PROJECT ASSESSMENTS - Science for Agriculture and Rural Development in Low-income Countries - page 160

D) General project outputs

1) What are the scientific contributions of the project (to RDSA methodology or
more general scientific contributions)?

The project delivered two new methods to be employed within the daily context of
the extension services. The first method is a method for participatory soil and water
conservation planning at catchment scale. The method makes use of farmers' indicators
for soil erosion and results in a catchment erosion risk map, made by farmers. For
each unit on the map expected yield loss due to erosion is assessed by farmers and
experts, relating erosion to yield loss. Since farmers can relate to the map it is a good
basis for further negotiations on soil and water conservation planning at catchment
scale. The second method developed by the project is a method for financial analysis
of soil and water conservation measures before the actual implementation. The
analysis is done for and with farmers and shows farmers when they can expect
financial returns from their investments in land management activities. The method
takes into account the socio-economic situation of the farmer family as well as the
bio-physical situation, such as slopes, soils and climate.
Advantages of using the tools in soil and water conservation planning

• Better quantification of current soil erosion

• Linking soil loss to yield loss

• Economics of soil and water conservation

• Catchment level planning rather than farm level planning

• Ownership and adoption

2) What are policy-relevant findings of the project for Dutch and for Southern
policymakers?

3) What are the outputs in terms of capacity-building and partnerships?
The project resulted in three PhD degrees; two of them with affiliation to the NARS
of Kenya and Tanzania.
The project resulted in a much closer relationship between the NARS and the
national extension services in the field of national resources management, since they
all closely worked together in this 5 year project.

E) Tangible outputs, dissemination and impact

Can you describe for the (max. 10) key outputs of your project:

1) Type of output

Reports, theses and papers