The challenge of HIV/AIDS: Where does agroforestry fit in? - World ...

Chapter 18: Building capacity for research in agroforestry149many forms, including electronic, printor personal contact. All forms of networkingshould be encouraged, from local andnational to regional and international. Networkingensures that neighbouring countries,and even institutions within the samecountry, share lessons and do not duplicatesimilar work. It must be pointed out, however,that networking has transaction costssuch as communication and systems establishment.Well-developed scientific programmesare of little benefit if there is noparticipation from stakeholders and policymakers. Local input is essential to ensurethe relevance of the work, and to createa sense of ownership once the sciencemoves towards implementation in resourcemanagement and policy. Stakeholder engagementis a prerequisite for an effectivecapacity building strategy (Owino 1994).The effectiveness of capacity building alsodepends on a step-by-step approach, beginningwith existing capacity and activities.The goal is to make capacity buildinga unified process, within which particularactivities can be organized and deliveredin a logical order. Whatever the specificobjectives of commitments or projects,capacity building is, above all, a long-termprocess that must emphasize the developmentof local structures and organizations.In recent years, there has been increasingdemand for research-trained manpower inkey fields in many developing countries.There are several reasons for this, includingglobal technology change towardsmore efficient research-based methods inboth industry and agriculture, and increasingenvironmental concerns. The needfor research-trained experts is often veryspecific for a given country and locality,and requires continuous production ofresearch-trained human resources in thefield (Thulstrup 1993).One primary focus of research capacitybuilding should be to engender and encouragerelationships between institutions. Theseshould focus on the links between developedand developing-country institutions,and between institutions within developingcountries. Institutions may ask themselvesseveral questions before deciding withwhich institutions to collaborate; for example,which organizational structures are tobe involved? What institutional relationshipsneed to be established between them? Howare these relationships to be established?Which are the most crucial institutions withwhich to collaborate: those with similar interests,those with complimentary interestsor those with completely different interests?(Szaro et al. 1997).Another focus for capacity building is thestrengthening of institutions, not only interms of human capacity but also in termsof research strategies, policy and legalframeworks, communication capacity andresearch management capacity.The World AgroforestryCentre’s efforts to buildresearch capacitySince its inception in 1978, the Centre hasbuilt capacity in agroforestry in variousways. In the early days, capacity buildingtook the form of preparing training materials,guiding in-house trainees, givingagroforestry lectures and contributing toseminars and world literature on agroforestryand its place in education. In 1982,the Centre held a major conference to discussprofessional education in agroforestry(Zulberti 1987). The main recommendationswere to: a) develop agroforestry intoan experimental science that can be taughtwithin the context of existing professionallinks; b) integrate agroforestry into existingcourses, such as land use; c) incorporateagroforestry programmes at postgraduatelevel where appropriate; d) encourageshort courses in agroforestry within institutions;e) develop agroforestry training materialsthat will be regularly updated; and f)encourage South–South and North–Southcollaboration between institutions. TheCentre was seen as a major player in termsof supporting institutions to incorporateagroforestry and in providing material foragroforestry training.Building expertise in agroforestrythrough graduate fellowsOne of the main recommendations fromthe 1982 conference was to support postgraduatetraining in agroforestry throughfield research. This is producing new scientificknowledge about agroforestry systemsin the context of agriculture, forestry andintegrated management of natural resources.The knowledge is being absorbedand disseminated by teaching, learningand extension systems. It is also producingpolicy and technological innovationsthat encourage farming communities toadopt agroforestry. Collaboration betweenresearchers, educators, development workersand farmers, and building on existingfarmer knowledge/traditions is crucial inthis process.The World Agroforestry Centre has beenhelping to build the competence of individualsand the capacity of institutionsthrough giving both financial and technicalsupport. The technical support includesattaching students to Centre scientists andcarrying out thesis research in Centre fieldsites. In the last 10 years, the Centre hassupported 276 graduates at M.Sc. andPh.D. level (the majority from Africa) tocarry out field research in agroforestry(Figure 2). The highest percentage of traineescame from East and Central Africa(ECA). This is because the Centre has been