belgium. His research focuses on bioavailability of contaminants and plant nutrients in soils and water, environmental risk assessment, and soil fertility evaluation.

Lilia Rabeharisoa is a soil scientist, specialising in the study of phosphorus nutrient and fertilisation of agrosystems. She is a former Director of the Laboratoire des Radioisotopes, University of Antananarivo.

ORCID

Onjaherilanto Razanakoto http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4367-3267

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Flemish Interuniversity Council for University Development Cooperation under grant number ZEIN2009PR366.