The initial coordinator of Prolinnova-Ethiopia, Amanuel Assefa, takes a look back at the first ten years of the network in that country. In the paper “A pathway to a lasting partnership: Prolinnova–Ethiopia’s decade of experience with innovative farmers”, prepared as part of the Prolinnova international network’s efforts to take stock of achievements and lessons over the last decade, Amanuel focuses on the case of the country-level network in Ethiopia.
He traces its genesis to the work of the Indigenous Soil and Water Conservation Programme coordinated by Mekelle University and follows the development of the multistakeholder network during the period when it was coordinated by AgriService Ethiopia (ASE) and up to the present day, now within the Poverty Alleviation Network Ethiopia (PANE). He reviews the experiences, the achievements, the impact at farmer level and institutional level, the challenges faced and the lessons learnt about promoting local innovation and farmer-led research and development in Ethiopia.
