Learning about sustainability
Resourcepoor fanerc often tind themselves "ttapped', in extractive ways ot
faming. They do not know what to do. This afticle describes a participatory
process for NGOSto assist farmers get out of the trap. llsing a set of
sustainability indicators famers and NGOstalf bninstorm ways to expe ment
with, and monitor changes in, the sustainabitity ot their farming system. This
prccess was developed over three years of collaboative work between tarmers
in two communities of Cavite province, the philippines, the tnternational
lnstitute of Rural Reconstruction and the lnternational Center for Living
Aquati c Re€ou rces ManagemenL
Estimatingindicators
Estimatingsome of the indicatorsis easy.
For instance,the numberotspeciesand the
numberof llows can be obtainedby simply
countingthe speciesiconsand flow arrows
on the diagram. However,estimatingthe
amountof biomassproducedon allthe natural resourcetypesand profitis muchharder. To estimatebiomassDroduced.farmers
must not only remember all the harvests
trom each naturalresourcetype and allthe
Mary-AnnBimbao,TeresitaLopez Bioresourceflows
wastematerialstakenlor recycling,but also
and Clive Lightfoot
Data for making a kite diagram can be
estimatethe changesin standingbiomass
obtainedby preparinga "bioresourceflow olthe materialsleftbehind- how muchlargdiagram" and estimatingvalues for each er hasthe herdgrown,how much largerare
indicator.A bio-resourceflow diagram,as
the trees?These are not easy estimatesto
ecauseall of us know so littleabout shown in Figure2, is drawn by first sketch- make.Moreover,if estimatesare attempted
-'
sustainabilityit is ditlicult to pre- ing cross-sectionsof each naturalresource for each species then the task quickly
tscribe
ways to measureit. Whar we
type that is used by the household(eg. flat
becomesimpossible.Lumpingspeciesinto
can do though, is start a process to leam
lowlands, sloping uplands, ponds, and groups gets us around this problem. We
about it. Such leaming experiences streams)."Use" here does not only referto
lump all livestockspecies,all tree species
improveour undersiandingand, over time, land owned but also commonpropertyand and all crop species together. While this
makefarmingpracticesmoresustainable.
open accessresourcesas well. Next.on to
estimateis not accurate it does give us a
A learnlngprocesscannot cope with all each natural resourcetype cross-section "feel"for the tons oI biomassproducedby
tactorsinvolvedat once. We startedtalki;g
are drawn iconsof each speciesused (eg. each naturalresourcetype. Over time, as
withlarmersaboutecologicalaspectssuch
rice, grass, mango trees, goats and fish). tarmers' ability to estimate biomasses
as the number of species they used, the
Lastly,arrowsto representbiologicalmate- improves,so willthe accuracyofthe data.
amountof recyclingof farm wastesand the
rial (the bioresourcessuch as manure,rice
Estimatingeconomicefficiencyis just as
productivecapacityof their fields.We also hulls, straw) that are recycled within the crude,if not more so. The input-outputdata
talkedaboutthe costs and retumsof farm- farm are drawn to completethe diagram. for each speciesgroup,as shown in Table
ing.Obviously,there is moreto sustainabil- This processhas beenmorefullydescribed '1, requirefarmers to put a cash value on
ity than this. Equity and food securityare
in previousarticlesin the ILEIANewsletter. recycledwastes. Clearly,this kind of ecoalsoimportant,butthereagain,so are many
nomicscan only give us a generalimpresotherbiological,socioeconomicand institusion. Undertakingrigorouswholefarm budtionaltactors.FarmershelDedus find indigeting, however, requires a level of data
catorsfroma longlistof importantfactors.In
gatheringway beyond the means of farmmakingtheirsuggestionstheygaveconsiders and most NGOs.
erationnot only to the importanceof tactors
Beware that only very rough estimates
to them, but also to indicatorsthat would
can be obtained from farmers' memory.
suggestdirect actions they could take. As
Trying to remember how much of a crop
our understandingincreasesthe indicators
was harvested at the end of the season
will no doubtbe cianged. Thus,the followmight be easy but recalling how much
ing indicatorswere chosen:
manure was used is much harder. The
A. Species diversity is the number of speaccuracy of farmers' estimates can be
cies cultivatedor caught by the farmers,in
greatly improvedif they record inputs and
other words how many plantsand animals
outputs directly on their bioresourceflow
are beingused.
diagramsas they occur.
B. Recyclingislhenumberof flowsof biological material such as manure, compost,
Brainstorming
straw, leaves, rice bran, etc., that occur
Farmers
andNGOstatfusethe
bioresource
between ditferentspecies, in other words
flowdiagramandthe kitediagramto bralnhowmanywasteproductsare beingreused.
stormwaysto improvesustainability.
