This article proposes ways to use programme theory for evaluating aspects of programmes that are complicated or complex. It argues that there are useful distinctions to be drawn between aspects that are complicated and those that are complex, and provides examples of programme theory evaluations that have usefully represented and address both of these. While complexity has been defined in varied ways in previous discussions of evaluation theory and practice, this article draws on Glouberman and Zimmerman's conceptualization of the differences between what is complicated (multiple components) and what is complex (emergent). Complicated programme theory may be used to represent interventions with multiple components, multiple agencies, multiple simultaneous causal strands and/or multiple alternative causal strands. Complex programme theory may be used to represent recursive causality (with reinforcing loops), disproportionate relationships (where at critical levels, a small change can make a big difference ...

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Using Programme Theory to Evaluate Complicated and Complex Aspects of Interventions

The cultivation of tropical Asian rice, which may have originated 9000 yr ago, represents an agricultural ecosystem of unrivaled ecological complexity. We undertook a study of the community ecology of irrigated tropical rice fields on Java, Indonesia, as a supporting study for the Indonesian National Integrated Pest Management Programme, whose purpose is to train farmers to be better agronomists and to employ the principles of integrated pest management (IPM). Two of our study objectives, reported on here, were (1) to explore whether there exist general and consistent patterns of arthropod community dynamics related to natural or intrinsic levels of biological control, and (2) to understand how the exist ing levels of biological control are affected by insecticide use, as well as by large -scale habitat factors relating to differing patterns for vegetational landscapes, planting times, and the length of dry fallow periods. We performed a series of observat ional studies and two experimental studies. Abundant and well-distributed populations of generalist predators can be found in most early -season tropical rice fields. We took samples from plants and water surface using a vacuum -suction device, and from the subsurface using a dip net. Our results show that high populations of generalist predators are likely to be supported, in the early season, by feeding on abundant populations of detritus feeding and plankton -feeding insects, whose populations consistently peak and decline in the first third of the season. We hypothesize that since this abundance of alternative prey gives the predator populations a "head start" on later -developing pest populations, this process should strongly suppress pest populations and g enerally lend stability to rice ecosystems by decoupling predator populations from a strict dependence on herbivore populations. We experimentall y tested our hypothesis of trophic linkages among organic matter, detritivores and plankton feeders, and generalist predators and showed that by increasing organic matter in test plots we could boost populations of detritivores and plankton -feeders, and in turn significantly boost the abundance of generalist predators. These results hold for populations found on t he plant, on the water surface, and below the water surface. We also demonstrated the link between early season natural enemy populations and later-season pest populations by experimentally reducing early -season predator populations with insecticide applications, causing pest populations to resurge later in the season. Overall, these results demonstrate the existence of a mechanism in tropical irrigated rice systems that supports high levels of natural biological control. This mechanism depends on season l ong successional processes and interactions among a wide array of species, many of which have hitherto been ignored as important elements in a rice ecosystem. Our results support a management strategy that promotes the conservation of existing natural biol ogical control through a major reduction in insecticide use, and the corresponding increase in habitat heterogeneity.

/pdf/managing-tropical-rice-pests-through-conservation-of-33usbkb031.pdf

Managing Tropical Rice Pests Through Conservation of Generalist Natural Enemies and Alternative Prey

Adaptive management in agricultural innovation systems: The interactions between innovation networks and their environment

A review of agricultural research issues raised by the system of rice intensification (SRI) from Madagascar: opportunities for improving farming systems for resource-poor farmers

This article provides a framework outlining farmers demand for information, the public goods character of extensions services, and the organizational and the political attributes affecting the performance of extension systems This conceptual framework is used to analyze several extensions modalities and their likely and actual effectiveness The analysis highlights the efficiency gains that can come from locally decentralized delivery system with incentive structures based on largely private provision, although in poorer countries extension services will remain funded The goals of agricultural extension includes transferring information from the global knowledge base and from local research to farmers, enabling them to clarify their own goals and possibilities, educating them on how to make better decisions, and stimulating desirable agricultural development

/pdf/agricultural-extension-good-intentions-and-hard-realities-4a264z8t5m.pdf

Agricultural Extension: Good Intentions and Hard Realities

http://boru.pbworks.com/f/ag_syst_IPE.pdf

Impact pathway evaluation: an approach for achieving and attributing impact in complex systems

This paper offers a conceptualmodel for participatory research projects thataim to improve the sustainability ofagriculture and natural resource management.The purpose of the model is to provide asystematic framework that can guide the designof participatory research projects, theiranalysis, and the documentation of results. Inthe model, conceptual boundaries are drawnbetween research and development, developmentand extension and between extension andimplementation. Objectives, activities, andactors associated with each of these realmsneed to be carefully selected, monitored, andevaluated throughout the course of a projectusing well-designed indicators. The depth ofdisciplinary and methodological integration,and quality of participation needed to reachthe desired impact effectively and efficiently,however, needs to be determined on acase-by-case basis depending on the context andissues surrounding each particular project.

Conceptualizing integrative, farmer participatory research for sustainable agriculture: from opportunities to impact

Integrated pest management: Farmer field schools generate sustainable practices

The term “positive deviance” has become increasingly popular in recent years, resulting in the co-existence of multiple definitions and applications scattered among diverse sources of academic literature. The aim of this paper is to bring conceptual clarity to the term by providing a comprehensive synthesis and review of the positive deviance literature. Analysis reveals conceptual and thematic differences in the language employed by authors applying positive deviance in a practical context compared with articles of a more theoretical nature. New directions are proposed for exploring the use and merit of the positive deviance concept into new areas of research.

Positive Deviance in Theory and Practice: A Conceptual Review

Solid fuels are the primary cooking fuels in a wide range of developing countries, a situation that is projected to remain for the coming few decades. In the energy poverty scholarship, it is a well-argued concept that social systems influence people’s energy choices. Influenced by theories of Practice, this study explores the role that social structure plays in the perpetuation of the use of solid cooking fuels, with a particular focus on rural India. We employ a qualitative approach of inquiry for data collection in three villages in Chittoor district in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The results presented in this paper are based on in-depth household interviews and focus group discussions. The findings suggest that cooking with solid fuels is intertwined with structural elements, such as established traditions, traditional income generating practices, gender norms, and a sense of belonging. These factors profoundly dominate households’ decisions to continue using solid fuels despite the availability and the adoption of modern alternatives. The paper argues that interventions targeted at reducing the use of solid fuels may fail if they: 1) focus only on supplying modern fuels; 2) do not consider contextual social barriers; and 3) are implemented as standalone projects.

Elske van de Fliert

Papers

Impact pathway evaluation: an approach for achieving and attributing impact in complex systems

Conceptualizing integrative, farmer participatory research for sustainable agriculture: from opportunities to impact

Integrated pest management: Farmer field schools generate sustainable practices

Positive Deviance in Theory and Practice: A Conceptual Review

Resistance in rejecting solid fuels: Beyond availability and adoption in the structural dominations of cooking practices in rural India