In July 1987, some 50 social and natural scientists of roughly equal numbers met at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Sussex, UK, for a workshop on ‘Farmers and Agricultural Research: Complementary Methods’, later more generally known as the “Farmer First’ workshop (Chambers et al, 1989). That event marked a key moment in the development of approaches to farmer participation in agricultural research and extension, drawing together experiences from a diverse range of individuals and organisations from both North and South. Since then, methodological, institutional and policy experiments have unfolded around the world, aimed at “putting farmers first”.