With
C. Capacityis the amountof biomasspro- Figurc 1, Fatming systems pedomance
thetwo diagramssideby sidethe "facilitaduced on all the naturalresourcetypes, in
indicator kites before and after integralion, tor"asksthe farmersto explainthe perforotherwordsthe totalproductionof thefa/m.
Philippines,
manceof eachindicator
andoiveideason
D. Economic eftbency is a ratio of the profits (including non-cash) over the costs
(includinglabour),inotherwordshow much
income was generated by each dollar or
fable 1.Datarcquhedlor each speciesgrcup
pesospent.
Becausesustainabilityis not about getFafin waates
ting the highestresultin any one indicator,
but ralher, achieveinga balance between external mateaials
externalmaterials
sold
sold
allof them we drawthe resultsout in a "kite" hired labour
internalmaterials
household consumption rarmuse
diagramas shown in Figure1. Thus,the rents, tees and loans hiredlabour
stored/chanEe in stocks others(exchange)
largerthearea createdby the kite the more
family labour
others (gifts, debls)
sustainablethe farmingsystem.
rents, lees and loans
2A
llEla
NEwsLEttEt.lurY
t995
FISHPOND'
FICE-FtSH'
elke"*""
iw"*}t:;
LOWLAND
(genilysloping)
UPLANO'
shad€
s€.banla
HOIVESTEAD
coconut
Bagulo
LOWLAND(flaD
--------Newflows
New sp€cies allset in boldtypes
Figurc2, Bioresource llow diagram
RIVERBANK
howitcould be improved.Oncethefarmers
At the end of the brainstormingsessions
havefinishedllcO statf and other "outsid- farmersrecordthe new ideason theirbioreers"are askedfortheir ideas.
source flow diagram. A future farming
Typically,the speciesdiversityindicalor systemmightbe shownthroughchangesin
stimulatesdiscussionon how new soecies theirnaturalresourcetypes- contour teraccanbe added.Forthefarm presentedin the es on sloping uplands, raised beds and
figuresthe addition of catfish, tilapia and
pondsin lowlands.More iconsare drawnto
stringbeanswere among the species that representnew speciesand more arrowsto
increasedthe diversityindicatorfrom 23 to
show increased recycling.Thus existing
31.The recyclingindicatorpromptsdiscus- and futurefarmingsystemsare capturedin
sionon newflowsof organicwastes.Figure one diagram,as shown in Figure 2. After
1 showsthat the numberofflowsincreased this, farmers and NGO stafi get together
from I to 18. Figure 2 shows that cow
and plan the needed experiments and
manure,sesbaniaand gliricidialeavesand developments.Otten farmerswill decideto
ricebran were amongthe new flows.Here, work together to improve a natural
farmersottenintroducethe ideaof recycled resource.They may builda dam or contour
materialssubstitutingfor purchasedinputs. sloping lands together. They will experiWaysto reducecost are discussedthrough ment with new crops or animals or using
the indicatorfor economicetficiency.Figure crop wastes that were never used before.
1 shows no improvementhere. Farmers Therewillotcoursebe thingsthatcannotbe
explainedthat was because many of the
done. NGOSmighltake theseto the approimplovementsmade (suchas new vegeta- priate research and development instituble plots and tree lots) have not borne fruit tions or use them in their advocacywork
yet.Techniquesfor rehabilitating
degraded with policymakers.
landand water are the subjectwhen ideas
for increasing the capacity of natural Whatfarmers learn
resourcesare discussed.Figure 1 reports Brainstorming
sustainability
indicators
nearan increasein productionfrom 2.6 tons per
ly alwaysresultsin farmersleamingsomehectareto 8.4 tons. Much of this increase, thingusetul:a new planttheycan feedto
as shown in Figure2 came from livestock theiranimals,
or a newwastetheycanfertiland recycledfarm wastes.Oftenthese dis- isesoilwilh.Theyoften
leamthingstheycan
cussionsgo beyondtechnicalideastoideas dotogether,
likeimpounding
waterforirrigaon how farmersmightorganisethemselves tionandfishculture.And,theyleamabout
to gain betteraccessto naturalresources.
naturalresources,
howtoestimate
theirpro-
ductive capacity,value standing biomass
and valuelarm wastes.
