11 pages., via online journal., The main purpose of this research was to investigate those factors influencing the entrepreneurial behaviour of agriculture students who were members of entrepreneurship learning and training groups in virtual communication networks. In doing this, a conceptual model was developed to examine the effects of characteristics of entrepreneurship virtual social networks and the degree of participation in these networks through entrepreneurial thinking and decision on entrepreneurial behaviour. The study population of this descriptive-correlational research was made up of 180 members of virtual social groups exchanging knowledge of entrepreneurship in WhatsApp and Viber networks. A total of 126 usable questionnaires were collected. Results indicated that participation in virtual social networks had both direct and indirect effects – through entrepreneurial thinking and decisions – on entrepreneurial behaviour. However, characteristics of entrepreneurship virtual networks had only indirect effect on entrepreneurial behaviour via entrepreneurial thinking. The study highlights certain implications for policymakers, (potential) entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship support organizations, researchers and underlines the potential of virtual social networking for promoting entrepreneurship.
Abstract via online journal. 2 pages., Technological innovation is vital to economic growth and food security in sub-Saharan Africa where agricultural productivity has been stagnant for a long time. Extension services and learning from peer farmers are two common approaches to facilitate the diffusion of new technologies, but little is known about their relative effectiveness. Selection bias, whereby well-motivated training participants would perform better even without extension services, as well as knowledge spillovers, where non-participants can indirectly benefit from extension services, are among the major threats to causal inference. Using a unique sequential randomized experiment on agricultural training, this study attempts to meet the dual objectives of executing rigorous impact evaluation of extension services and subsequent spillovers on rice production in Cote d’Ivoire. Specifically, to reduce selection bias, we randomly assigned eligibility for training participation; and to satisfy the stable unit treatment value assumption, control-group farmers were initially restricted from exchanging information with treated-group farmers who had received rice management training. Once some positive impacts were confirmed, information exchange between the treated and control farmers was encouraged. We found that the initial performance gaps created by the randomized assignment disappeared over time, due presumably to social learning from peer farmers. A detailed analysis concerning the information network and peer effects provided suggestive evidence that there were information and technology spillovers from treated to control farmers after removing the information exchange restriction. Overall, our study demonstrates that information dissemination by farmers can be as effective in improving practices as the initial training provided by extension services.
3 pages., via online journal., Farm Innovators are regularly exchanging information and their experiences using WhatsApp messenger on their mobile phones. Most of the content shared was knowledge intensive with a mix of personal farming experiences. As Social constructivist learning theory seeks to improve socialinteractions to construct and share knowledge and the social networking through WhatsApp has proved to be potential to construct knowledge. Learning being the outcome of interactions between cognitive and psychological and the WhatsApp being the potential source for socialization and internalization promoted the creation ofsocial wealth in the form of discussion forums of Innovative farmers for learning exchange. The extension mechanism for purposeful farmer to farmer learning exchange has been created which in turn
is a step towards innovative farmer led extension delivery mechanism. The potential of not only WhatsApp but other social media need to be exploited to bring location specific and commodity oriented transformative changes in the agriculture extension delivery system. The experimentation with innovative farmers is not only helping in scaling the farmers’ innovations but also institutional innovations at large. As all human resources (labour, management, innovation, creativity) are products of social relationships, no one can reach maturity without the help of personally caring people, including their families, friends, neighbors, and communities. Farms and agricultural enterprises also depend on the ability of people to work together toward the common goal of ecological, social, and economic sustainability through social networks.
16 pages., via online journal., The expanding critical literature on Urban Agriculture (UA) makes links between the withdrawal of state services and the institutionalisation of volunteering, while observing that challenging funding landscapes can foster competitive environments between third-sector organisations. Where these organisations are forced to compete for survival at the expense of collaboration, their ability to collectively upscale and expand beneficial activities can be compromised. This paper focuses on a lottery-funded UA project and draws predominantly on observations and interviews held with project staff and growing group volunteers. Research conducted in Wythenshawe, Manchester (UK), highlights difficulties experienced by organisations attempting to function in an environment disfigured by depletion, illustrating conflicts that can arise between community groups and charitable organisations competing for space and resources. Inter-organisational dynamics are considered at two scales: at the grassroots level between growing groups, and at a structural level between project partners. In a landscape scarred by local authority cutbacks and restructures, a dearth of funding opportunities and increasingly precarious employment, external initiatives can be met with suspicion or hostility, particularly when viewed as superfluous interventions. The resulting ‘siege mentality’ reflects the need for organisational self-preservation but perhaps paradoxically results in groups with similar goals and complementary ideologies working against each other rather than in cooperation.
