Perceptions of change : livelihood impacts of the Push-Pull Technology Project in South Wollo, Ethiopia

Abstract: This thesis explores how farmers in three villages in South Wollo, Ethiopia, perceive the impacts of a particular farming technology. The technology is called the Push-Pull Technology, which is an agro-ecological method to address the problem of stemborer moth and Striga weed, which seriously affects the production of the important food crops maize and sorghum. It is agro-ecological in the way that it seeks a holistic solution that is beneficial for the yield size as well as for the environment and the humans involved. Since the technology is developed within agro-ecology, it also needs to be evaluated holistically. As yield increases have been recognised already, this study focuses on how the farmers perceive its socio-economic impacts using a livelihood approach. However, this thesis seeks not to be an evaluation. Rather, it uses qualitative methods to investigate some of the farmers’ perceptionsof the impacts of the method. This brings a better understanding of how a technology like this can be received, what values the farmers put to it and how it fits into their livelihoods.