PTD IN THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC
With
Special Reference to the Rural Advisory and Development Service in Jalal Abad
Oblast
1999–2000
Stefan Joss[1] and Kachkynbaev Nadyrbek[2]
Conclusions related to PTD in RADS Jalal Abad
Abstract
The
Rural Advisory and Development Service (RADS) in Jalal Abad understands
Participatory Technology Development (PTD) as a farmer-driven activity to find
out new things that work. Farmers define together with researchers and advisors
the research needs and they design, implement and evaluate the programmes
(“experiments”). The main players and their motivations are: 1) the farmer, who
is looking for improved ways to make a living out of farming, 2) the
researcher, who is gaining additional salary (in cash and time) and the
possibility to stay in contact with reality, and 3) the agricultural advisor,
who has a concrete advisory topic (tangible result).
PTD
methodology was introduced into Kyrgyzstan mainly by the Swiss
(Helvetas)-funded advisory projects, Kyrgyz Swiss Agricultural Project (KSAP)
Kochkor-Jumgal (1997–98) and the current KSAP in Jalal Abad (JA) and Naryn
(NA), that provide technical assistance and co-finance the RADS in three of six
oblasts (districts). Four years of activities have shown that PTD methodology
is a concrete approach that contributes to developing new practices in
production, processing and marketing and generates income. By the end of 2000,
staff of RADS JA could carry out PTD weeks on their own.
An
example of a successful PTD venture is cheese production in Naryn. Factors
leading to success were:
- farmers’ initiatives
were used as starting point,
- cheese production is
a women activity;
- collaboration with
local research institutes was sought from the very beginning;
- a commodity approach
oriented toward income generation was followed;
- investment for
infrastructure was low already in the beginning (45% farmer contribution);
- low production costs
encouraged other farmers to start.
The
experience with PTD showed that:
- the outcome was better
with frequently repeated small PTD weeks rather than fewer big ones,
- implementing PTD
experiments in groups releases intra- and inter-group dynamics;
- women have more
staying power to bring a PTD experiment to an end.
There
is still much to learn. The spirit of innovation and experimentation on
improved production and marketing has not yet caught on fully in Kyrgyzstan.
The RADS has not used opportunities systematically and has sometimes misused
PTD in order to distribute inputs. The link to researchers and research
institutes needs further improvement. Trials were often not owned by farmers.
More PTD weeks in RADS topics other than production are indispensable.
Context
The
Kyrgyz Republic is a small, mountainous, land-locked country of about 200,000
km2 in Central Asia. It is surrounded by China, Kazakhstan and
Uzbekistan. With Uzbekistan, the Kyrgyz Republic shares 70 years of Soviet
regime. In 1991 the country became independent and, since then, has been in an
economic and social transition toward a market economy and democracy-like
structures. The 1999 population of 4.8 million had a Gross National Product of
US$ 300 per capita. Over 60% of the population lived below the official poverty
line and 23% could not afford even the poverty-line food basket.[i]
Agriculture
is the most important contributor to the national Kyrgyz economy. Officially, 48%
of the population work in agriculture and contribute 44.2% to the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP), 10% working in industry contribute 22.6% of GDP and
those working in services 35%.i According to officials, the
unemployment rate is less than 10%. This figure does not include workers
temporarily laid off as a result of enterprises lying idle. Also government
employees often have to rely on additional sources of income, because salary
payments are months behind. In the 1990s, despite substantial recovery in agricultural
production and value added to near or above 1990 levels, rural incomes per
capita fell substantially.ii
Figure 1: Map of the Kyrgyz Republic and agroclimatic
zones of Jalal Abad Oblast [ii]
Zones classified according to humidity
(precipitation): 1a very dry (<150 mm), 1b dry (150–200 mm), 1c slightly
deficit (200–250 mm), 2 moderately humid (250–300 mm), 3 sufficiently humid
(> 300 mm).
Agricultural zones of Jalal Abad
Oblast: ---- upper, mountainous zone, ……
lowland and foothill zone.
