DO WE NEED A NEW DEVELOPMENTAL PARADIGM

Many question the applicability of past developmental approaches or pa radigms to the current issues of agricultural development and suggest that new paradigms are required. In this paper we characterize the com mon agricultural science-led development paradigm of the past and a ne wly emerging approach that we have titled the socio-ecological paradig m. We examine the assumptions, successes and failures of these paradig ms and propose changes in approach that seem appropriate to address cu rrent developmental issues. These changes include a move towards syste ms based research and development and greater involvement of rural peo ple who are the targets of developmental efforts. A systems protocol i s proposed that attempts to reconcile the appropriate interface betwee n systems and component based research and development.