This document summarizes the shift from traditional research to participatory research in Ethiopia. It describes how the researcher initially conducted trials on topics like calf growth and milk processing. However, this work did not ensure development impact. The researcher then began using participatory rural appraisal to jointly diagnose problems, which identified lack of food and water as the key issues. This led to forming collective action groups to support diversified livelihoods and education. Data shows these groups improved income, credit access, skills, and quality of life compared to controls. The researcher concludes participatory work requires more time and risks but leads to greater local impacts and sustainability.

1. The Quest for Impact: From
Traditional to Participatory
Research in Ethiopia
Layne Coppock
PARIMA Project, GL-CRSP Closing Conference
Naivasha, Kenya, 2009

2. Roadmap
 Background
 Example from Southern Ethiopia
 What Have I Learned?
 Academics/scholarship
 Sustainability
 Role of Livestock CRSP

6. Impact Assumptions
 Proper problem diagnosis
 Lack of other systemic constraints
 Effectiveness of extension

11. Researched Topics, 1985-99
 Pastoral livelihoods (trends, diversification prospects)
 Descriptive rangeland ecology
 Trials: Options to improve calf growth
 Trials: Options to improve forages
 Trials: Options to improve milk processing

14. Does any of this
matter?

15. Shift in Approach, 2000-09
 PRA (joint problem diagnosis)
 Peer-to-peer learning/Cross-border diffusion
 Action Research (monitoring/problem solving)
 Structured survey (groups vs. non-groups)

16. Participatory Rural
Appraisal

17. PRA Results, 2000
 Results from several Boran communities
were remarkably similar
 Lack of food and water seen as the primary
problem
 Locally sustainable solutions focused on
education, diversified livelihoods

21. Data from Kenya Groups
 16 group leaders interviewed
 Avg group age = 10 years
 Avg charter members = 24 (no men)
 Avg illiteracy = 85%
 Half of groups formed spontaneously
 Detailed constitutions, by-laws (memorized)
 Savings; livelihood diversification; publ. services
 High success rates; internal/external challenges

25. Group Formation Back in Ethiopia
 60 collective-action groups quickly formed
between 2001 to 2003
 2,167 charter members; 76% women
 Capacity building short-courses (including
micro-finance) were implemented
 Action research added as a monitoring tool

26. Livestock Marketing
 Groups wanted stronger links to markets
 PARIMA used participatory processes to help
create a new value chain from pastoral
producers to livestock exporters in Addis Ababa
 This coincided with favorable changes in
markets and institutions in Ethiopia

28. Group Micro-finance Statistics
(June 2008)
 60 groups, 2001-2008 (not one has failed)
 Savings mobilized = $92,735
 Number of micro-loans = 5,368
 Repayment rate = 96%
 Volume of loan value = $647,666
 Loan interest generated = $29,729
 Profits from small business = $25,614*
 Grew to 2,300 group members; over 13,800 direct
beneficiaries

29. Small Ruminant Market Supply,
2003-05
 11 groups monitored, 289 members total
 Average capitalization of US $3,136
 Average head traded per group 2,330
 Average profit: US $333 to US $1,111

32. Innovation System: Stakeholders
 International members: 3
 Regional members: 12
 Local members: 31

33. Capacity-Building Cost Estimation
 Selective inputs for 13,800 beneficiaries
 PRAs/CAPs = $0.52 (4% of population)
 Short courses = $4.03 (3%...)
 Tours = $4.63 (9%...)
 NF Educ = $0.99 (16%...)
 Seed loans = $9.96 (17%...)
 Mon & Eval = $14.16
Total = $34.29 over 3 years

34. Effects of Intervention
 Compared to paired controls in 2 locations,
collective action improves:
 Personal skills and confidence (P<0.001)
 Level of social support (P<0.001)
 Cash income and access to credit (P<0.001)
 Personal quality of life (P<0.01)

35. What Have I Learned?
 Traditional vs. participatory work in the context
of “the academy”
 Sustainability and stakeholder turnover
 Responsibility to human subjects

36. Participation Checklist:
 Benefits  Costs
 Local impacts  Transaction efforts
 Empirical evidence for  More time and money
interventions
 Harder to generalize
 Satisfaction from results, publish?
observing research
application  Risk of “losing control”

38. Emerging Voices
 “Research for development”
 “Participation, problem-solving, sustainability science”
 “Integration and implementation science”
 “Innovation systems, new forms of knowledge”
 “Post-normal science”

39. Scholarship Assessed
(Glassick et al. 1997)
 Scholarship transition beyond “discovery” to include verifiable
links to integration, application, teaching…
 Is higher ed a private benefit to individuals, or an investment in a
collective public good?
 What scholarship “matters,” and how do scholars work?
 Need for stronger societal engagement
 Scholarship ideals: integrity, perseverance, courage

41. “First, he wants to know where you will publish”

42. Hans Jahnke (1982): “building human capacity is the main
way to achieve development impact on marginal lands…”

43. Role for Livestock CRSP?
Emphasize:
 Discovery, integration, application
 Authentic partnerships, sustainability
 Longer-term funding horizons
 Supporting “global institutional memory”

44. This research was made possible through
support provided to the Global Livestock
Collaborative Research Support Program
by the United States Agency for
International Development under terms of
Grant No. PCE-G-00-98-00036-00 and by
contributions of participating institutions.