Multi-disciplinary north-south collaboration in participatory action research on food value chains: A German-Tanzanian case study on perceptions, experiences and challenges

Upgrading local food value chains is a promising approach to invigorating African food systems. This endeavour warrants multi-disciplinary North-South collaboration and partnerships through participatory action research (PAR) to help leverage appropriate upgrading strategies (UPSs) with a focus on l...

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Autores principales: Graef, F., Mutabazi, K. D., Sieber, S., Asch, F., Makoko, B., Nkonya, Ephraim M.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Springer 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145456
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author Graef, F.
Mutabazi, K. D.
Sieber, S.
Asch, F.
Makoko, B.
Nkonya, Ephraim M.
author_browse Asch, F.
Graef, F.
Makoko, B.
Mutabazi, K. D.
Nkonya, Ephraim M.
Sieber, S.
author_facet Graef, F.
Mutabazi, K. D.
Sieber, S.
Asch, F.
Makoko, B.
Nkonya, Ephraim M.
author_sort Graef, F.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Upgrading local food value chains is a promising approach to invigorating African food systems. This endeavour warrants multi-disciplinary North-South collaboration and partnerships through participatory action research (PAR) to help leverage appropriate upgrading strategies (UPSs) with a focus on local stakeholders. The more disciplines, cultures, and partner institutions that are involved, the more a project will present challenges in terms of communication and coordinating activities. Our aim was to determine the costs and investigate whether PAR with a multi-disciplinary approach was feasible in rural Tanzania with over 600 local stakeholders and more than 100 scientists. This article presents a self-evaluation of the collaboration and communication of project scientists during their research activities. Despite the overall high satisfaction, the more complex and complicated PAR activities required more cooperation, instructions and communication among the project scientists than had been anticipated in this multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural, and multi–institutional context, resulting in greater tension and dissatisfaction. The findings indicate that this type of large multi-disciplinary PAR is challenging in terms of flexibility in the planning of research activities, the administration of finances, and cross-cultural communication. Potential avenues to overcome these obstacles include a) more communication on PAR activities across cultures to develop a shared vocabulary; b) developing other modes of shared responsibility for a more horizontal collaboration; and c) more face-to-face cross-cultural activities to overcome cultural, disciplinary and geographical distance.
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publishDate 2019
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spelling CGSpace1454562024-11-15T08:52:22Z Multi-disciplinary north-south collaboration in participatory action research on food value chains: A German-Tanzanian case study on perceptions, experiences and challenges Graef, F. Mutabazi, K. D. Sieber, S. Asch, F. Makoko, B. Nkonya, Ephraim M. supply chains senses capacity development participatory action research food security participatory research communication food supply chains Upgrading local food value chains is a promising approach to invigorating African food systems. This endeavour warrants multi-disciplinary North-South collaboration and partnerships through participatory action research (PAR) to help leverage appropriate upgrading strategies (UPSs) with a focus on local stakeholders. The more disciplines, cultures, and partner institutions that are involved, the more a project will present challenges in terms of communication and coordinating activities. Our aim was to determine the costs and investigate whether PAR with a multi-disciplinary approach was feasible in rural Tanzania with over 600 local stakeholders and more than 100 scientists. This article presents a self-evaluation of the collaboration and communication of project scientists during their research activities. Despite the overall high satisfaction, the more complex and complicated PAR activities required more cooperation, instructions and communication among the project scientists than had been anticipated in this multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural, and multi–institutional context, resulting in greater tension and dissatisfaction. The findings indicate that this type of large multi-disciplinary PAR is challenging in terms of flexibility in the planning of research activities, the administration of finances, and cross-cultural communication. Potential avenues to overcome these obstacles include a) more communication on PAR activities across cultures to develop a shared vocabulary; b) developing other modes of shared responsibility for a more horizontal collaboration; and c) more face-to-face cross-cultural activities to overcome cultural, disciplinary and geographical distance. 2019-12-31 2024-06-21T09:04:31Z 2024-06-21T09:04:31Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145456 en Open Access Springer Graef, F.; Mutabazi, K. D.; Sieber, S.; Asch, F.; Makoko, B.; Nkonya, Ephraim M.; et al. 2019. Multi-disciplinary north-south collaboration in participatory action research on food value chains: A German-Tanzanian case study on perceptions, experiences and challenges. Systemic Practice and Action Research 32(4): 359–378. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11213-018-9458-7
spellingShingle supply chains
senses
capacity development
participatory action research
food security
participatory research
communication
food supply chains
Graef, F.
Mutabazi, K. D.
Sieber, S.
Asch, F.
Makoko, B.
Nkonya, Ephraim M.
Multi-disciplinary north-south collaboration in participatory action research on food value chains: A German-Tanzanian case study on perceptions, experiences and challenges
title Multi-disciplinary north-south collaboration in participatory action research on food value chains: A German-Tanzanian case study on perceptions, experiences and challenges
title_full Multi-disciplinary north-south collaboration in participatory action research on food value chains: A German-Tanzanian case study on perceptions, experiences and challenges
title_fullStr Multi-disciplinary north-south collaboration in participatory action research on food value chains: A German-Tanzanian case study on perceptions, experiences and challenges
title_full_unstemmed Multi-disciplinary north-south collaboration in participatory action research on food value chains: A German-Tanzanian case study on perceptions, experiences and challenges
title_short Multi-disciplinary north-south collaboration in participatory action research on food value chains: A German-Tanzanian case study on perceptions, experiences and challenges
title_sort multi disciplinary north south collaboration in participatory action research on food value chains a german tanzanian case study on perceptions experiences and challenges
topic supply chains
senses
capacity development
participatory action research
food security
participatory research
communication
food supply chains
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145456
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