Local Farmers' Organisations: A Space for Peer-to-Peer Learning? The Case of Milk Collection Cooperatives in Morocco

Abstract

Purpose: The study investigated to what extent local farmers' organisations are spaces where farmers discuss, learn and innovate.

Design/methodology/approach: Two milk collection cooperatives in Morocco were studied. The study analysed the discussion networks, their impacts on farmers' knowledge and innovation, and the performance of collective action at cooperative level.

Findings: In both cooperatives, only two-thirds of the farmers regularly discussed dairy practices with other farmers. Most leaders of one cooperative were acknowledged to be experienced farmers and played key roles as advisors on dairy farming. Farmers' involvement in dialogue networks in this cooperative improved their capacity to innovate in dairy farming, even though their knowledge on some issues related to cattle, health and nutrition was not improved. In the other cooperative, experienced farmers did not share their knowledge and farmers' involvement in dialogue networks at cooperative level had no impact on their knowledge and practices. Dialogue networks and collective action were found to influence each other, since in the first cooperative, collective action was considered by members to be efficient, whereas in the second collective action was limited to milk collection.

Practical implications: The study enabled identification of stumbling blocks which need to be addressed to get local farmers’ organisations involved in farmer capacity-building.

Originality/value: While the importance of local discussion networks for knowledge creation and diffusion is widely acknowledged, taking such networks into account in farmers' capacity-building programmes in developing countries has been hindered by their informality. Combining the analysis of dialogue networks and collective action proved to be a productive way to assess the potentialities of working with farmers' organisations with the aim of establishing a connection with local discussion networks.     

Investing in people: The support of farmer learning,creativity and local social networks in the Project Pisciculture Familiale,Zaïre

Abstract

For over fifteen years the U.S. Peace Corps provided technical and administrative support for a widely successful aquaculture development initiative in the (former) Republic of Zaïre. Until internal political tensions led to the dissolution of the effort in the early 1990s, the programme helped thousands of farmers across the country add a new, highly profitable enterprise to their portfolio of productive activities. The successes generated by this effort highlight the powerful role that extension programmes can play when their design and implementation liberates both farmers and field agents from the confines of their traditional roles as the simple ‘receivers’ and ‘purveyors’ of information. By building upon the reinforcing features of sound production principles, human capacity development and supportive local social organization, this programme created ‘windows of opportunity’ for farmers to become increasingly involved in developing innovations, spreading the programme's messages and independently powering a farmer-led promotion of aquaculture development. This example demonstrates that given the tools and opportunity, extension practice that builds farmers' knowledge, engages farmers' creativity and allows for their active involvement in outreach activities is capable of producing results that far exceed and outlast those possible through more traditional approaches.     

Factors Influencing Access to Integrated Soil Fertility Management Information and Knowledge and its Uptake among Smallholder Farmers in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Purpose: The study evaluated how farmer acquisition, sharing and use patterns of information and knowledge interact with different socioeconomic factors to influence integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) technology uptake.

Design/methodology/approach: The study was conducted as part of an evaluation of field-based farmer learning approaches introduced by SOFECSA in Zimbabwe. Building on emerging farmer interactive platforms, data were collected using farmer participatory research approaches.

Findings: Over 90% of the farmers identified the national extension agents as the farmers' most preferred and reliable sources of information on ISFM, with farmer-to-farmer interactions ranking second. Non-governmental organisations and the print media emerged as the least trusted sources of agricultural technical information. Field-based learning centres, which enabled interactive evaluation of different ISFM options, constituted ~50%, indicating that they were major platforms for information and knowledge sharing. Uptake of ISFM was influenced by farmer resource group and farmers' visits to learning centres. Farmer experience and access to extension services were, in turn, the major factors influencing farmers' use of ISFM information. Approaches that support farmer-to-farmer interactions are required and learning centres are a suitable platform for such interactions to occur.

Practical implications: The article brings to attention the role of learning centres in fostering adoption of ISFM technologies. Insights on the need to support and strengthen agricultural extension in rural smallholder communities are provided.

Originality/value: This is a unique study exploring the role of farmer-oriented information and knowledge management in promoting complex technologies such as ISFM. A new dimension on the demands of new approaches for information dissemination to enhance knowledge sharing is presented.     

