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1.
Abstract

In many countries agriculture is in a process of rapid change,

  • - it has to meet a growing demand for food in a sustainable way,

  • - the international competition is increasing,

  • - the increase in labour productivity is decreasing the employment opportunities in agriculture,

  • - agricultural research is offering many new opportunities to increase productivity,

  • - government price support for agricultural products in industrial countries is decreasing.

These changes have many implications for agricultural extension, such as:

  • - the knowledge and capabilities of farmers has become a major factor in their ability to compete in national and international markets,

  • - advice is not only needed on the adoption of new technologies, but also on many other decisions farmers have to make, such as the choice of their farming system and the decision whether or not to earn an income from outside agriculture,

  • - this requires a change in extension methods and in the information sources extension agents use,

  • - agricultural development demands painful changes in the way of farming and of living for many farm families. It is a challenge for extension agencies to help farm families to realise this,

  • - a major task for leaders of extension organisations is to manage a process of change in agricultural extension. Often the role extension has to play in agricultural development can not be performed by one extension organisation, but only by a pluralistic extension system.

Agricultural extension is often expected to contribute to a reduction of poverty among farmers and farm labourers. One has to think seriously how one can realise this objective.  相似文献   

2.
Abstract

In order to profit from the economic growth in their society farmers can (1) increase the yields of their crops and animals, (2) switch to the production of high value products for which there is an increasing demand in the market, (3) increase the labour productivity on their farm, (4) find non-farm sources of income for some or all of their family members. Many farmers are aware that with the increasing average income in their country the proportion of the labour force which can find employment in agriculture decreases. Therefore options (3) and (4) are important for them, but in many countries they do not get much help from extension services and social institutions to realize these options in their situation. These extension services and institutions need support from socio-economic research to be able to provide this help.  相似文献   

3.
ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on the educative role of the farm in the development of relationships between young people and the homeplace they grew up on. The paper is based on qualitative interviews with a cohort of 30 Irish university students (15 men and 15 women) brought up on Irish family farms who would not become full-time farmers. The farm acts as an educational tool through which broader cultural and familial norms of land ownership, succession and affiliations with the land are transmitted to the next generation. This is manifested through, for example, the creation of foundational stories about their forebearers’ influence on the physical appearance of the farm. The resulting place attachments are of profound depth and serve a key role in the succession process in helping to build a sense of duty and responsibilisation into the next generation’s relationship with the landholding.  相似文献   

4.
Abstract

Purpose: In this article we illustrate the importance of understanding the risk profiles of new technologies, in addition to the changes in productivity, to be able to determine strategies for agricultural development.

Design/methodology/approach: The analysis is based on data obtained from a 2002 survey of subsistence farmers in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania, and a Just and Pope (1978) framework is used for modeling risk.

Findings: We find that even if extension services do not increase the mean production, it may reduce production risk.

Practical implication and originality/value: During the past decades, agricultural extension and subsidized conventional inputs such as high-yielding seed varieties, fertilizer and pesticides, have become important components of agricultural aid programs in developing countries. However, outcomes of this type of aid are somewhat ambiguous, and many donor countries have reduced their support in response. For the most part, evaluation of these programs employs total factor productivity analysis to estimate the changes in productivity resulting from investment in aid programs. However, risk-averse, small-scale farmers will consider both the variance in output and the expected mean. They may therefore choose input levels that differ from the optimal input levels of risk-neutral producers, who consider only the expected mean. Programs can therefore have a positive effect because they reduce risk, even if the direct impact on production is limited.  相似文献   

5.
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.  相似文献   

6.
ABSTRACT

The paper examines social learning processes among organic farmers and explores the application of the Community of Practice (CoP) model in this context. The analysis employed utilises an approach based on the CoP model, and considers how, or whether, this approach may be useful to understand social learning among farmers. The CoP model is applied to case studies of social learning fora among organic farmers. The case studies are compiled from in-depth semi-structured interviews and participant observation with farmers and other actors, and the data are analysed with reference to three dimensions of the CoP model, namely mutual engagement, joint enterprise and shared repertoires. Farmers associate and engage in social learning more readily with peers determined by similar attitudes to farm business, farming styles and understanding of what organic agriculture entails. Such associations support the hypothesis that CoPs are self-organising structures that generate their knowledge in sympathy with community definition and identity. A CoP framework applied within relatively unstructured and dispersed communities, such as described in this paper, emphasises the fluid nature of CoPs, and their essentially self-organising nature. Extension approaches may be facilitated by regarding farmers as de-facto members of CoPs and by understanding how CoPs may form and develop. The CoP model is applied as a heuristic to examine social learning processes in organic farming.  相似文献   