Table 1:
Main crops per agroclimatic zones of Southern Tien Shan[iii]
(refers to Figure 1)
|
Zone |
Characteristics |
Sum of day temperatures (oC) |
Main crops |
|
1 |
Extremely warm |
> 4000 |
Cotton, wheat, fig, pomegranate,
maize, wine |
|
2 |
Warm |
4000–3000 |
Cotton, wheat, tobacco, maize,
vegetables, gourds, wine, fruits |
|
3 |
Moderate |
3000–2200 |
Wheat, corn, vegetables, gourds, wine,
fruits, potatoes |
|
4 |
Cool |
2200–1200 |
Wheat, maize, cabbage, fruits,
potatoes, fodder root crops |
Jalal
Abad (JA) Oblast has two main agro-economic zones: a lower zone of intensive
crop growing and an upper zone of extensive agriculture, based mainly on animal
husbandry. JA Oblast is divided into eight rayons (subdistricts), five
in the lower and three in the upper zone. In the three biggest rayons of
the lower zone, more than 60% of the agricultural GDP of JA Oblast is earned,
in the upper zone only 14%.
These
figures reflect the population density. In the three agro-economically most
important rayons live 59% of the rural people; in the mountainous rayons
of the upper zone, only 8%. The average number of persons in each of the total
of 67 village management units (Ail Ökmöt) in JA Oblast is high in
comparison to other oblasts of Kyrgyzstan. The irrigated land owned per
person varies between 0.06 and 0.5 ha. There are farms run by single families
or small groups, and larger peasant farms (dykan tsharpa) with up to
1000 members.
The Rural Advisory and
Development Service Foundation (RADSF)
The RADSF is meant to be a farmers’ organisation with farmer
councils (legislative bodies) at three administrative levels (rayon, oblast and
national). The executive body consists of six regional centres (Oblast RADS)
and a secretariat in the capital Bishkek. Figure 2 gives an idea of the
structure of the RADS in JA Oblast, as an example. The role of the secretariat
is to coordinate activities, to train advisory staff and to provide (financial)
supervision.
The RADS gives training to individual farmers, farmer groups or
farmer associations. Participatory exercises carried out in the villages lead
to new knowledge and skills. The RADS facilitates the exchange and
dissemination of such knowledge. While promoting groups, it strives for farmer
interactive extension, increased exchange of experience and reaching critical
economic size for marketing.
Figure 2: Organisational chart of RADS Jalal Abad in 2000
In the oblast
centre, a Regional Manager and five Subject Matter Specialists (SMS) provide
logistical and topical support to the rayons and are responsible for
planning, monitoring and evaluation. In each of the eight rayons, 3–5 rayon
advisors work. They are generalists with a basic knowledge in all spheres of
agriculture and are in close contact with “temporary promoters”, either “village
promoters” (VPs) who are women, working with groups, or village specialists
(VSs)in charge of a specific task. A VS has either specific topical education
(possibly an academic degree) or – even more important – profound experience in
the subject matter.
The RADSF has four sources of finance: 1) a loan from IFAD
(International Fund for Agricultural Development) and the World Bank, 2) the
Kyrgyz Government, 3) a grant from the Swiss Government (implemented by
Helvetas) contributing 51–60% to the budgets of the oblasts Naryn Issyk
Kul and Jalal Abad, and 4) the beneficiaries. By the end of the first phase in
2003, the beneficiaries are supposed to contribute 5% of the RADS budget.
Following the Russian saying, “he who pays calls the tune”, RADSF today is controlled
primarily by donors and the Kyrgyz Government and only to a limited extent by
farmers.
Rationale
for PTD
PTD training and exposure for
the various actors involved
Main actors and their
motivation
Implementation
and follow-up of PTD experiments
Assessing
results of PTD experiments
Definitions
RADS
JA understands PTD as a process of:
- defining research
needs;
- designing programmes
(“experiments”); and
- physically
implementing and evaluating them;
all
conducted by farmers, researchers and advisors, with the farmer being the
driving force (owner of the innovation), the researcher contributing knowledge
and a wider view, and the advisor facilitating the process and assuring
documentation and dissemination of the results to other farmers.[iv]
In
this paper, the term “PTD week” refers to an activity designed to start up and
plan PTD for the next cropping season or a suitable time period for PTD in
livestock husbandry or marketing. A PTD week usually lasts for five days. The term “experiment” refers to any willingly
arranged modification of farming practices, often planned during a PTD week.
