Online from the University of Illinois Online Catalog, using article title search, via Scopus, Results of a workshop prompted a conclusion that "a change is under way in the understanding of the role of stakeholders in science, extension and education, with the latter progressing from mere conveyors of information to facilitators who generate new knowledge jointly with the various actors." ... "There is still a need to shape more clearly the choice of research topics, the efficient and effective performance of the practice-oriented research, the processing of research results, stakeholder discussions, and joint implementation."
This study empirically examined the effects of the participatory approach on the adoption of new crop varieties and agricultural practices. Particularly, we focused on the social network structure and examined how the introduced technologies diffused through networks in rural Ethiopia. Our empirical results indicate that if farmers knew and trusted fellow participants, the probability of adopting a new variety increased by 25 percentage points. However, this network had no statistical impact on the diffusion of new agricultural practices. We conclude that the participatory approach has great potential in the adoption of new crop varieties through the social networks of farmers in Ethiopia.