Thereare, of course,timeswhen the diagrams cannot help.They do not, for example, tell which specificenterpriseis making
the mostprofitor loss.Moreover,theydo not
help farmersdecide how to divideup their
meagre supplies of manure between the
vegetableplot, the maize garden and the
f ishpond.Nevertheless,
participatory
proced ures do allow farmers to have a greater say
in what kindsoftechnicaland organisational
helpthey need.Manyoftheir ideaswillchallengethe NGO - perhapsto find an altemative low extemal-input-technology
or perhapsto gain accessto a waterresource.
lmplicationsfor NGOs
The learningprocessdescribedhere helps
NGOSidentitynew technicaland organisational inputs. Insteadof providingexternal
inputslikehigh-yielding
varietiesand chemicalsto increaseproductionot specificcrops,
NGOSnow Drocurelocalseedsfor soil erosion control and animal fodder. They also
getpeopletogethersothatlandlords,wheth-
er govemment or. private, can be
approached
to gainaccessto grazinglands
orwaterresources.
More importanfly,this analysishetps
NGOSkeeptrackof impacton thefarminq
system.Trackingnegatjvetrendscan b6
policymakmoreimportantthan
successes!
ers needto knowwhenfarmingsystems
tLtta
xEwS!ETlct!
tutY1995
29
become less ecologically
sound becausethis has implicationslor them. lt is oftenonly
new policies that can correct
such negativetrends.ll farmers
cannot carry the additional
degraded
costsof rehabilitating
lands,as occurredin ourexample, then subsidiesneed to be
arranged.lf landlordsare preventing farmers from planting
trees for soil erosion control
thentenurearrangementsneed
to be changed.NGOScan also
use this process to improve
theirdialoguewith researchers.
Indeed, the panicipation of
researchers in brainstorming
sessionsis necessary,not only
for farmers to be exposed to
new technologies,but also, for
researchersto identify future
researchquestions.
Assessing whole farm sustainability does not address
every need. lt tells little, for
example,abouthow muchyield
increasedbecausea newvariety was used. Nor does it show
how much money was made
from the sale of a crop, or for
that matter, how much better
thefamilyisfed as a result.But,
ifone'saimis to supportfarmers
with manytechnicaland organisationalinputs and track their
impact on the sustainabilityof
the wholefarmingsystemthen
this processmight be a way to
start. Lastly, if this process
helpsfarmersbecomepartners
in learningwhat is sustainable
agriculture,
then muchcouldbe
garned.
T
Mary-Ann Bimbao and Teresita
Lop€z, ICLAR[,,],ltlcPO Box 2631
Makatl,IvlelroA/anila0718,
Philippines
Clive Lighlfoot, lLElA, PO Box64,
3830 AB Leusden,Nelherlands.
Funher reading
'LighlfoolC, PT Dalsgaard,N4P
Bimbao,and F Fermin 1993 Farmer
Partlclpatory Procedures lor
Managing and Moniloring
Sustainable Farming Systems
Joumal af the Asian Farming Systems
Associatbn 2\2): 67-47
- L i g h d o o t ca n dR N o b l e 1 9 9 3 A
Participatory Experiment in
sustalnable Agriculture, Jolrral lor
Farming Syslems Research and
Exlension 4(1).11-34
'LighdootC, [,] PreinandT Lopez
1994 Bioresource flow rhodelllng
with larmers ILEIANewslener 10
(3) 22-23
O f o r i J ,M P r e i n F
, F e r m i nD
, Owusu
and C Lighdool 1993 Farmers
Picture New Activities /LEI,A
Newslenet e0): 6 7
30
ILE IA
NEu,5LEIIER
policy
larmer
knowledge, tainability
should
bes0ught
inthe needed
to support
change
Diversily,
ofintensif
ication, fortheirdevelopment.
andsustainability
byJ Lewinger management
(eds.).
through
theintegration 0nthebasis
ofthisvision
onagrF
lvloock
andRERhoades
achieved
'1992.lthaca,
development
on'margiCornell
University ofcrops,
livestock
and(probably) cultural
gives
p.ISBN
Thisbooklet
IFPRI
staffhas
Press.278
0 80149968
lrees.
diversity nal'lands
perspective.
(CR)
achallenging
conceptual
2 ,U S $1 8 . 9 5 .
a dynamic
designed
p0licy
framework
for participatory
The13contributions
tothisbook
(CR)
research.
withtheimplications Fromresearch
toinnovalion:
aredealing
getting
themostlrominteraction
oJdiversity,
sustainability
and
inlalming
systems
Paradise
lost?Theecological
outreach
tofarmers
inmarginal wilhNG0s
ofbiodiversily
by
lands
f0r(internati0nal)
agricultu- research
andexlension
byJ
economics
EBBarbier,
JCBurgess
and
ralresearch.
Several
central
Farrington
andA Bellbington
London,
Eafthscan
issues
emerge.
Dealing
with
1994.
London,
llEDGatekeeper CFolke.1994
p.
Publications
Limited.
