Place of the adoption of technical proposals from research in farmers’ adaptation strategies

Abstract

Technical innovation is often presented as the main lever to improve economical performances and livelihoods of family farmers. It is thus a way to face the variability of the socio-economical environment. The aim of this study was to analyze the role of the adoption of technical proposals from research within the range of the adaptation strategies used by farmers to maintain or even improve their livelihoods and that of their descendants. Semi-structured and structured interviews carried out on a sample of representative family farmers of South Cameroon showed that migrations, off farm activities, increase of cultivated areas, and cash crop diversification were adaptation strategies more often used by farmers than the adoption of technical proposals. The study highlighted that improving crop management sequences and performances of family farming systems could not be the sole orientation of research and development policies. The increase of farmers spatial and professional mobility points the need to develop research and development policies that focus more closely on territorial and farmers’ management and on interactions between the different sectors of the national economy.