Networking for Sustainable Agriculture: Lessons from animal traction development

Many of those involved in agricultural development are isolated from the wider experiences of others. This is so whether they are on a farm, or in an NGO office, international research centre, government ministry or aid agency headquarters. Information flows tend to be top-down and narrow, and restricted to single disciplines., limited geographical areas and the prevailing organisational persuasion. Networks can help overcome some of the problems, by allowing the exchange of information. This paper assesses the value of networking through the experiences of animal traction networks in sub-Saharan Africa.