Musvoto, Constansia DMason, NJovanovic, NebojsaFroebrich, JTshovhote, JNemakhavhani, MKhabe, T2015-08-312015-08-312015-07Musvoto, C.D., Mason, N, Jovanovic, N, Froebrich, J, Tshovhote, J, Nemakhavhani, M and Khabe, T. 2015. Applying a transdisciplinary process to define a research agenda in a smallholder irrigated farming system in South Africa. Agricultural Systems, Vol 137, pp. 39-500308-521Xhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X15000426http://hdl.handle.net/10204/8118Copyright: 2015 Elsevier. Due to copyright restrictions, the attached PDF file only contains the abstract of the full text item. For access to the full text item, please consult the publisher's website. The definitive version of the work is published in the Agricultural Systems, Vol 137, pp. 39-50Defining an agenda is critical to a research process, and a transdisciplinary approach is expected to improve relevance of an agenda and resultant research outputs. Given the complexity of farming systems, farmer differences and the involvement of different stakeholders, as well as the expectations of research funders, what contributions can be made by different interest groups to the construction of an actionable research agenda that produces locally relevant yet original, empirical and transferable findings? In a case study of smallholder irrigation in South Africa, we analyze how, using a transdisciplinary approach, a balance can be struck between the priorities of different stakeholders in defining a research agenda. A transdisciplinary approach was interpreted to entail full participation of diverse stakeholders and integration of different issues as key features. Stakeholder participation was mediated through formal platforms: the Learning and Practice Alliance (LPA) and the Community of Practice (CoP). Farmers and local extension workers participated through the CoP, while other stakeholders, including the public and private sector participated through the LPA. A five step participatory process aimed at allowing stakeholders to fully understand issues, contribute to and validate the research agenda was followed, utilizing a combination of methods, including field observation, photography and discussion. We observed that farmer and researcher participation occurred along two main continua, which we define as a ‘participation matrix’ – one continuum relating to the contribution of knowledge and information, and the other to decision making. The participation matrix can be used as a reference framework for guiding the transdisciplinary definition of research agendas, to aid in balancing knowledge and priorities including local relevance, ownership, originality, and transferability of findings. We argue that the transdisciplinary process, mediated through structured stakeholder participation, open dialogue and continual validation by all stakeholders was time and resource intensive, but enabled each stakeholder group to contribute to the process distinctly, resulting in a research agenda that integrated different needs and expectations.enParticipation matrixParticipation matrixActive participationPassive participationCommunity of PracticeLearning alliancesPractice alliancesProblem framingAgricultural systemsSouth African farming systemsArticleMusvoto, C. D., Mason, N., Jovanovic, N., Froebrich, J., Tshovhote, J., Nemakhavhani, M., & Khabe, T. (2015). Applying a transdisciplinary process to define a research agenda in a smallholder irrigated farming system in South Africa. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/8118Musvoto, Constansia D, N Mason, Nebojsa Jovanovic, J Froebrich, J Tshovhote, M Nemakhavhani, and T Khabe "Applying a transdisciplinary process to define a research agenda in a smallholder irrigated farming system in South Africa." (2015) http://hdl.handle.net/10204/8118Musvoto CD, Mason N, Jovanovic N, Froebrich J, Tshovhote J, Nemakhavhani M, et al. Applying a transdisciplinary process to define a research agenda in a smallholder irrigated farming system in South Africa. 2015; http://hdl.handle.net/10204/8118.TY - Article AU - Musvoto, Constansia D AU - Mason, N AU - Jovanovic, Nebojsa AU - Froebrich, J AU - Tshovhote, J AU - Nemakhavhani, M AU - Khabe, T AB - Defining an agenda is critical to a research process, and a transdisciplinary approach is expected to improve relevance of an agenda and resultant research outputs. Given the complexity of farming systems, farmer differences and the involvement of different stakeholders, as well as the expectations of research funders, what contributions can be made by different interest groups to the construction of an actionable research agenda that produces locally relevant yet original, empirical and transferable findings? In a case study of smallholder irrigation in South Africa, we analyze how, using a transdisciplinary approach, a balance can be struck between the priorities of different stakeholders in defining a research agenda. A transdisciplinary approach was interpreted to entail full participation of diverse stakeholders and integration of different issues as key features. Stakeholder participation was mediated through formal platforms: the Learning and Practice Alliance (LPA) and the Community of Practice (CoP). Farmers and local extension workers participated through the CoP, while other stakeholders, including the public and private sector participated through the LPA. A five step participatory process aimed at allowing stakeholders to fully understand issues, contribute to and validate the research agenda was followed, utilizing a combination of methods, including field observation, photography and discussion. We observed that farmer and researcher participation occurred along two main continua, which we define as a ‘participation matrix’ – one continuum relating to the contribution of knowledge and information, and the other to decision making. The participation matrix can be used as a reference framework for guiding the transdisciplinary definition of research agendas, to aid in balancing knowledge and priorities including local relevance, ownership, originality, and transferability of findings. We argue that the transdisciplinary process, mediated through structured stakeholder participation, open dialogue and continual validation by all stakeholders was time and resource intensive, but enabled each stakeholder group to contribute to the process distinctly, resulting in a research agenda that integrated different needs and expectations. DA - 2015-07 DB - ResearchSpace DP - CSIR KW - Participation matrix KW - Participation matrix KW - Active participation KW - Passive participation KW - Community of Practice KW - Learning alliances KW - Practice alliances KW - Problem framing KW - Agricultural systems KW - South African farming systems LK - https://researchspace.csir.co.za PY - 2015 SM - 0308-521X T1 - Applying a transdisciplinary process to define a research agenda in a smallholder irrigated farming system in South Africa TI - Applying a transdisciplinary process to define a research agenda in a smallholder irrigated farming system in South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10204/8118 ER -