The impact narratives of agricultural innovations and rural livelihoods have attracted the attention of both policy makers and development practitioners, especially on whether introduced innovations have the envisaged positive change on communities, and how that change can be measured. The paper explores the narratives around impacts of agricultural innovations and rural livelihoods in south west Zimbabwe. Data was collected through household questionnaires, review of project reports and key informant interviews, conducted between April 2012 and June 2018. Results showed there were differences in how success was defined by the various actors. Despite the vast efforts in promoting agricultural innovations, less than 12% of households depended on agriculture only, while the majority of households engaged in diverse livelihood strategies. This implied that recognizing the diversity of rural livelihoods is an important step toward understanding the beneficiaries of agricultural innovations and to ensure their success. The different perceptions in defining success reflected self-interests and/or pursuit of self-actualization of the various actors and how they sought to make the most out of the prevailing situation. I conclude that true ascription of success requires understanding the complexity and richness of livelihood goals of farmers, taking into account power, beliefs and values within a society.

中文翻译：

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农业创新的影响叙述及其对津巴布韦西南部农村生计的影响

农业创新和农村生计的影响叙述引起了政策制定者和发展从业者的关注，特别是引入的创新是否对社区产生了预期的积极变化，以及如何衡量这种变化。本文探讨了有关津巴布韦西南部农业创新和农村生计影响的叙述。数据是通过 2012 年 4 月至 2018 年 6 月期间进行的家庭问卷调查、项目报告审查和关键知情人访谈收集的。结果显示，不同参与者对成功的定义存在差异。尽管在推动农业创新方面做出了巨大努力，但只有不到 12% 的家庭仅依靠农业，而大多数家庭从事多样化的生计策略。这意味着承认农村生计的多样性是了解农业创新的受益者并确保其成功的重要一步。定义成功的不同看法反映了各种行为者的自身利益和/或自我实现的追求，以及他们如何寻求从当前形势中获得最大收益。我的结论是，真正的成功归因需要了解农民生计目标的复杂性和丰富性，同时考虑到社会中的权力、信仰和价值观。定义成功的不同看法反映了各种行为者的自身利益和/或自我实现的追求，以及他们如何寻求从当前形势中获得最大收益。我的结论是，真正的成功归因需要了解农民生计目标的复杂性和丰富性，同时考虑到社会中的权力、信仰和价值观。定义成功的不同看法反映了各种行为者的自身利益和/或自我实现的追求，以及他们如何寻求从当前形势中获得最大收益。我的结论是，真正的成功归因需要了解农民生计目标的复杂性和丰富性，同时考虑到社会中的权力、信仰和价值观。