Scaling-up Sustainable Land Management Practices through the Concept of the Rural Resource Centre: Reconciling Farmers' Interests with Research Agendas

Abstract

Purpose: Formal agricultural research has generated vast amount of knowledge and fundamental insights on land management, but their low adoption has been attributed to the use of public extension approach. This research aims to address whether and how full participation of farmers through the concept of Rural Resource Centre (RRC) provides new insights for the development of alternative and farmers-based extension methods.

Design/Methodology/Approach: Using the Concept of RRC, this research assesses the role of farmers in on-farm demonstrations and scaling-up of land management practices, and investigates effective ways to enhance beneficial interactions between researchers, extension workers and farmers in view of improving adoption.

Findings: The findings suggest that farmers can effectively participate in demonstrations and scaling-up of agricultural practices. This participation is enhanced by judicious incentives such as higher crop yields that motivate farmers and influence adoption. The current success of the approach stems from the fact that farmers, extension workers and researchers jointly implement the activities and their different aims were achieved simultaneously: scientific results for researchers, better agricultural practices for extension workers, and economic success and free choice for farmers.

Practical implications: This research concludes that farmers have the capacities to play an innermost role in demonstrations and scaling-up of agricultural practices. However, there is a need to build and strengthen their capacities to facilitate their participation and contribution.

Originality/Value: The article demonstrates the value of the preponderant role of farmers in on-farm demonstrations and scaling-up practices by exhibiting the beneficial interactions between researchers, extension workers and farmers.     

Designing support to enhance co-operation between farmers and advisors in solving farm-management problems

Summary

The purpose of co-operation between advisors and farmers during formulation and solving of farm-management problems is to improve the efficiency of farm-management advice and to improve the adaptation of farm management to the increasing uncertainty which presently characterises the agricultural sector. The aim of the present study was to design a tool that supports co-operation between a management advisor and a farmer when they work together on the farmer's management problems. This was performed within a management centre with a group of farmers and advisors. We describe our design approach in order to point out the discrepancies between farmers' and advisors' conceptions of the advisory relation as well as the way the group overcame these discrepancies by building up support for the advisory relation. We refer to this type of support as co-monitoring support as it is geared towards maintaining a common operative frame of reference and a periodical re-examination of the advisor's role in the problem-solving process. The support tools are under test in the management centre. We finally discuss the relevance of the design approach according to the use of the support by advisors and farmers.     

Assessment of Adoption Gaps in Management of Aflatoxin Contamination of Groundnut (Arachis Hypogaea L.)

Abstract

One of the major impediments for diversification of groundnut (Arachis Hypogaea L.) as food crop is aflatoxin contamination. The study was conducted with an objective to assess the adoption gaps in aflatoxin management practices of groundnut (AMPG) and the farmer's characteristics influencing these gaps. The study used an expost-facto research design and multi-stage random sampling. The data were collected from 180 respondents through interview schedule. For measuring adoption gap, knowledge of AMPG and perception of groundnut quality suitable scales were developed. The data were subjected to multiple regression analysis to know the characteristics, which influenced the adoption gaps in AMPG. The majority of farmers were in high adoption gap category, as most of the farmers had not adopted the harvest and post-harvest management practices. Farmers' characteristics such as knowledge, market orientation and innovativeness influenced the adoption gap significantly. These three variables put together explained 58% of variation in adoption gap. Based on the results, it is suggested to formulate strategies to increase the knowledge of farmers through various extension approaches. If the knowledge on AMPG is improved the adoption gaps can be reduced. The maiden research effort, shed light on the socio-economic dimensions of aflatoxin contamination and constraints for aflatoxin management at farmers' level. The study has significance for the policy makers, extension departments and groundnut farmers for production of quality groundnut.     

Social Network Structures among Groundnut Farmers

Abstract

Purpose: Groundnut farmers in East Africa have experienced declines in production despite research and extension efforts to increase productivity. This study examined how social network structures related to acquisition of information about new seed varieties and productivity among groundnut farmers in Uganda and Kenya.

Design/methodology/approach: Data came from face-to-face interviews with a sample of 491 farmers randomly selected from a larger frame purposefully selected to represent farmers who had worked with researchers and farmers who had not, and to represent both male and female farmers. We used social network analysis to visualize and interpret patterns of farmers' networks with regard to information sources, productivity supports and local group affiliations.

Findings: Ugandan farmers primarily used weak ties with researchers and extension agents as sources of information. In contrast, Kenyan farmers used strong ties with close associates. For farmers in both countries weak ties were least associated with productivity. Strong ties, natural factors and farmers' own experience with new varieties were most associated with productivity. The majority of farmers had ties to local groups to strategically pool risks and access available resources.

