Research for development approaches in mixed crop-livestock systems of the Ethiopian highlands

This study presents processes and success stories that emerged from Africa
RISING’s Research for Development project in the Ethiopian Highlands. The
project has tested a combination of participatory tools at multiple levels,
with systems thinking and concern for sustainable and diversified livelihoods.
Bottom-up approaches guided the selection of technological interventions that
could address the priority farming system challenges of the communities,
leading to higher uptake levels and increased impact. Joint learning, appropriate
technology selection, and the creation of an enabling environment such as the
formation of farmer research groups, the establishment of innovation platforms,
and capacity development for institutional and technical innovations were
key to this study. The study concludes by identifying key lessons that focus
more on matching innovations to community needs and geographies, systems
orientation/integration of innovations, stepwise approaches to enhance the
adoption of innovations, documenting farmers’ capacity to modify innovations,
building successful partnerships, and facilitating wider scaling of innovations for
future implementation of agricultural research for development projects.