7.
Purpose: The aim of the paper is to explore how advisors’ relational and professional competence influences inter-subjectivity and farmers’ perceptions of farm visits in a setting where advisors have formal power.Methodology: Advisors from the dairy company Tine, which is owned by farmers in collaboration, visit farmers at least once a year. The aim of the visit is to assist farmers in managing the farm and to control the production conditions in the cowshed. In a case study, we attended 10 such mandatory advisor visits and interviewed both farmers and advisors.Findings: Together with advisor style, our findings show that the power relation leaves room for advisors to define their roles widely, ranging from inspector to coach. Advisors have different perceptions of what their jobs are and when they have done a good job. These differences determine the degree of inter-subjectivity and how satisfied farmers are with visits. Furthermore, advisors’ relational and professional competencies are crucial for achieving high inter-subjectivity and satisfied farmers.Theoretical implications: This paper contributes to the theory by identifying factors that influence farmers’ perceptions of advisor visits, as well as by showing the importance of the advisor’s relational and professional competence in a setting where they have formal power.Practical implications: Partly as an outcome of this study, Tine has started a process to separate the control function from farm visits. Tine has also decided to let farmers choose advisors themselves. Originality/value: The power relation in our study differs from most consultant–client interactions in the literature.  相似文献   

8.
Abstract

Purpose: The aim of the paper is to analyse the attitude of Italian farms in gaining access to agricultural extension services (AES).

Design/methodology/approach: The ways Italian farms use AES are described through the AKAP (Awareness, Knowledge, Adoption, Product) sequence. This article investigated the AKAP sequence by submitting a questionnaire to a sample of Italian farms, providing questions on each step of the sequence.

Findings: The results confirm the validity of the model and the necessity to evaluate AES in each phase of the sequence, through an in-depth analysis of the possible motivation for not adopting them.

Practical implications: The functional repositioning of agriculture redefines the role of the farm, by introducing new possibilities of production and by fostering multifunctional activities. In this context, new tasks for AES emerge, aiming at sustaining farm development along either sectorial or territorial paths. Difficulties in adopting AES call for both fostering higher levels of access to services on behalf of farms and the adequate supply of services to farms' new needs.

Originality/value: AKAP models have been prevailingly used in developing countries to evaluate the efficacy of extension in increasing agricultural productivity. This article demonstrates how this model could be of help in developed agriculture too in performing new lines of development rooted in the new models of multifunctional agriculture.  相似文献   

9.
Abstract

This paper presents the results of a large Australia‐wide survey which collected farm financial information and information about changes to farm‐management practices, as well as information about education and training, and a smaller survey of farmers who attended one of three training courses for farmers. The paper considers the relationship between education and training outcomes at macro and micro levels. At the macro level, education and training as well as prompts for change are considered, while at the micro level the influence of training on changes to practice is examined. Education and training enhance farmers’ ability and willingness to make successful changes to their management practice. The training program is generally only one of several factors which influence participants to make changes in their practice. Training events are opportunities for interaction between participants and with expert trainers. This interaction assists in altering values and attitudes toward new practices.  相似文献   

10.
Abstract

Recent studies of ideologies of sustainable farmers and conventional farmers suggest that these two groups have differing beliefs, values, and attitudes on agriculture and rural life. Although awareness of these differing attitudes and values is an important step in moving toward educational programs and policies for a more sustainable agriculture, actual behavior may not be predictable from this knowledge. A mail survey of Iowa farmers with membership in Practical Farmers of Iowa, a sustainable agriculture organization, was used to examine the attitude—behavior relationship of these farmers and the role social influences play in this relationship. Attitude and social influence scales were developed, as well as a chemical input index that measures commitment to sustainable practices. The results indicate that, when controlling explanatory factors, the attitude—behavior relationship is moderate and the social influences examined do not facilitate this relationship. Implications for educational programs and policies of these findings are discussed.  相似文献   

11.
“三农问题”是关于农业、农村、农民问题的总称,建设社会主义新农村就是为了解决好“三农问题”。站在理性的角度来思考解决“三农问题”,应该该做到:对于农民,尊重农民的主体地位,坚持以人为本,提高农民素质;对于农业, 加强基础地位,用工业的办法解决农业的问题,提高农业生产力,走工业化、集约化和多样化的道路;对于农村,配套和完善公共服务和公共生活设施,走城市化、城镇化和大农庄的集中化的道路,并加快工业化。同时,解决“三农问题”要坚持科学发展观,定位于全球化之中,统一于全面建设小康社会和构建和谐社会之中。  相似文献   

12.
Purpose: Understand the emergence of new potential career trajectories in the liberalised Irish dairy farming sector through analysis of the narratives of students of a Professional Diploma in Dairy Farm Management

Design/methodology/approach: A review of the literature highlights that entry to a working life in agriculture has been characterised by protracted farm succession processes; a strong association between being a farmer and owning land in the family name; lingering male identities esteeming manual labour; and a pragmatic need at farm level for manual work. The abolition of milk quota in 2015 was predicted to catalyse expansion of production on dairy farms with an increase in milk production; accompanied by a demand for qualified personnel. The BNIM method was employed.

