Testing and scaling up of sustainable agriculture kits : story of change

This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and with financial support from the Government of Canada, provided through Global Affairs Canada (GAC)Successful agricultural practices provide visible benefits, obvious to the innovation users as well as their neighbours. Farmers give high ratings to tools included in sustainable agricultural kits (SAKs) that reduce drudgery, have multiple uses, and are affordable. Terrace farming productivity in Nepal has not been affected by mechanization due to narrow and small plot sizes on difficult terrain. Meanwhile migration of males in search of employment has reduced available farm labour in villages and increased workloads on females. This brief describes some agricultural innovations, the context of their adoption, and how to scale up innovation adoption