16 pages., via online journal., Organic farming is knowledge intensive. To support farmers in improving yields and organic agriculture systems, there is a need to improve how knowledge is shared. There is an established culture of sharing ideas, successes and failures in farming. The internet and information technologies open-up new opportunities for knowledge exchange involving farmers, researchers, advisors and other practitioners. The OK-Net Arable brought together practitioners from regional Farmer Innovation Groups across Europe in a multi-actor project to explore how online knowledge exchange could be improved. Feedback from the groups was obtained for 35 ‘tools’, defined as end-user materials, such as technical guides, videos and websites informing about practices in organic agriculture. The groups also selected one practice to test on farms, sharing their experiences with others through workshops, exchange visits and through videos. Farmers valued the same key elements in face-to-face exchanges (workshops and visits) as in online materials. These were the opportunity for visual observation, deeper understanding of the context in which a practice was being tried and details about what worked and what did not work. Videos, decision support tools and social media can provide useful mechanisms for taking knowledge exchange online, enabling farmers and researchers to share experiences and practical implications. Visual information, economics, details of the context, successes and failures were considered to be critical factors in good knowledge exchange tools. Online platforms and forums should not be expected to replace but rather to complement face to face knowledge exchange in improving organic farming.
9 pages., via online journal., Encouraging the uptake of sustainable soil management practices often requires on‐farm experiential learning and adaptation over a sustained period, rather than the traditional knowledge transfer processes of identifying a problem and implementing a solution. Farmer‐to‐farmer learning networks are emerging with farmers experimenting and sharing knowledge about these practices amongst themselves. One potential communication channel for such interaction and knowledge sharing is social media and Twitter in particular. A content analysis of a Twitter account for an EU research project, SoilCare, and in‐depth qualitative interviews with five farmers using Twitter, was used to illustrate the extent and type of farmer‐to‐farmer knowledge sharing in relation to sustainable soil management practices. Evidence of farmer learning and knowledge sharing on Twitter with respect to these practices was identified. Twitter can capture the immediacy of the field operations and visual impacts in the field. Furthermore, the brief messages channelled through Twitter appeal to time‐constrained farmers. The ability for interaction around particular hashtags in Twitter is developing virtual networks of practice in relation to sustainable soil management. Within these networks, farmer champions are emerging that are respected by other farmers. Twitter works best for those actively seeking information, rather than passive recipients of new knowledge. Therefore, its use with other forms of face‐to‐face interaction as part of a blended learning approach is recommended. Twitter also offers a potential space for other actors, such as researchers and advisers, to interact and share knowledge with farmers.
Munthali, Nyamwaya (author), Leeuwis, Cees (author), Van Paassen, Annemarie (author), Lie, Rico (author), Asare, Richard (author), Van Lammeren, Ron (author), and Schut, Marc (author)
Format:
Online journal article
Publication Date:
2018-11
Published:
Science Direct
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 12 Document Number: D10421
13 pages., Via online journal., Agricultural extension in sub-Saharan Africa has often been criticised for its focus on linear knowledge transfer, and limited attention to systemic approaches to service delivery. Currently, the region is experiencing a new-ICT revolution and there are high expectations of new-ICTs to enhance interaction and information exchange in extension service delivery. Using an innovation systems perspective, we distinguish the roles demand-articulation, matching demand and supply, and innovation process management for innovation-intermediaries. The study explores literature on how new-ICT may support these roles, with specific interest in the possibilities of environmental monitoring and new forms of organisation enabled by enhanced connectivity. In order to contribute to the understanding of this area, the paper reports on a comparative study of two new-ICT platforms embedded in Ghanaian public and private extension organisations respectively. We assess the roles that these platforms (aim to) support, and document achievements and constraints based on interviews with extension staff and farmers. The findings indicate that while both platforms aim to support innovation-intermediation roles the focus areas and level of detail differ due to diverging organisational rationales to service delivery. In addition, we see that new-ICTs' potential to support innovation-intermediation roles is far from realised. This is not due to (new) ICTs lacking the capacity to link people in new ways and make information accessible, but due to the wider social, organisational and institutional factors that define the realisation of their potential. Therefore, more conventional modes of interaction around production advice and also credit provision continue to be dominant and better adapted to the situation. However, beyond the two platforms that were developed specifically by and for the extension organisations, there were indications that more informal and self-organised new-ICT initiatives can transform and enhance interaction patterns in innovations systems to achieve collective goals through standard virtual platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram.
