Agroforestry dissemination pathways: Claveria landcare experience and some lessons learned

There are two broad Components of sustainable watershed management:appropriate Land management technology, and active people’s participation. Appropriate technology calls for a balance between production goals and conservation goals. Farmers are biased toward production goals while most development projects and government agencies promoting watershed management are biased towards conservation goals low benefit people living outside the watershed. Appropriate kind in management technology centers on this balance between production goals and conservation goals (hat should be within the socio—economic and bio—physical environments of the resource poor farmersliving most in the upland areas in the Philippines.JCRAF for years has developed various conservation farming and agroforesrytechnologies that dwell within the balance between farmers’ product ion and conservation goals. 1’echiologies that are simple (o establish, easy to maintain and provide a mechanism for farmers to innovate or evolve to depending on (heir Socio—economic and bio—physical environments while enhancing farmers productivity and profitability.Appropriate land management technology is not enough, but people’s activeparticipation to effectively adopt and disseminate the technology is equally essential. Land care model is an approach to effectively and inexpensively diffuse conservation farming and agroforestry technologies. This is based on farmer’s innate interest, in adopting and sharing new technologies that enhance farm income and profitability while protecting the environment. I and care is a consciousness and act of protecting the lands against depletion to attain production sustainability and rural development. The Land care approach spouses on collaboration, partnership and convergence between stakeholders.This partnership is expressed in the triangulation between:farmers grassrootorganization, government and technologist. The center of which are resource poor farmers who formed themselves into sell-help organization — Claveria Land care Association. The approach has developed into a dynamic voluntary movement called the Land care movement. As (lie Land care groups began to grow, the local government units (municipal and barangay) have given enthusiastic support. This has involved the contribution of funds, technical assistance and policy support to the movement.