Practical implications: Visualizing farmers' social networks enables policy-makers and change agents to identify relevant social relationships that could be utilized strategically to increase the capacities of poor farming communities.

Originality/value: The study demonstrates that important differences in social network structures can exist among farmers in similar geographic regions producing similar crops.     

Knowledge Gaps and Rural Development in Tajikistan: Agricultural Advisory Services as a Panacea?

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse knowledge systems and channels of innovation diffusion in Tajikistan. In particular, I look at the formation of agricultural advisory services (AASs) and how these provide a vital source of knowledge and innovation for farmers during the transition process.

Methodology: Empirically, this paper draws on qualitative, ethnographic research in the agricultural sector of Tajikistan, that is, semi-structured and in-depth interviews with agricultural experts, and a ‘farm diary’ that provided data on farmers’ perspectives regarding access to knowledge and expertise.

Findings: Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the civil war in Tajikistan, knowledge available to farmers can be described as a mix of traces and fragments originating from the Soviet agricultural and educational system represented by universities, research institutes and academies of science, on the one hand, and Western-style knowledge, mainly introduced by development agencies, on the other. Donors are relatively new actors in the field of knowledge dissemination, but they are nevertheless very important ones. Under the ‘development’ framework, that is, rhetorical, organisational and infrastructural development, different donors play their own parts, some of them geo-political. At the same time they provide support for the functioning of local non-governmental organisations and help to maintain them accordingly, and they are also used by Tajik political actors for their own purposes.

Practical implications: From this discussion, practical suggestions are made on how AASs could be organised in Tajikistan, namely on existing assets, traditions and networks, thus reflecting the interplay between the main actors and local needs.     

Information Search Behaviors of Indian Farmers: Implications for Extension Services

Abstract

Purpose: In India, a national survey conducted in 2003 showed that only 40% of farmers accessed extension. But little is known of the characteristics of farmers who did not access extension. However, this understanding is needed in order to target approaches to farmers, who differ in their access and use of information, that is their information search behaviors. The main objective of this paper is to segment farmers from this survey based on their information search behaviors and identify the factors that determine farmers' information search behaviors.

Design/methodology/approach: Cluster analysis is applied to the number of sources accessed and frequency of source used, to define farmers' information search behaviors.

Findings: The four groups that emerged are: ‘no search’, ‘low search’, ‘moderate search’ and ‘high search’. Sixty percent of farmers had no search behavior, which means they had not accessed any extension that year. By state, the largest group of these farmers was in Rajasthan. By comparison, the largest group of high searchers was in Kerala. Using Rajasthan and Kerala as case studies, these search behaviors differ by landholding size and education. ‘No search’ farmers had the smallest landholdings, lowest education, used fewer inputs and relied on groundwater for irrigation. By comparison, ‘high search’ farmers had the largest landholdings, most education, used more inputs and irrigated using canals.

Practical implications: The difference in search behaviors between the case study states, and within the states, shows that targeted extension approaches are needed to reach different farmers, particularly the no, low and moderate search groups, with programs customized to address their context-specific information needs.

Originality/value: Using information search strategy as the basis for analysis, this paper provides additional evidence of the need to consider the context-specific situations of farmers when designing extension services.     

Educational research for development—Contributions and challenges

Abstract

The study was designed to assess changes in farmers' knowledge of farmer seed production through schools (FSPSs) in Vietnam. A set of 25 questions covering five technical areas of the seed production process was used for pre and post knowledge testing at 12 FSPSs in the provinces Binh Dinh, Nam Dinh, Nghe An and Dong Thap. The main findings show an overall increase in farmer's knowledge scores after attending the FSPS. FSPS-farmers with low scores on the pre-field school test (ex-ante) scored much better on the post field school test. Gender had no effect on the test scores. Binh Dinh province had significantly higher mean scores on the post field (ex-post) school test compared to farmers in Nam Dinh, Nghe An and Dong Thap provinces. The increase in knowledge score is linked to the application of good practices learned in the field school as farmers who applied good quality seeds, low seed rates and the transplanting method showed a large increase in scores. The results of this study indicate that the tests provide insight into the knowledge gaps.     

