Perceptions and experiences with ‘participatory approaches’ in the CATIE/Norway project in Guatemala

Abstract

Field-based experiences and the criticism of the ‘technology transfer approach’ in agricultural research and extension were basic to the emergence of the ‘participatory approaches’, whose main ambition is all stakeholders’ participation. The Multi-stakeholder participatory development of sustainable land use alternatives for degraded pasture lands in Central America (CATIE/Norway-PD) project has based its activities on ‘participatory approaches’ with the aim that it will help to reach its goals and also to develop and strengthen stakeholders skills. The aim of this exploratory study was to find out to what extent the participatory approaches have contributed to the project development, to identify farmers and women’s attitudes and perceptions about the project and find out what they have learned. Micro-ethnography was carried out together with semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions. Thirty-three informants including livestock farmers (mainly men), women and project staff were interviewed.