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Participatory Extension as Basis for the Work of Rural Extension Services in the Amazon

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Abstract

Public extension services play a key role in the implementation of strategies for rural development based on the sustainable management of natural resources. However, the sector suffers from restricted financial and human resources. Using experiences from participatory action research, a strategy for rural extension in the Amazon was defined to increase the efficiency and the relevance of external support for local resource users. This strategy considered activities initiated and coordinated by local people. Short-term facilitation visits provided continuous external support for the purpose of establishing locally based planning and learning mechanisms. In collaboration with the municipality of Muaná in the Eastern Amazon, the strategy was tested in two traditional communities – Monte Moriat and Boa Esperança. Both communities recognized as most important the need to reduce their dependence on açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart.), the principal source of food and income. This forest resource has been overexploited, seriously affecting açaí stands and diminishing the forest benefits fundamental for survival. Two local groups decided to raise chickens as a way to reduce nutritional problems and as an alternative source of income. Supported by monthly, short-term planning and evaluation visits, the groups managed to achieve significant progress in their endeavor. The groups identified (1) the control of decision-making and information, and (2) the absence of external obligations to be the greatest advantages of the development initiative. The study confirmed the potential of participatory strategies for public extension in the Amazon. Special attention was given to realistically define the role of forests for local development. However, drastic measures are necessary to smooth the way for real participation in governmental and non-governmental organizations acting in the Brazilian Amazon.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for International Forestory Research, Regional Office in Belém, Belém, Brazil

    Benno Pokorny, Guilhermina Cayres & Westphalen Nunes

Authors
  1. Benno Pokorny
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  2. Guilhermina Cayres
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  3. Westphalen Nunes
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Correspondence to Benno Pokorny.

Additional information

Benno Pokorny studied forest science at the University of Freiburg. In his PhD dissertation he evaluated the technical and economic possibilities of transforming second-growth Nothofagus forests in Chile into managed stands. Since 1998, he has been working in the regional office of the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Belém, Brazil, researching opportunities for sustainable forest management in the Amazon. Still associated with CIFOR, since 2003 he has been assistant lecturer at the Faculty of Forest and Environmental Sciences at the University of Freiburg in Germany. His research interests include developing and implementing promising approaches for the sustainable development of tropical forests.

Guilhermina Cayres is an agriculturalist working on her PhD in Development in the Humid Tropics at the Nucleo de Altos Estudios Amazonicos (NAEA) at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) in Brazil. She has been working as a consultant in the area of socio-environmental development of smallholder communities in the Amazon. Her working experience includes rural development, participatory approaches, gender issues, and criteria and indicators for assessing sustainability.

Westphalen Luiz Lobato Nunes is a forest scientist who graduated from the Federal University for Rural Amazon in Brazil (UFRA, formerly FCAP). His MSc thesis explored the commercial potential of forest products for riverside communities on the island of Marajó through the application of Action Research. From 1992 to 2000, he worked on participatory and collaborative approaches with several governmental and non-governmental organizations. In 2001, he coordinated the budget line for environmental projects in the Amazon at the Brazilian Ministry for Environment (MMA). Since 2004, he has been the technical director of Assessoria Comunitária e Ambiental (ARCA), which supports communities in environmental based development.

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Pokorny, B., Cayres, G. & Nunes, W. Participatory Extension as Basis for the Work of Rural Extension Services in the Amazon. Agric Hum Values 22, 435–450 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-005-3398-4

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