Findings: Results confirm that agricultural education is perceived and experienced as offering new pathways for young farmers to enter the occupational category of ‘farmer’, helping to manoeuvre around the constraints of non-inheritance. The students’ narratives evidenced managerial identities, being strongly influenced by encountering management approaches through their agricultural education. All students desired to eventually own a farm someday and to be to employed as a professional dairy farm manager was a perceived as an intermediary goal.

Practical implication: Discontinuation of the traditional family farming model based on family farm/land ownership is not imminent even among a cohort qualified to become employed dairy farm managers.

Theoretical implication: This paper contributes to theoretical framework which highlights the shift in farmer masculine identity and the career trajectory of graduates of specialised agricultural education programmes.  相似文献   


13.
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14.
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15.
Abstract

This study aimed to investigate farmers’ attitudes and skills of farm management. Two scales were constructed as an instrument for data collection, based on a sample of 100 farm units. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were .84 or higher, which indicated that the instrument scales were internally consistent. Non-parametric tests were used to analyze the data. Operators appeared to be largely commercial, but they did not highly rate the significance of farming as a business, or their level of management skills. Two-thirds of respondents perceived technical skills as the key to success. Poor management skills limit the operators’ ability in making informed decisions, planning and analyzing the financial performance of their operations. Farm management extension enhances farmers’ willingness and ability to make successful changes to their management practice. Improvement programs have to be targeted to the groups of operators who are more favorable to management extension, that is, full-time farmers, renters, the more experienced, the educated and the more dependent on farm income.  相似文献   

16.
Abstract

The main aim of this pre-study was to provide a preliminary overview of Finnish farmers’ motivation and capacity prerequisites for adopting and improving their management skills. Motivation was studied by asking farmers what farm management tasks and skills they consider important. Capacity was evaluated by asking farmers to rank management tasks and skills according to their perceived difficulty. Data (n=130) were collected by means of a questionnaire that was sent to a selected group of insured of the Finnish Farmers’ Social Insurance Institution. The most challenging management tasks and topics, that is, those to which most farmers gave high ratings in terms of both importance and difficulty, consisted of applying for subsidies and getting information on them, of the investment decision process, and of maintaining safety, health, and the ability and motivation to work. These are the main areas that should receive more attention in full-time education curriculums and extension initiatives.  相似文献   

17.
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.  相似文献   

18.
促进农民持续增收事关农民生活水平提高和农村经济社会的发展大局。要促进农民持续增收,就必须发展现代农业,培育壮大农民专业合作组织,发展低碳高效生态设施农业和农产品加工业,实现低碳农业产业化,提高农民的农业收入;就必须促进转移就业,增加农民的工资性收入;就必须保障和改善民生,提高农民的转移性收入;就必须完善城乡平等的要素交换关系,提高农民的财产性收入。  相似文献   

19.
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20.
Abstract

The aim of this study, carried out in association with beef cattle producers, was to explore the capacity of farms to adapt, from a techno-conomic point of view, to both structural changes in consumer demand for beef products and market disruptions (sudden drop in beef consumption due partly to media coverage of bovine spongiform encephalopathy [BSE] and foot-and-mouth disease in the winter 2000/2001). The aim is to help farmers and advisors to find solutions to fit farmers’ management choices with their strategic objectives. The flexibility concept was adopted in order to examine how farms reacted to the winter 2000/2001 crisis, and was based on several technical, economic and sociological surveys. A series of variables was proposed and several hypotheses were formulated regarding their impact on farm flexibility. Four types of farm strategy were identified using different combinations of the degree of importance of these variables, with technical, economic and marketing flexibilities specific to each type. The results revealed the different combinations of flexibility-types possible (technical, economic, marketing) and explain why cattle farmers reacted as they did. Analysis of farm flexibility also revealed situations where these technical, economic and marketing flexibilities were either complementary or incompatible. For traditional livestock farmers, high flexibility (technical and economic) allowed them to minimize the impact of the crisis on their systems. In other cases, low flexibility either resulted in inertia, or led farmers to react by seeking solutions outside the cattle farming system. Development groups should take into account these parameters when interacting with farmers. We propose a framework to qualify the use of information resources by farmers, relative to their flexibility.  相似文献   

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