Presentation by: Lucy Fisher Date: April 25, 2017 Venue: Hanoi, Vietnam (Hilton Garden Inn) Presentation at: the Regional Review and Planning Workshop on Sustaining and Enhancing the Momentum from Innovation and around the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in the Lower Mekong Rive Basic (SRI-LMB) April 23-25, 2017, Hanoi, Vietnam

1. Global, Regional and National
SRI Networks
Lucy Fisher
SRI International Network and Resource Center (SRI-Rice)
IP/CALS Cornell University
Ithaca, New York
Regional Review and Planning Workshop
Sustaining and Enhancing the Momentum from Innovation and
around the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in the Lower Mekong Rive Basic (SRI-LMB)
April 23-25, 2017

2. SRI AS AN “ECO-DIGITAL COMMONS”
SRI is an eco-digital commons –an international network
of thousands of farmers and other stakeholders
practicing or supporting a form of “open-source
agronomy” for rice cultivation.
…It has been cited as an example of how open-source
collaborations, when applied to agricultural challenges,
“can yield practical, ecologically benign answers that
often do not occur to commercial vendors and state
authorities – perhaps because SRI is a commons-based
system that is not profit-driven or hierarchically
governed.”
Bollier, David. 2016. New forms of network-based governance. News and
Perspective on the Commons website.
[Note: the commons is “land or resources belonging to or affecting the whole of a community”]

3. Progress of SRI Around the World
SRI has been
validated in
~60 countries in
Asia, Africa, and
the Americas

4. http://sririce.org

5. Global and National SRI Networks
GLOBAL Founded Based at Formal? Online?
SRI Research Network 2016 Cornell University No Zotero/web
SRI Equipment Forum 2012 Cornell University No Facebook
NATIONAL
Bangladesh (SRI NNB) 2006 Bangladesh Rice Foundation (originally) ? No
Cambodia 2004 MAFF; SRI Secretariat moved to Dpt. Of Rice Crop Previously No
India - National SRI Consortium 2007 Peoples Science Institute (NGO) No Google Group
Indonesia (Ina-SRI) 2008 Institut Pertanian Bogor No Yahoo Group
Japan (J-SRI) 2007 University of Tokyo Yes Website
Malaysia (SRI-Mas) 2011 Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Yes Website/
facebook
Nepal (SRI-Nepal) 2002/2015 Virtual No Facebook/twitter
Philippines (SRI-Pilipinas) 2002 NGO (Virtual) ? Yahoo Group
Sri Lanka 2008/2015 Rajarata University Yes No
Taiwan (CA-SRI) 2016 Business (Caremed, Inc.) Yes Website
Vietnam (SRI-Viet) 2015 Thai Nguyen University
(Collective of 10 NGOs )
Yes No

6. SRI NATIONAL AND REGIONAL
DISCUSSION GROUPS
India (57%)
Indonesia (24.54%)
Philippines (11.04%)
Latin America (4.91%)
Nepal (1.23 %)
Fisher, 2013 network study

7. NATIONAL SRI NETWORKS
Several Examples

8. PHILIPPINES NATIONAL SRI NETWORK: SRI-Pilipinas
How they operate:
1) Weekly radio show
2) Hotline advertised in local and national newspapers
3) One-day or season-long trainings on request (SMS module or in person)
4) Provide primer, videos, SMS-delivered provided on request
5) Listserv
At least one contact in
all 81 provinces.
Of the 1,633 towns in
the Philippines, 872
have at least one
Hotline contact

9. JAPAN
J-SRI Network
J-SRI website
 Founded 2007 at University of Tokyo
 About 300 members; ~ 60 meet every other month
 Most projects are in SE Asia

10. TAIWAN –
Society of Conservation Agriculture –
System of Rice Intensification (CA-SRI)
The new
website!
 Founded: 2016
 Based at: Caremed (medical equipment supply business)
 Membership: ~60 people, convene: 2X/year
 Projects: 2 field projects with 2 ha in 2016. 1 project with 13ha in 2017
Also published "稻作革命SRI (System of Rice Intensification)," the Chinese language
version of Norman Uphoff's 2016 book SRI Frequently Asked Questions"

