Microenvironments Unobserved

This paper explains the shift towards 'farmer first' and other farmer participatory research approaches. It is argued that in agricultural and social sciences, complexity and diversity are under perceived and undervalued. The reasons and implications of this for agricultural research and extension are explored. Particular attention is focused on 'micro environments' (MEs). Biases in agricultural and social sciences combine to hide MEs from sight, exclude them from statistics and undervalue their importance for livelihoods. MEs' characteristics and properties are explored. The conclusion is that MEs are a domain where villagers' knowledge, creativity and R&D have advantages over the knowledge and R&D of scientists. Hence, farmers' participation throughout is paramount.