Agricultural research for development (AR4D) is often discussed in terms of abandoning 'business as usual'. One important element of the reframing of agricultural research is an emphasis on the development of useful 'products', which immediately brings 'users' to centre stage. In this paper the authors review the literature on user involvement from the field of new product development (NPD). They then propose a conceptual model of feedback and feedback loops within AR4D and use this model to analyse examples of feedback generation in rice research in West Africa. On the basis of this initial analysis they conclude that, while there are many ongoing activities that could potentially provide useful feedback, in the majority of cases this potential is probably not being realized. Unless feedback is approached much more systematically, the promise of AR4D as a means of generating useful products for farmers and others will probably remain unfulfilled.
crop in others, while in many places, the gender pattern for rice cultivation is complex. In spite of the active involvement of both men and women in rice farming, processing and marketing, the overall research-for-development agenda has not always fully appreciated or considered the gender perspective (Poats, 1991). Consequently, the technologies and knowledge generated through rice research may not have reached the women end-users. A gender perspective needs to be integrated into agriculturespecifically in rice research for development-as a strategic pathway towards sustainable and effective rice development in Africa. Gender Actors and Levels in Rice Development 'Gender' is a term used to explain how society constructs the differences between women and men, whereas 'sex' identifies the biological differences between women and men. Therefore, looking at gender does not focus primarily on women or men, but rather on the relationships between their different roles, responsibilities,
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