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This book reviews and evaluates recent developments, both in terms of concepts and implementation, in farmer participatory research. Rather than setting out to advocate expanded use of farmer participatory research, the purpose is to discover how the approach has been and is being applied, to identify its key distinguishing features, and to assess ways in which its potential value might be enhanced. Farmer participatory research has attempted to move beyond the formal interactions that characterized much farmer participation in the early years of farming systems research. An important difference between farming systems research and farmer participatory research is the latter's focus on the value of farmers' own research processes. However, few projects have yet developed a satisfactory approach to the interaction of formal and informal research activities. If farmer participatory research is to make a …