19 pages., via online journal., There are about 500 million small-scale farms in low-income countries on the planet. Farmers have been slow to adopt a threefold set of sustainable agronomic practices known as “conservation agriculture” (CA) that have been shown to double productivity. Our study of a novel CA project in Nicaragua, organized based on principles that counter convention, may point to improved ways of understanding and managing sustainable innovations in low-income countries. In particular, by connecting core ideas from the innovation literature to the literature that explores the role of intermediaries such as NGOs, our case study suggests that the efficacy of NGOs to facilitate the adoption of sustainable innovations by small-scale farmers in these settings may be enhanced if NGOs employ non-centrist approaches in order to address the critical uncertainties associated with such innovations. We discuss how our findings contradict some of long-standing arguments in the literature, and their implications for theory and practice.
Melkote, Srinivas R. (author / Assistant Professor, Department of Radio-TV-Film, School of Mass Communication, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1988
Published:
USA: Macomb, IL : Western Illinois University.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 85 Document Number: C05538
Amir, Pervaiz (author), Knipscheer, Hendrik C. (author), and Winrock International Institute for Agricultural Development, Petit Jean Mountain, Morrilton, AR; Winrock International Institute for Agricultural Development, Petit Jean Mountain, Morrilton, AR
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1987
Published:
UK
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 84 Document Number: C05339
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D02439
Notes:
Page 69 - Abstract of a paper presented at the International Conference of the Australasia Pacific Extension Network (APEN), Lincoln University, Christchurch, New Zealand, August 26-28, 2013. 100 pages.
INTERPAKS, Proposes that before an innovation can be judged as superior to existing technology, its relevance should be jointly evaluated by researchers and farmers by testing the proposed practice in a farm environment. Using a proposed maize technology as an example, it is demonstrated how site-related and management variables can be used to quantify the factors influencing actual yields on farmers' fields. Similarly, economic and management analysis of the practice provides an estimate of the probability of the farmer being better off by using the technology. The integrated analysis of the practice provide insights for the design of problem-oriented research projects.
Hartwich, Frank (author) and Fromm, Ingrid (author)
Format:
Abstract
Publication Date:
2010-09-14
Published:
Honduras
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 178 Document Number: C30715
Notes:
Paper presented at Tropentag 2010, Conference on International Research on Food Security, Natural Resource Management and Rural Development, Zurich, Switzerland, September 14-16, 2010. 1 page.
