van de Fliert, Elske

This article documents participatory research activities in the International Potato Centre over the past thirty years. During the 1980s the centre became famous for its development of a flexible approach to research, known as farmer-back-to-farmer. Since that time it has lost leadership in the field. The study finds that during the 1990s the participatory research centre grew unevenly, with little support from the organisations with which it is affiliated. As a result there was fragmentation of the research and a withering away of successful outputs.

The authors present a model for integrative participatory research and development for sustainable agriculture aimed at achieving impact. Explicit boundaries are drawn between research and development, development and extension and between extension and implementation.