CWANA. Most CWANA countries are not ready to absorb the increasing labor supply and huge infrastructure investments needed to boost the nonagricultural labor demand. The quality of this labor is another huge problem for which simple solutions cannot be soon found; long-term investments are necessary.

2.4.5 Findings

The different development of CWANA countries must be reiterated. There is a great need to establish field studies using local surveys to analyze and assess the marketing conditions in the different regions of these countries. A global view does not take into account the important differences among countries and among the regions within countries. Problems in the Turkish agricultural sector cannot be considered similar to problems in Algeria, Djibouti or Sudan, nor can improvements in the agricultural sector of Pakistan be compared with improvements in Saudi Arabia.

This global assessment indicates that CWANA countries are losing their comparative advantage in most agricultural sectors. Recently developed sectors, such as livestock and fresh fruits and vegetables, create a certain dependence on modern inputs. No country can function with complete autonomy; all these countries need each other for products for which they do not have comparative advantage. Nonetheless, this need must create value and wealth for the developing CWANA countries and emphasize the urgent need to develop knowledge and technology to challenge the world status quo.

2.5 Technology Transfer and Adoption

2.5.1 Scaling-out approaches for technology adoption and transfer

The generation of improved technologies and assuring that farmers use them are key to crop productivity and improving farmer livelihoods. The lack of trained research and extension staff in most developing countries is largely responsible for these improved technologies being generated but not used. Technology transfer requires close cooperation among all concerned stakeholders, including farmers, research and extension staff and governmental and nongovernmental organizations. International agricultural research centers (IARCs) in the region, of which ICARDA is one, can work closely with national policy and decision makers and with various stakeholders.

NARS in the CWANA region differ in their human and physical resource capacities, needs and operational resources. In most countries of the region, priorities for agricultural research and human resource development depend, to a large extent, on the available financial resources and stem from a national desire to decrease dependence on food imports. Priorities, often set by policy makers belonging to different institutions, are transferred to research, extension and training specialists with limited room for interaction or feedback.

In most CWANA countries, agricultural research and extension are still handled by separate public institutions, with different mandates and operating systems. In the prevailing model for generating, transferring and adopting technologies, the new technologies-either superior genetic

material or improved production packages-are developed by researchers then passed on to extension agents to demonstrate and disseminate to farmers. This model does not incorporate a feedback system from farmers to researchers or among research, extension and development agents. This drawback has deterred the development and transfer of technology appropriate for small-scale, resource-poor farmers, particularly those in low-potential, heterogeneous agroecological areas.

Adaptive research, such as on-farm verification and demonstration trials in farmer fields, must complement research to realistically evaluate any new technology. It provides an excellent opportunity for the farmers whom the new technology is meant to benefit to participate, learn about and gain confidence. Adaptive research also builds up and strengthens the research-extension-farmer-policy maker dialogue. Social and economic value and aspects of the tested technologies can also be evaluated and compared with existing practices. On-farm research ensures a feedback mechanism among farmers, scientists and policy makers. Such a mechanism, if effectively linked with extension services, helps research systems set priorities and adjust continuously and adequately to evolving farm circumstances (Swanson et al., 1988).

In collaboration with NARS in CWANA, ICARDA conducts adaptive trials and demonstrations in farmer fields that offer excellent opportunities for organizing field days and visits to promote new technologies. Scientists, extension specialists, farmers, seed specialists, government officials, representatives from international and regional organizations and representatives from universities and the donor community participate in the field days to discuss the new technologies applied under farmer conditions.

To achieve higher development and uptake of innovations, it has been recently proposed (Ceccarelli and Grando, 2007) that the traditional linear sequence of researcher to extension to farmer be replaced by a team approach, with scientists, extension staff and farmers all participating in all major steps of developing a new technology.

2.5.1.1 Agricultural extension and applied research project: case study

A pilot travel and visit (T&V) extension approach was introduced in Turkey in 16 towns through the Agricultural Extension and Applied Research Project (TYUAP) (Kumuk and van Crowder, 1996; www.aari.gov.tr). Reorganization of extension in towns and villages under the T&V system emphasized a group of specialists who do research and train in addition to extension work.

The major differences between conventional extension and the T&V approach are extension and research links, individual instead of group contacts and regular on-the-job training. The T&V approach tends not to involve extension workers in supplying inputs for farmers and focuses more on specific crops.

The T&V extension experience in Turkey suggests that the extension team approach is a more effective way to tackle the problems of mixed-crop farming systems. Multidisciplinary extension teams live and work in towns and villages, focusing on local problems using farming systems approaches and participatory methods. Extension workers