10 pages, via online journal, Model farmers are a common feature of many developing world agricultural extension networks within which they demonstrate new cultivation techniques and technologies to local communities. The diverse political-economic and socio-cultural roles that such farmers assume, however, are rarely afforded critical scrutiny. To do so, we emphasise the ways in which model farmers facilitate not only the production and transfer of knowledge but also of materials and legitimacy. These transfers occur both horizontally to community members and vertically through linkages with extension agents, research institutions and private sector interests. We establish how these transfers have important impacts upon both efficiency and equity. To illustrate, we use examples of model farmers drawn from research on hybrid rice dissemination in Mandya district, Karnataka. Despite having the same official functions within the extension network, the model farmers we surveyed assumed strongly different roles with notable implications for the effectiveness of knowledge transfer alongside equity considerations.
10 pages., Via online journal., Pollinating insects are integral to the health of all terrestrial ecosystems and agriculture worldwide. Urbanization can greatly reduce nutritional resources and habitat for pollinators. However, these losses can be mitigated through targeted landscape practices, such as planting nectar- and pollen-rich plants and managing pollinator habitat in urban areas, especially home landscapes. As homeowners attempt to conserve pollinators through horticultural practices, they often seek the advice and guidance of horticulture retail employees. The knowledge horticulture employees have about pollinators and the recommendations they provide to customers is largely unknown. A nationwide survey was developed and distributed with the objectives to 1) assess employee knowledge about pollinators and pollination biology, 2) discover what plant and management recommendations employees were giving customers pertaining to pollinator conservation, and 3) determine where to focus possible education and outreach, as well as which topics to focus educational programs on. Our findings suggest, among our respondents, that overall knowledge was adequate, with a mean score (±sd) being 8.37 (±3.23) of a possible range of 0–14 points. Uncertified and part-time employees were identified as having significantly lower scores. The subject of plant selection was found to have the largest gap in knowledge, with a mean score of 1.82 (±0.62) of a possible three points. We identified several opportunities for educational outreach, aimed at improving employee and customer knowledge on this important subject.
8 pages., ISBN 978-3-319-92102-0, Via ebook, The idea underpinning EIP-AGRI for linking producers and users of knowledge and promoting their interaction around problem-solving is well grounded on the evidence provided by the ‘innovation systems’ and related literature. Evidence gaps that matter to the implementation of the EIP-AGRI activities comprise the lack of knowledge regarding the best-fit network configuration for different farming systems and farming styles, and the nature and effectiveness of a facilitator function and role to bridge communication between researchers and farmers. This paper contributes with empirical evidence regarding the networks configuration best-fit for different farming system and farming styles, and provide insights on the facilitator relevance and its desirable profile, built on the study of a particular network: the Portuguese Cluster of small fruits (CSF). The small fruit sector is a novel sector in Portugal that has attracted in recent years a large number of new investors, in particular newly-established small-scale inexperienced producers. The insights provided by the CSF analysis emphasises that agglomeration economies based networks, which are very important in some agricultural sectors (e.g. fruit, wine) and in countries or regions where small-scale farms are significant, can in fact be the ground for knowledge and innovation networks in the sense wanted by the EIP-AGRI, since inclusiveness and facilitation functions are accounted for properly.
