African Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 2(4), pp. 119-130, April, 2007

ISSN 1991- 637X­© 2007 Academic Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Main-streaming participatory and cross-disciplinary approaches in animal science research in developing countries

Jens Aagaard-Hansen^1*, Carl Erik Schou Larsen ², Niels Halberg³, Carsten Nico Hjortsø⁴, Quentin Gausset⁵ and Jolly Kabirizi⁶

¹DBL – Centre for Health Research and Development, Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

² Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

³, Department of Agroecology and Environment, University of Aarhus, Denmark

⁴ Centre for Forest and Landscape Denmark, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

⁵ Institute of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

⁶Namulonge Agriculture and Animal Production Research Institute, P. O. Box 7084, Kampala, Uganda

*Corresponding author. E mail: jah@life.ku.dk

Accepted 23 March 2007

Conventional research approaches have lost considerable momentum after their astonishing achievements during the green revolution. The negative side of focusing rigorously on production improvement was eminent around 1980 and led to considerations of environmental, gender and equity aspects - making agricultural development much more complex than previously. In the search for new ways of addressing the persisting problems of food insecurity and malnutrition, new ways should be explored. Based on the experiences from three international, African research projects, the article argues the case of participatory action research and cross-disciplinarity as some of the key elements in future animal science research in developing countries. The benefits are outlined as well as the challenges for the researchers and the donor agencies.

Key words: Action research, agriculture, agro-forestry, animal science, cross-disciplinarity, developing countries, livestock systems, paradigms, participation, poverty.