82 83
needs. Only the male heads of households were targeted for sondeo activity. All hillside farmers and their farming
the sondeo. systems no longer appeared alike.
Since irregular rainfall frequently caused the failure Some farmers at slightly lower elevations had soils
of the maize crop, the more drought-tolerant sorghum was with better water retention characteristics than other
being grown to supplement it. However, farmers expressed a farmers on higher slopes. These farmers could plant miiL'
dislike for eating sorghum and indicated they only grew it with a greater assurance of obtaining a harvest than thc.
to sell for animal feed, using the proceeds to purchase at higher locations with poorer soils. Through addition
maize. In this sense, substituting cultivation of sorghum directed interviews, it was found that lower elevation
for maize reduced the risk of crop failure yet provided for farmers tended to grow sorghum primarily as a cash crop.
the household subsistence needs. Because of their favored soil conditions, they possessed
Sorghum production in the area was higher per unit enough cash from crop sales to ensure a continuous supply
planted than maize, but still below production levels of maize in the household. These farmers did not consume
achieved elsewhere in similar environments with improved sorghum.
varieties. As one facet of their farming systems program, Over time the team came to realize that even though
the team hypothesized that selected improved sorghum vari- most people claimed they did not eat sorghum, many were
eties within the traditional cropping system could lead to actually using it as a substitute for maize. The team
a partial solution to the identified production problem. hypothesized that sorghum consumption increased among lesr'
Based on these findings, the team considered the hill- well-off households farming the poorer, higher elevation
side maize and sorghum farmers and their fields, with fields. It was apparent that farmers of this group also
declining maize yields as a single "research domain" were not interested in the new higher yielding sorghums.
(problem-focused, agroecological range). A series of As one aspect of their attempt to resolve this seeming
exploratory trials were designed for placement throughout contradiction, the team initiated informal surveys with
the research domain, women of the households within this group. Unfortunately,
At harvest, the team collected production data as well owing to socio-cultural and linguistic barriers, the male
as information on farmer opinions about the new varieties, team members were unable to obtain adequate information.
Even though the new, earlier varieties performed well on This was corrected by temporarily adding a female
all test sites, there were sharp differences among farmers social scientist from the institute headquarters to the
as to their acceptability. Some farmers were planning to team to conduct the interviews. She found that these
keep seed and plant the new varieties again the following families did consume sorghum, although they had not always
season. Others were quite disinterested in the varieties, done so. Decreasing maize harvests and lack of resources
but their reasons were unclear to the team. Based on far- for the purchase of maize had forced them to consume sormen evaluations, the team partitioned the "research domain" ghum. Women interviewed indicated that consumption of sorinto two groups of farmers; those interested in planting ghum implied a certain social degradation, a "shame" in the
the sorghums again and those not interested. The former eyes of neighbors. In many cases, a farmer whose family
group became a tentative "recommendation domain" and more consumed sorghum was considered a poor provider. To the
precisely refined trials were designed to continue testing casual observer, sorghum consumption was not apparent among
the varieties under farm conditions, while further deter- the farmers; but as the team moved deeper into the commining the reasons for the farmers' acceptance of the new munity, they found that sorghum was an important part of
sorghums. For the other group, more information was needed the diet among families lacking maize.
by the team to determine why the new sorghums were unac- Further study of sorghum preparation, cooking and
ceptable. Thus, this group continued to constitute a taste preferences revealed that sorghum, like maize, is
researchh doan"primarily eaten in the form of tortillas, either prepared Information had been collected to characterize the with maize or alone. women said some of the new varieties
farming systems of the area while monitoring the explora- tasted bitter and were not fit for consumption. One of the
tory trials. Continuous contact of the team members with new varieties was not bitter-tasting, but due to purple
farmers during this period had yielded much additional glumes, it left telltale dark spots when made into torsocioeconomic information not apparent from the initial tilllas. Although the purple glumes could be removed after
many washings, this was an unacceptable alternative for