Each experiment has a control (usually the existing farming practice) in order
to allow comparison with the new technology. Experiments often have no
replications or, if there are any, then often on another farm. They are not
designed to provide scientifically substantiated insights. The words
“experiments” and “trials” are used synonymously. A “pilot farmer” is a farmer
who implements a trial and shares his/her experiences with other farmers during
one or two field days. Only then is s/he called a “temporary promoter” (village
promoter or facilitator), who receives a RADS working contract. Pilot farmers
are often members of the RADS Farmer Steering Committee.
Why
PTD?
Alongside
various types of on-farm research, PTD is a research process that is independent
of government or private enterprise and is driven by farmers’ visions. It is
limited only by the capacities of the farmers, advisors and formal researchers.
Development-oriented adaptive research aims primarily to improve sound forms of
production and to make it more profitable. In comparison to conventional
research, PTD has the potential to contribute to socially sound development, as
innovation is not primarily started up by money or governmental power, but by
the initiatives of farmers, researchers and advisors. PTD means continuous
assessment and learning on each farm. When the advisory service then
facilitates exchange of experiences between farmers, knowledge develops even
further.
How
PTD came to Kyrgyzstan
The first projects – advisory service and credit
Advisory
field laboratory in two rayons of Naryn Oblast a step toward PTD
Introducing PTD into the World Bank-supported RADS –
starting to scale up
The first projects – advisory service
and credit
Agricultural
extension activities started in Kyrgyzstan in 1994 when the ATAS (Agricultural
Training and Advisory Service) project set up a training centre in Bishkek.
Later, TACIS-1 (Technical Assistance to CIS Countries) advised farmers in Chuy,
Issyk Kul, Talas and Jalal Abad through training and visits. The German Agency
for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) started its advisory project in Osh Oblast in
spring 1997.
On
behalf of the Swiss Government, Helvetas started the KSAP in 1995 in the rayons
of Kochkor-Jumgal in Naryn Oblast. In the same year, Caritas started the
Kyrgyz Swiss Agricultural Project in Suzak, Bazar Korgon and Nooken Rayons of
JA Oblast. At first, each project had its own or an associated credit
component, and advisory topics were linked to credit in most cases. In 1998,
the approach was revised in all projects, when Caritas ceased advisory
activities and went for an independent credit line, Helvetas discontinued
credit and focused on technical assistance, and GTZ institutionalised the link
with the American-funded ACDI/VOCA (Agricultural Cooperatives Development
International / Volunteers in Overseas Cooperation Assistance). In 1997, with
the support of Helvetas, participatory advisory approaches were started in
Kochkor-Jumgal.
Advisory field laboratory in two rayons of Naryn Oblast a step toward PTD
In
the field of seed-potato cultivation, fodder mixtures and meat and milk
processing, Helvetas started collaboration with scientific institutes such as
the Agrarian Academy (Division for Seed Potato), the Pasture Institute and the
Polytechnic University. GTZ started to work together with the Osh State
University. This collaboration with research institutes was a concrete step
toward PTD. While planning was still in the hands of the researchers,
implementation and ownership of the PTD experiments were in the hands of the
farmers. In the case of seed potatoes, cheese and meat, the farmers were to a
certain extent accountable to the service, as they received material support.
Already in the second year, however, farmers organised themselves and decided
on their own about the use of the seed. The scaling up of cheese production and
its impact are described later in this paper. Other activities such as
seed-potato production were transferred to the newly created national advisory
service (RADS). However, a fairly rigid legislation and unreliable input of
original seed material prevented the technology from spreading to a larger number
of farmers. None of the meat products developed during the experimental phase
is produced commercially today.
