Why do information gaps persist in African smallholder agriculture? Perspectives from farmers lacking exposure to conservation agriculture
Why do information gaps persist in African smallholder agriculture? Perspectives from farmers lacking exposure to conservation agriculture
复制标题
为什么非洲小农农业的信息差距持续存在？
DOI：
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发表时间：
2018
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
I. Nuberg
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
B. Brown;R. Llewellyn;I. Nuberg
摘要目的：探讨非洲小农社区持续存在重大农业信息差距的原因以及如何减少这些差距。设计/方法/途径：以保护性农业（CA）为例，我们深入探讨了29位小农为什么他们还没有获得足够的信息来进行实践评估。调查结果：受访者声称，他们缺乏关于CA的信息并不反映出他们对获取CA缺乏兴趣，而是反映出学习机会的不可获得性和不可获得性。一项更深入的分析揭示了一种潜在的被动方式，即寻求财务期望的信息和文化。实践启示：如果推广系统要促进更广泛的可持续集约化，我们发现需要强调(1)更具包容性的推广机制；(2)对农民进行需求驱动推广教育；(3)修订直接投入条款，引导农民。理论意义：虽然不质疑农民对农民（F2F）推广系统对那些与领导农民有社会联系的人的价值，但我们发现了四个研究问题，可以进一步探索F2F机制的实际应用，这些机制可能会阻碍其更广泛的有效性，即：(1)推广覆盖是否足够？(2)农民是否了解需求驱动的推广系统？(3)现行激励结构是否使农民信息寻求行为复杂化？(4)现行机制是否鼓励社会分层？原创性/价值：迄今为止，采用研究主要采用定量、计量经济学的视角，通常假设农民充分了解所讨论的技术。由于我们深入的定性分析，我们对如何缩小阻碍非洲小农提高粮食和生计安全努力的信息差距提供了新颖的见解。图形抽象
ABSTRACT Purpose: To explore why substantial agricultural information gaps persist in African smallholder farming communities and how to reduce them. Design/methodology/approach: Using conservation agriculture (CA) as a case study, we deeply explore with 29 smallholder farmers why they are yet to obtain sufficient information to enable practice evaluation. Findings: Respondents asserted that their lack of information on CA was not reflective of a lack of interest in obtaining it, but of the unavailability and inaccessibility of learning opportunities. A deeper analysis revealed an underlying passive approach to seeking information and culture of financial expectancy. Practical implications: If extension systems are to catalyse broader sustainable intensification, we find the need for emphasis on (1) more inclusive extension mechanisms; (2) education of farmers about demand-driven extension; and (3) revision of direct input provision to lead farmers. Theoretical implications: While not contesting the value of farmer-to-farmer (F2F) extension systems for those socially connected to lead farmers, we find four research questions for further exploration regarding the practical application of F2F mechanisms that may impede their broader effectiveness, namely (1) Is extension coverage sufficient? (2) Do farmers understand demand-driven extension systems? (3) Do current incentive structures complicate farmer information seeking behaviour? and (4) Do current mechanisms encourage social stratification? Originality/Value: To date, adoption studies have largely utilised quantitative, econometric lenses that generally assume farmers are sufficiently aware of the technologies in question. Due to our in-depth qualitative analysis, we provide novel insights into how to close informational gaps that hamper efforts to increase the food and livelihood security of African smallholder farmers. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT