What is a CIAL?
The CIAL concept was developed by a team at the Centro Internacional
de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT). The CIAL is a farmer-run research
service that is answerable to the local community. The community
elects a committee of farmers chosen for their interest in
research and willingness to serve. The CIAL conducts research
on priority topics identified through a diagnostic process,
in which all are invited to participate. After each experiment
the CIAL reports its results back to the community. Each committee
has a small fund to offset the costs and risks of research
and is supported by a trained facilitator until it has matured
enough to manage the process independently.
The steps in the CIAL process
There are 249 active CIALs in eight countries of Latin America.
Growth of the CIALs
Host Countries (%)
Half of the CIALs are supported by nongovernment
and a quarter by government organizations. Twenty percent
are facilitated by consortia consisting of two or more cooperating
organizations. A total of 36 organizations are working with
the CIALs.
Types of Organizations Facilitating CIALs
The CIAL process has proved to be replicable, provided that
the facilitating organizations, the CIALs themselves, and
their host communities adhere to these basic principles:
- Relationships between the CIAL, the community, and external
actors are founded on mutual respect and accountability
and shared decision making.
- Partners in the research process share the risks of research.
- Research is conducted by systematically comparing alternatives.
- Knowledge is generated by building on experience and learning
by doing.
- Research products belong to the community.
Partner organizations share the risks of research with communities
by providing seed money to establish the CIAL fund. Launching
a CIAL program also requires investment in training staff
to facilitate the CIAL process effectively.
The costs of establishing and facilitating
a CIAL are highest during the first year, when most of the
investment in training is made and the CIAL fund is launched.
In subsequent years costs depend primarily on the number of
visits made by the facilitator to each CIAL and on the number
of CIALs attended by each facilitator. When averaged over
different kinds of facilitating organizations, the estimated
cost per CIAL is US$670 for the first year and $325 per year
over a 6-year period.
The Institutional Cost of Supporting a CIAL
Second-order associations, formed by the CIALs of a specific
region or country, are a cost-effective way of providing additional
support and ensuring sustainability.
Other factors that influence success and sustainability include:
- Adequate training of CIAL members in the participatory
research process
- Systematic application by the CIAL of the basic principles
of formal research
- Investment in the training of skilled paraprofessionals
- Regular feedback by the CIAL to the communities
- Adequate upgrading of facilitator skills
- Farmer control over the CIAL process
- Presentation of a range of technological options to CIALs
by formal research services
- Links between the CIAL and experimenting farmers in the
community
- Adequate orientation of the community by the facilitator
to the uncertainties and risks involved in research
- Exposing decision makers and managers to the CIAL concept.
Most CIALs begin with the aim of improving
food security by raising the productivity of staple crops,
such as beans, maize, potatoes, and cassava.
Crops Researched (%)
As food deficits are resolved, income
generation becomes a priority, and research centers on diversification
of the farming system, often through fruit, vegetable, or
small livestock production. Eventually, research on more complex
issues emerges, including management of pests and diseases,
soil, water, and nutrients.
Research Themes
The results of CIAL research may be
widely disseminated, and participation by marginalized groups,
including women, landless laborers, and indigenous communities,
is encouraged.
CIALs by Gender
As CIALs mature, they gain proficiency in the research process
and become less dependent on support from the facilitator.
The CIALs in Cauca, Colombia, required experience with at
least four experiments to consolidate their understanding
of basic aspects of the scientific method, such as experimental
design, treatments, replication, and the need for a control.
Developing the capacity to manage all the steps of the CIAL
process independently also took at least four cycles of diagnosis,
planning, evaluation, analysis, and providing feedback to
the community.
Experience in Colombia, where the concept was first tested,
has shown that the CIAL can benefit the wider community as
well as individual CIAL members. The benefits vary according
to the maturity of the committee and the topic under research.
They include:
- Increased local capacity in formal research methods
- Improved local planning, management, and organizational
skills
- Higher crop yields
- More local experimentation
- More experimentation with soil conservation practices
- Higher biodiversity in cropping systems
- Improved access to credit
- Greater availability of improved seed
- Improved food security
- Establishment of small enterprises
- Increased social status of women and other marginalized
groups
- Improved access to formal research services and products.
Adoption of the products of a CIAL’s
research is a clear sign of its success as a local research
service. An example from Cauca, Colombia, demonstrates the
potential of a CIAL to stimulate broad adoption of technology
it has tested. Over 80% of farmers from the village of Pescador
adopted a bean variety recommended by the local committee.
The CIAL also had impact beyond its own community. Fifty percent
of farmers in three nearby communities with CIALs and over
20% of farmers in four communities without CIALs also adopted
the variety.
Adoption of a Bean Variety
Mature CIALs often launch small businesses, selling improved
seed or other products or services. Many take on a broader
role in the community, seeking access to credit and training,
preparing and submitting proposals, and acting as ambassadors
in relationships with R&D actors.
The effect of the CIALs on their
communities and on formal research services transcends dollars
and cents. Nevertheless, CIAT estimates the return on the
investment made in developing and applying the CIAL approach
at 78%.
Return on Investment in the CIALs
The CIAL movement is still young, and its future evolution
is uncertain. If properly managed, CIALs can deliver substantial
growth and equity benefits, although their effects on the
sustainability of production are less predictable. By allowing
adaptive research to be devolved to the farming community,
CIALs cut the costs of formal research while increasing its
impact. The long-term financial sustainability of the CIALs
and their second-order associations is a major challenge that
remains to be addressed.
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