Context,Participation and Discourse: The Role of the Communities of Practice Concept in Understanding Farmer Decision-Making

Abstract

This article contributes to the study of decision-making processes both at a farm systems level and at the level of agricultural research in partnership with commercial farms. It also highlights the way in which adoption and adaptation of innovation occurs in a socially rich context with information, group formation and connectivity converging to create a complex learning environment.

Design/methodology/approach. The methodology used in this research centres on the Communities of Practice (CoP) theoretical framework augmented by Gramsci's notion of Intellectual Communities and discursive analysis. A dairy farming systems project operating in Australia (3030 Project) provided the context for our study.

Findings. The group structures within the 3030 Project constitute CoP in which innovation is evolved, adopted and adapted. This process involves socially negotiated learning which is both processual and highly contextual. Discursive dialects are formed and interact within these CoP at the level of decision-making and can be analysed in context to further our understanding of the way in which farmers participate in learning opportunities and negotiate innovation.

Practical implications. This theoretical framework can be used to enhance the learning capabilities of these groups by developing a better understanding of how discourse is used to successfully transfer knowledge effectively and with authority.

Originality/value. The 3030 Project provided a unique opportunity for a comparative analysis of on-farm and research-based decision-making processes in a ‘real time’ situation from a multi-scale perspective.     

Discerning Pedagogical Quality in Preschool

A well‐developed and researched conceptual framework exists for identifying undergraduate students' conceptions of learning. In addition, research has been reported on teachers' conceptions of teaching as they relate to their conceptions of learning. The research reported in this paper takes the existing framework into a new area, postgraduate supervisors' conceptions of “research”. It is hypothesized that the development of a conceptual framework that identifies postgraduate students' conceptions of “research”, and how these articulate with the conceptions of research held by their research supervisors, will enable support mechanisms to be developed and used to assist students early in their candidature. In addition, supervisory practice will benefit from being aware of, and sensitive to, the variety and potential effect of these conceptions. While it is recognized that there are strong cultural influences on conceptions of research, this project has focused initially on the conceptions of research generally adopted by Western academic institutions. However, the students involved in the study were not necessarily of a Western educational background. This paper outlines the results of research undertaken to date in identifying supervisors' conceptions. In addition, it discusses supervisors' views on: the purpose of research and what characterizes “good” research and good researchers. Various strategies reported by supervisors to assist their students to develop more comprehensive and sophisticated conceptions of research are also discussed.     

Strengthening Agricultural Education and Training in sub-Saharan Africa from an Innovation Systems Perspective: A Case Study of Mozambique

Abstract

This paper examines how post-secondary agricultural education and training (AET) in sub-Saharan Africa can contribute to agricultural development by strengthening the capacity to innovate—to introduce new products and processes that are socially or economically relevant to smallholder farmers and other agents. Using the AET system in Mozambique as a case study, this paper examines the role of AET within the context of an agricultural innovation system. This innovation systems perspective offers an analytical framework to examine technological change in agriculture as a complex process of interactions among diverse actors who generate, exchange, and use knowledge, conditioned by complex social and economic institutions. The paper argues that while AET is conventionally viewed as key to the development of human capital, it also has a vital role to play in building the capacity of organizations and individuals to transmit and adapt information, products and processes, and new organizational cultures and behaviors. The paper emphasizes the importance of improving AET systems by strengthening the capabilities of organizations and professionals; changing organizational cultures, behaviors, and incentives; and building innovation networks and linkages. The paper offers several recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of AET for agricultural innovation and development. Key reforms include aligning the mandates of AET organizations with national development aspirations; inducing change in the cultures of AET organizations through the introduction of educational programs and linkages beyond the AET system; and enhancing innovative individual and organizational capacity by improving incentives to forge stronger links between AET and other stakeholders.     

Agricultural Extension Services and Market Regulation: Learning from a Comparison of Six EU Countries

Abstract

If farmers are to meet the new challenges facing agriculture (environment, rural development, etc.), appropriate knowledge has to be produced. But observations in six EU countries (France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK) show that unexpected problems arise when technical support for agriculture is linked to market regulation, as recommended since the late 1980s. The source of these problems can be understood better by applying concepts from the service economy: i) The production of new knowledge requires strong interaction between service providers (technical support bodies) and beneficiaries (farmers). The weakening of non-market regulation procedures, which partly guaranteed these possibilities of interaction, makes the conception of an advisory service difficult. ii) As soon as consultancy becomes a paying service, some beneficiaries reduce technical interaction with their colleagues in order to benefit from a productive advantage, and the ‘multipliable’ nature of new knowledge is reduced. iii) An increasing number of farmers are excluded from the benefits of technical support even though they help to provide services that society expects from agriculture (management of the land, maintenance of activities in low-density areas). iv) The responsibility for combining contradictory requirements (competitiveness, environment, rural development) is most often put on the shoulders of individual farmers who are unequipped to deal with such complex issues. Observed trends attest to the fact that effects often run counter to the stated agricultural and rural development objectives of policies.     