Introducing PTD into the World
Bank-supported RADS – starting to scale up
Adaptive
research is foreseen in the planning document for the Agricultural Services
Support Programme (ASSP) and its implementation within the framework of the
RADS. The appraisal report describes adaptive research as “demonstration of
proven small farm technology at rayon level” and refers to participatory
research to develop a pipeline of new technology. The advisory service would
have the role of providing the support needed to develop a practical programme
of demonstrations and field trials in each oblast, i.e.:
- preparation of
“field trial contracts” (demonstrations) or “adaptive research trials”
(PTD), backed by research supervision contracts with the Agrarian Academy
and international research institutes;
- material support
such as field and laboratory equipment and storage, and office facilities.
Implementation
in the RADS was later modified to reduce material support to a minimum in order
to assure farmer ownership of the activities and to prevent farmers from
participating for the sake of material support rather than an interest to
develop innovations.
The
main aim of the RADS is raising the standard of living in rural areas, which is
linearly correlated with agricultural productivity. In Kyrgyzstan, the RADS is
the major actor in transferring knowledge and skills to farmers. In JA Oblast,
as in the other five districts with RADS in Kyrgyzstan, it uses three main
tools for providing advisory services to farmers: training, adaptive research
(PTD) and group formation. The first is applied in a rather linear
Training-and-Visit approach, and group formation may not be considered as a
“direct” advisory tool. Adaptive research offers the greatest room for
manoeuvre in terms of methodology and technical approaches. It is the most
practice-relevant form of farmer support foreseen in the planning papers.
Implementation
of PTD needs an institutional framework that encourages farmers to continue
trying out new technologies. Only the advisors of the former Helvetas project
in the Kochkor and Jumgal Rayons had methodological skills and knowledge in
terms of farmer participation in technology development and had received
international backing. In the other oblasts, an appropriate environment
had to be created. The RADS JA is striving to achieve the following:
- setting up and
organising RADS (autonomous advisors who are present and known in the
regions)
- strengthening
advisors’ communication skills and awareness of what else is happening in
the rayon
- making focus
problems a topic of discussion among farmers
- arranging support by
specialists
- operating within an
optic driven by economic concerns
- lobbying for
farmers’ interests.
In
a highly educated and specialised professional environment, as it is the case
in Kyrgyzstan, there is a risk that interaction with farmers is hampered by
“shoptalk” by either advisors or specialists.
PTD
Training and Exposure for the various Actors involved
PTD
cannot be studied and then applied. The researchers and advisors involved have
to learn while acting and reacting together with farmers. PTD in its entire
complexity is only beginning to be built up in the RADS. It works best when
practised. Continued follow-up after its initiation is necessary.
Staff
of RADS JA became acquainted with PTD for the first time when a SMS and a rayon
advisor took part in a workshop in Issyk Kul Oblast. In the same month, these
two staff members spread their knowledge to the advisors of RADS JA. Figure 3
shows the dissemination of knowledge as such and applied in practical
exercises. It distinguishes thereby between participation in PTD weeks
(reception of knowledge), illustrated with an outlined dot and competencies
(experiences, skills), gained through reproduction of PTD methodology as
trainer or moderator, illustrated with a black dot. The illustration is not
complete, as the “PTD pyramid” had already within a couple of months a basis of
some 100 persons. The figure only keeps track of those that later implemented
or contributed to a PTD week in a leading function. By the end of the year
2000, RADS JA has one master trainer, two trainers and 12 co-trainers in PTD.
Figure
3: Dissemination of
PTD among the staff of RADS Jalal Abad in major practical exercises
(Œ= performers, O =
participants) in field
implementation of PTD in RADS Jalal Abad
Main actors and their motivation
My name is Ergesh Bekeshov. I’m a leader of a farmers association in Aksy Rayon
of Jalal Abad Oblast. The association consists of five families, a total 38
persons, all relatives of my wife and myself. We have 4.8 ha of irrigated land, located at 1400 masl. We
decided to grow seed potatoes because they do well and we can sell them to
the lower regions and to Kolkhozes in neighbouring Uzbekistan.