Social research to foster effective collaboration and strengthen pro-poor value chains (completed project)

As part of the Agricultural Sector Linkages Program 2 (ASLP2), this project developed based on feedback from Phase 1 of the ASLP in rural Pakistan which recommended greater emphasis be placed on building sustainable value chains which benefit the poor whilst improving collaboration across project teams. With this in mind, this project’s aim was to encourage and facilitate pro-poor collaborative development during Phase 2 by undertaking the necessary social research underpinning the four commodity-based projects of ASLP. The project’s objectives also included utilising information and communications technology (ICT) as a tool to enhance both collaboration between teams, and value chains, and also fostering a collaborative approach to development with rural villages in Pakistan. Over time, an additional objective was added which saw the project also strive to develop a new initiative focusing on engaging rural youth.

This project used the methodology of participatory action research (PAR). This approach began with an extensive information-gathering stage involving a variety of methods, such as:

• baseline survey
• capacity inventory
• focus groups
• case study

In April 2012, a collaborative planning workshop was held involving all the Australian and Pakistani members of all the project teams, from which emerged of the idea of working in six focal villages and village clusters as a means to support integrated research and foster better collaboration across project teams.

Following this workshop, the main activities of the project centred on six focal villages in rural Pakistan and included:

• gathering information (survey, focus groups, capacity audits)
• village-level planning workshops to determine priorities
• consultation with the villages and the CBP teams to develop change strategies for each village
• development of ICT support for the villages

In February 2014, the Social Research Team organised and hosted a second collaborative planning workshop in Bhurban, Pakistan. The outcomes of this meeting suggested strongly that the collaborative initiatives and ICT support in the focus villages should not only continue but should expand to include catchment areas around the villages, whilst also developing a new initiative focusing on engaging youth in the focal villages.

The key results of the project included:

• A rich data set from the baseline survey of 750 low income rural households in Pakistan. This data set provides extensive information on the characteristics and preferences of both heads of household and their spouses.
• Infrastructure development: this has taken the form of Community Service Centres (CSCs) in the focal villages, which are important locations for training, keeping community equipment like computers, as well as serving as a meeting places for villagers with space for both men and women.
• Training programs in the focal villages for low income households which are responsive to the needs of these households.
• Development of the use of ICT (FarmFone and FarmSMS) for communication and extension.
• Improved understanding of the methods and challenges of cross-disciplinary collaboration.
• Improved understanding of the challenges of inter-household collaboration for economic benefit and the differences between men and women in their attitudes to such collaborations.

An endline survey was carried out to gain some measure of the impacts of the project.  The results suggested that the impacts were extensive and very positive. Work in some focal villages continued with another ACIAR program in Pakistan and we understand the approach we used in the focal villages was replicated by another (USAID) project in other villages.

• Executive Summary of Final Report - ACIAR
• Spriggs, John and Barbara Chambers (2011) 'Organic research and collaborative development (ORCD) of horticultural supply chains in the Asia-Pacific'. Stewart Postharvest Review, Vol 7, No 2 Sept 2011. pp:1-9. (Published online, 1 September 2011 doi:10.2212/spr.2011.2.2).
• Chambers, B. Heaney-Mustafa, S. and Taj, S (2018) ‘Women and marginalised group inclusion in Pakistan smallholder agriculture.’ Development Bulletin, Vol79. pp:88-92.
• Taj, S. Heaney-Mustafa, S. chambers B (2018) Place-based community development: A comparative study of gender empowerment and community collaboration in small arming households in Punjab, Pakistan. Asian Studies International Journal. Vol1:1. pp:26-32.
• Spriggs, J., Chambers, B., Heaney-Mustafa, s. Roy, S., AKMAL, N., Taj, S., Khan, I. A., Mangan, T. 2019 Women's empowerment and economic collaboration in rural Pakistan. Journal of Gender, Agriculture and Food Security, Vol 2:2. pp:52-68