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 the question of how holistic "downstream" FSR should be is the issue
 of whether the policy-institutional environments should be treated
 as parameters or variables. Increasingly in FSP, it is being suggested
 that these might be treated as variables subject to manipulation, as
 suggested earlier. This micro-macro link is important in maintaining
 the viability of "downstream" FSR in the long-run through the added
 dimension it gives to creating conditions conducive to improving the
 productivity of farming systems and therefore hopefully the welfare
 of famning families.

6.3 What needs or constraints are to receive focus in the research process?
 Should they be those articulated by farming families, i.e., felt needs,
 those scientifically ascertained by research workers, or those
 reflecting the needs of society? As discussed earlier, criteria used
 in developing improved strategies should reflect the felt needs of
 farming families, providing they are not incompatible with the needs of
 society, e.g., there is not a decline in soil fertility, nutritional
 levels, increasingly inequitable income distribution, etc.).
 Strategies developed need to ensure convergence between short-run
 private interests and those of the society in the long-run. Although
 there is, in principle, agreement with the above, there is often
 disagreement as to how societal interests can be incorporated
 practically into "downstream" FSR. The problem of doing this relates
 to the methodological complexity of their incorporation and the time
 that would be required in deriving societal impact evaluations.

6.4 The needs or constraints that are identified may be technical, economic
 or socio-cultural in nature. What approach should be used in dealing
 with them? The two approaches generally used are:

 (a) Accepting the constraint and developing strategies that exploit
 the flexibility that exists in the current farming system while
 at the same time not further exacerbating the constraint.
 Socio-cultural constraints should not generally be broken.
 (b) Developing strategies that will overcome the constraint. The
 decision as to which approach to use usually depends on the
 constraint severity, flexibility that exists in the current
 farming system, availability of potential improved strategies
 ei:ner to break the constraint or to exploit the flexibility,
 compatibility with societal goals, etc.

6.5 Is it necessary for "downstream" FSR to be expensive? It is viewed
 by some to be expensive because of its locational specificity and,
 therefore, the need to focus on limited numbers of farmers. The
 expensive nature is emphasized because of the opportunity costs of
 neglecting other farmers. Thus, the quest for minimizing costs
 in the research process is a major issue. Considerable controversy
 exists concerning the degree to which costs can and should be reduced,
 and the ways in which they should be reduced. In general three
 approaches are being used to try to minimize costs:

 (a) Seeking ways to reduce time and resources required for moving
 through the four research stages-methods used should be based
 on the degree of understanding that is necessary. Can this be