11. VIETNAM
SRI-Viet Network
 Coordinator of SRI-Viet Network– Assoc. Prof. Dr Hoang Van Phu
Director, International Cooperation Center – Thai Nguyen University
 Members of SRI-Viet Network: >20 organizations (~60 participants) from:
Oxfam, SRD, SNV, ICC/Thai Nguyen University, FIDR, FCRI, CASRAD, PPD, 10+ Plant
Protection Sub-Departments (PPSD), Institute for Agricultural Environment – IAE,
Water Resource Directorate (WRD), Irrigation University (TLU), Vietnam National
University of Agriculture - VNUA , Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry
(HUAF), Ho Chi Minh University of Agriculture and Forestry (HCMUAF), Thai Nguyen
University of Agriculture and Forestry (TUAF), Cuu Long Delta Rice Research
Institute (CLRRI)
 Activities of SRI-Viet this year (pending funding):
- Conduct annual network member meetings
- Assess the effect of SRI Rice/Potato Rotation Model); Thai Nguyen Province
- Deploy SRI / expand SRI in some districts in Thai Nguyen Province

12. GLOBAL NETWORKS

13. SRI EQUIPMENT INNOVATORS EXCHANGE
(Facebook Group with 322 Members)
2014 Equipment Workshop
Asian Institute of Technology

14. SYSTEM OF RICE INTENSIFICATION
GLOBAL RESEARCH NETWORK
There are now
1,081 items in
our database:
primarily
journal
articles, but
also theses,
monographs,
book chapters
Membership is free
Members get free
access to full text
Coming soon:
- research highlights
- events and
educational
opportunities
listings

15. LOCATION OF CHINESE SRI RESEARCH AUTHORS

16. Why do we need a Global
SRI Research Network?
to easily locate SRI research (1,000+ items)
(journals articles, theses, etc.)
to share new research with colleagues
to gain access to expensive subscription articles
to work out priorities / SRI research agenda
to share/learn about better research methods
avoid duplicating research
to facilitate multi-country collaborations

17. REGIONAL NETWORKS

18. Regional Networks
(mixed results so far!)
 Latin America
- Started with listserv with Cuban leadership (internet connectivity very difficult though)
- Latin America SRI workshop (Costa Rica, 2011)
- listserv replaced by Facebook group run from Costa Rica (2013)
- now facebook is primarily used by Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture
(IICA) regional SRI project (since 2015) (Dominican Republic, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador)
 West Africa
- Attempts to start a regional network in 2010 failed, and a second attempt in 2012
ceased when the regional SRI West Africa Agriculture Program (SRI-WAAPP) emerged (2014-16)
- While the champion-based World Bank-funded SRI-WAAPP was very effective, workshop-based
networking ceased when the project closed, leaving only a sparsely-used facebook group.
 SE Asia
- SE Asia regional network (based on national networks) was attempted (2015, Malaysia)
- A WhatsApp group was formed for SE Asians from the national networks to get
to know each other. However, the group drifted in Indonesian/Malay language and
the other countries stopped participating…..

19. Some Observations on SRI Networks (I)
Most long-term successful SRI Networks……..
are voluntary groups built around dedicated “SRI champions”
and are cemented by friendships
have a highly motivated person(s) or organization a that serves
as a (usually unpaid!) central contact (and keeps the lights on
when funds are scarce)
welcome (and seek out) farmers and stakeholders from a variety
of agencies, projects, and organizations that have a strong,
shared interest in SRI that come together to share, learn and
collaborate
developed “organically” due to a perceived need coupled
with enthusiasm by several people/groups

20. Some Observations on SRI Networks (II)
If the network is part of a project, it may dissolve when the
project (and funding) ends
If a project absorbs a network, it may redirect its focus to
project participants
If network members do not successfully raise money, the
network may go dormant
(…however, there are activities that don’t cost anything and,
keeping in contact does not cost much)
Funders should not have too much influence over activities
 There are many models for building sustainable networks.
Most can work as long as it is facilitated rather than
dominated… and it is inclusive rather than exclusive

21. VISIT US!
SRI-Rice Website
http://sririce.org
Facebook (English)
https://www.facebook.com/SRIRice/
Facebook (Spanish)
https://www.facebook.com/SicaAmericaLatina/
Twitter
https://twitter.com/SRIRice
SRI Highlights (monthly newsletter)
http://www.scoop.it/t/system-of-rice-intensification-sri
Join the SRI Research Network:
https://www.zotero.org/groups/system_of_rice_intensification_sri_research_network/
Join the SRI Equipment Innovators Forum
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SRI.innovators/