Understanding Learner-centredness: Does it consider the diverse needs of individuals?

In light of the significant changes happening in all sectors of our society, we in the education sector and in particular in the universities, have adopted a number of innovative ideas for delivering education. Many of these innovations deal with procedural aspects related to learning and consequently little concern has been shown to individuals' beliefs about knowledge and dispositions for learning. Beliefs and dispositions are powerful tools to effect a more meaningful and sustainable change to how individuals engage in learning. This paper discusses some recent findings from research into university students' beliefs about the nature of knowledge and their conceptions of learning, and identifies the implications for a learner-centred university education. Learners' beliefs both informal and formal may influence the way they approach learning. Do they learn to apply, or learn to understand? The effort they make to learn depends on their perception of how the learning will reward them. The paper also explores the cross-cultural beliefs about knowledge and conceptions of learning.     

论地方农业立法效果评估主体制度的完善

农业法制作为我国社会主义法制的重要组成部分,对保障我国农业投入、农民权益和农村稳定有着极为重要的作用。近年来,中央政府和地方政府对农业法制建设的重视程度日益提高,以推动和促进农村经济可持续发展和保障农民权益为中心的农业立法数量不断增加,这为我国的乡村振兴提供了坚实的法律保障。但农业立法尤其是地方农业立法中可操作性较差、适应性不强等问题突出,因此通过完善地方农业立法后的效果评估体系,尤其是建构科学合理的地方农业立法效果评估主体制度,对于增强地方农业立法质量至关重要。     

The gender of the extension agent and farmers' access to and participation in agricultural extension in Nigeria

Abstract

A study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of male and female extension agents in reaching farmers, especially women, with extension services in Nigeria. Specially the study determined the levels of awareness of and participation in extension activities, adoption of and technical knowledge of recommended agricultural technologies/practices, satisfaction with the quality of extension services provided and agents' credibility of men and women farmers under male and female extension agents supervision. Data gathered from 141 men and 72 women farmers supervised by male agents and 22 men and 93 women farmers supervised by female agents in Oyo, Kaduna and Rivers State Agricultural Development Projects in Nigeria form the empirical basis for the study. Even though men farmers are more aware of and participated more in the extension activities organised by agents than women farmers, the study shows that women farmers, who are supervised by female agents have more access to extension services than women farmers who work with male agents. Specifically, women farmers, who had females for extension agents had relatively higher levels of awareness and participation of the extension activities organised, adoption of and technical knowledge of recommended technologies/practices and satisfaction with the quality of agents' services and credibility. These differential effects of female and male agents on women's access to extension are significant for the delivery of extension services to women farmers, especially. Extension organisations must encourage and recruit more females for extension work done at the same time evolve strategies that will help male agents to work better with women farmers.     

Characterization of a collective action between farmers' organizations and institutions in an innovative process to face liberalization in Costa Rica

In Northern Costa Rica, agricultural production conditions change very rapidly due to public policies that encourage the exportation of new crops according to the liberalization process imposed by the international context.

For many years, farmers' organizations at the local, regional and national levels have taken initiatives to respond to this new context and develop relationships with institutions (the Ministry of Agriculture, national universities, NGOs, international agencies, the private sector) promoting innovations and attaining better access to information, training and financial resources. An action-research program, ‘Aid to Farmer's Organization of Northern Costa Rica’, contributes to the strengthening of farmers' organizations and tries to induce change dynamics through the elaboration of a shared vision of peasant agriculture implying the production of safe food, the protection of natural resources, the development of qualified local employment and the defense of the rural culture.

The present paper will analyze the dynamics of such a collective action. Action is structured around various activities such as the exchange of experiences between farmers' organizations, the elaboration of a common vision on the future of family agriculture between different actors, the training of the members and leaders of organizations and the design and implementation of innovative project.

This collective action induces the construction of new and useful knowledge, changes in the relationships between the actors, the implementation of new institutional mechanisms and the development of new rules inside and outside the organizations.