265p.
these
themes
requires
af rameseries
N0.43.23
rsBN
1-85383-181-6.
workforanalysis
involving
an
Thispaper
isbased
onover70
case
studies
fromthree
contiunderstanding
ofsubsystem
Iarmers
onNG0workinagricultural
interactions,
evaluation nents
lt looks
criteria
andtheprocess
bywhich technology
development
farming
families
adjust
toa
atsuccesses
andfailures
ofNG0
external
environment. technology
development
andprochanging
Local
folkscience
andprivate
motion
offarmer
organrsations.
inter-institufarmers
usefortechnolo- C0nstraints
toactual
criteria
gyassessment
andscientitic
tional
interactions
areanalysed
to improve
linkinsights
andcriteria
cancomple- andsuggestions
r^oc rra.iie.,rcead
verywell.
The
menteach
other
goalofresearch
(CR)
istostrengthen Recommended
theexisting
capacity
offarmers
t0
lindtheirownsolutions
tochanq- Sustainable
agricullural
develingenvironments
butalsoto pro- opmenl
slrategies
inlragile
videnewtechnological
means
to
lands
bySJScherr
andPBR
EPTD
Discussion
Paper
regain
control
overtheagricultu- Hazell
Full-f
ledged
e 9 9 43 7p .
ralsystem
collabora- N 0 . 1J,u n 1
mappinq
tionwithfarmers
inapplied
Community
ol
programmes
research
isconsid- resources
lol policy
analysis:
to involve
farmers ploposed
conceptual
fiamework Thisbookistheoutcome
oJa
erednecessary
generation
byGBergeron,
SJScherr
and
unique
collaboration
between
intechnology
and
Anappropriate
range M Lopez
Pereira.
EPTD
economists
andecol0gists
initiat'
evaluation.
Paper,
December
edbytheBeijer
Institute
ofthe
oftechnological
andagricultural Discussion
29p lnternational
Food
Royal
Academy
ofSciences.
The
development
options
areneeded 1994,
todiversity.
Dueto
Policy
Research
Institute,
1200
result
iswhattheauthors
call
asa response
"ecolog
Washington
DC,
icaleconom
ics',a new
these
newdemands
international 17thStreet,
ofanalysis
toaddress
andnational
agricultural
research 20036-3006
USA.
category
population
problems
faces
institutional
challenges. Under
andmarket
ofeconomic
andenvi0reat
ronmental
inleraction.
The
Aninteresting
collection
ofpapers pressure,
onecanexpect
an
process
thatthecurrent
agricultural
research endogenous
otintensifi- authors
state
bioonproblems
willrequire
fundawrestles
with(CR)
cation,
through
landimprovediversity
crisis
inoureconomic,
ment,
tenurial
andinstitutional mental
changes
relationfalming
systems changes
andre-ordering'
ofthe
environmental
andsocial
Crop-livestock
process
zon€ofSublandscape.
Butthis
isnot ships.
Thetheme
olthisbookis
inlhesemi-arid
Factors
influencing
the howwecould
manage
these
Saharan
Alrica:
0rdering
diveF
automatic.
pace
After
a profound
analysityandunderstanding
change
andscale
oflandtransfor
changes.
crisis,
its
andBTurner.
mation
include:
farmer
knowlsisoJthe
biodiversity
bylMlvlortimore
implications
four
1993.Agricultural
Administrationedoe
onthedegradation
of
andcauses,
paper
research
Network,
Network
46
resources;
incentives
forlongcases
arepresented.
London,
isa
terminvestment;
capacity
to
0Dl.33p.Diversity
pfovide
property
These
fundamental
ofprimary mobilise
resources
forland
cases
detailed
production
lossin
inAfrica.
Thispaper
investmenti
lev€l
ofeconomic
analysis
ofbiodiversity
provides
returns
to suchinvestment;
and
selected
natural
systems
and
aframeworkforthe
theformation
management
andpolicy
options
typology
offarming
systems
lactors
affecting
groups
topreserve
thewholescale
ecoofagricul- andfunction
oflocal
to
based
onthedynamics
Attheendofeach
case
turalintensif
ication
Thistypology helpmobilise
resources
and
systems
that
issaidto benecessaryto
order
coordinate
change
atthelandchallenges
arediscussed
p0licies
tobeaddressed
toimprove
diversity,
understand
change
and scape
level.
Current
Often need
interventi0ns.
Theauthors worktoconstrain,
rather
than
themethod
ofecological-ecodesign
thatthelinkbetween
the support,
thisprocess
As margr nomic
analysis.
Theconcept
oJ
conclude
growing
roleln
ecological
limits
to economic
characteristics
olfarming
nallands'playa
is
isposed
systems
andenvironmeital
susfoodproduction,
newresearch
activity
andtheroleof