Knowledge on yam variety development: insights from farmers? and researchers? practices.

Resumen

This paper analyzed three different types of actors (farmers, researchers at national and level and researchers at international level) having different approaches and practices to improve yam in Benin. Farmers? own experimentation on yam variety development resulted in insight into yam domestication. With a thorough process of domestication, a new variety can be developed in three years. Farmers evaluated new material based on yield, taste, suitability for food, size, colour, shape, and length of the tubers, and presence of spines and bristles on the tubers. In the national, formal system, the lack of knowledge on existing plant materials and their agronomic characteristics, and on farmers? and consumers? preferences, prevent scientists from developing appropriate methods to increase yield and to reduce post-harvest losses. In an international context, researchers have worked on yam for 35 years but still fail to fully understand the reproduction biology and genetics of wild and cultivated yams. The study revealed that farmers have their own experimental science and suggests that there is a need for the elite formal crop science to establish an effective link with farmer experimentation and to cultivate communities of practice that promote cross-boundary action learning to address farmer needs and national priorities.