Enhancing sustainability of university-based outreach activities through participatory action research: the case of Sokoine University of Agriculture
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Date
2024-08-20
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
International Journal of Agricultural Extension
Abstract
Universities worldwide are mandated for training, research, consultancy and
outreach. To ensure that they are responsive to community’s needs, as part of
corporate social responsibility, Universities carry out outreach activities and engage
with rural communities. However, many universities' outreach activities in rural
communities face the challenge of sustainability. In addressing sustainability,
Participatory Action Research (PAR) has proved to foster collaboration and
meaningful engagements for community transformation. This is because using PAR
to seek solutions to problems facing society and, simultaneously, meeting outreach
goals fosters sustainability. In this paper, we use the Sokoine University of
Agriculture (SUA) as a case to report findings on achievements, challenges and
critical lessons learned from selected outreach projects that used PAR interventional
strategy. We collected primary data from community members based on our
involvement in selected projects. We employed focus group discussions (FGDs) to
collect primary data. These data were compiled and shared during feedback
meetings and dialogue conferences. In addition, secondary data collected include
information obtained from literature review, project reports and researchers’ field
notes. Data were analyzed by thematic analysis procedure. Our experiences and
results indicate that PAR interventional strategy sustained the University’s outreach
activities, enhanced the University-community linkage and transformed rural
communities in different ways, ranging from individual, economic and organisational
empowerment. In addition, PAR fostered researcher-farmer interactions and
collaboration among partners and actors. Critical lessons learned include long-term
commitment to work with rural communities is necessary to build mutual trust and
strong partnerships; communities perceive researchers as “outsiders” who have
abilities and resources for addressing their felt needs and problems and PAR is
limited by institutional set-up. However, frequent interactions and close involvement of stakeholders in project implementation guaranteed success.
Description
Journal article
Keywords
Participatory action research, Rural transformation, Sustainability, University-based-outreach activities