Assessing Farmer Innovations in Agroforestry in Eastern Zambia

This paper describes farmer innovations on improved fallows developed by researchers to replenish soil fertility. The reasons for the innovations and how these innovations are facilitating wide adoption of improved fallows are discussed. Research designed trial results to evaluate the ecological robustness of these innovations are also analyzed in this paper. Areas of future research on farmer innovations are suggested. It is concluded that encouraging farmer innovations leads to empowering farmers to take the lead in experimentation and changing the attitudes and roles of researchers and development workers so that they recognize farmer innovators as equal partners with experiences and skills, which complement theirs.