CBN-V Video Archives - S1-16
Cassava and Users: Determining Needs and Priorities in Ecuador

Mera V., H. Caballero and C.M.J. Ginés

Cassava Biotechnology Network, CIAT, Av. Eloy Alfaro y Amazonas, Edificio MAG, Quito, Ecuador C.GINES@CGIAR.ORG

        The cassava Biotechnology Network (CBN) is implementing a project in Latin America on Strategies for Integrating Small-Scale End-Users in Research Agenda-Setting, Testing and Evaluation. One of the components of this project is the development of participatory methodologies and the strategic use of social science to ensure that end users have a real voice in decision-making in the development and implementation of biotechnologies. Social scientists will work with biotechnologists to refine methods for priority setting, differentiating and targeting diverse users (including the very poor and women), and enhancing involvement of farmers in multiple stages of technology development and evaluation. One pilot sites is located in Ecuador, where the CBN is carrying out a diagnostic study to grasp the actual situation of cassava producers in relation to cassava production, processing and commercialization, with a focus on the coastal Province of Manabi. The diagnosis uses ethnographic methodology and participatory and gender analysis, and will be directed at understanding cassava production in relation to the entire agro-ecosystem. One result will be an analysis of the social dimensions of cassava production in the communities and the factors related to changes in farming practices. Moreover, this study will use Geographic Information System (GIS) to integrate the information gathered in the field, which should allow for the visualization of the spatial distribution of users, cassava varieties and management of the system and for comparisons among agro-ecological zones. A product of this study will be a descriptive and analytic document of the actual situation for the country, and can be used as tool for future actions and plans in Ecuador.

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