Purpose: The article reflects on transition management in rural areas and the possible implications for extension services able to support social innovation and rural change, starting from experiences on social farming in different areas of Italy. Design/methodology/approach: By presenting three case studies we investigate the role of social…

Purpose: Many farmers remain hesitant to implement structured management plans and strategies tailored to address soil health, irrespective of mounting scientific evidence for the credibility of certain soil health indicators, an increase in the reporting of program benefits and progress in communicating these benefits. Hence, the purpose of this…

Purpose: This study sought to determine the influence of training transfer factors and actual application of training on organization level outcomes among farmer owned produce marketing organizations in Uganda. Design/methodology/approach: Interviews based on the Learning Transfer Systems Inventory (LTSI) were conducted with 120 PMO leaders…

Purpose: This research, conducted in Ethiopia, involved select stakeholders in the variety evaluation process early: to identify a greater number of acceptable varieties and to shorten a lengthy research and release process. Design/methodology/approach: A Participatory Plant Breeding (PPB) approach was used in both on-station and community-based…

Purpose: The aim of this article is to provide evidence on the consequences of the privatization process in Brandenburg with a focus on the agricultural advisors' situation. Before the background of future European Union (EU) expectations on Farm Advisory Systems (FAS), their capacities and competences to respond to such challenges are discussed.…

Purpose: The aim of this article is to present and apply a method to investigate farmers' socio-psychological determinants of conservation practice adoption, as an aid in extension, policy and conservation practice design. Design/methodology/approach: We use a sequential mixed method, starting with qualitative semi-structured interviews (n = 24),…

Purpose: New innovative ways of communicating agrometeorological information are needed to help farmers, especially subsistence/small-scale farmers, to cope with the high climate variability experienced in most parts of southern Africa. Design/methodology/approach: The article introduces an early warning system for farmers. It utilizes short…

Purpose: Training transfer has been examined for formal industrial and service organizations in developed countries but rarely for rural organizations in sub-Saharan Africa. This study sought to identify transfer system factors that best explain the transfer of governance-facilitation skills provided to leaders of farmers' marketing organizations…

Purpose: This article assesses a participatory action and innovation research experience, in which project researchers, farmers and staff members of a local water users association (WUA) came together to: (a) jointly test and adapt a social mobilization and institutional strengthening approach according to the local context, and by doing so, to…

Purpose: This paper examines new coalitions for knowledge diffusion and innovations of young farmers. Understanding their patterns and the factors influencing their cooperative and innovating norms is crucial in improving these young farmers' positioning in the agricultural knowledge and information system. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on…

The main objective of this study was to determine constraints and suggestions of farmers towards adopting seasonal climate forecasts. It addresses the question: Which forms of providing forecasts will be helpful to farmers in agricultural decision making? For the study, farmers were selected from Andhra Pradesh state of South India. One hundred…

This research aimed to test a novel methodology to help raise awareness amongst one target audience (women in the New Zealand dairy sector) about the importance of coming forward for leadership positions and being inspired to develop their leadership. In so doing, tacit knowledge gained by leaders involving their leadership achievements was mined…

In this article, the practicability of introduction of computer multimedia as an educational tool was compared with the traditional approach for training sugarcane growers in ratoon management practices in three villages of Tamil Nadu state, India using pre-test, post-test control group experimental design. A CD-ROM was developed as a multimedia…

Innovation processes between entrepreneurs and researchers are activated by interaction. Social capital increases the efficiency of action, for example, information dissemination by minimising redundancy. To learn more about how to build and develop social capital assumes that we understand how entrepreneurs behave and what their expectations of…

This research aims to articulate the most salient factors that set apart successful small and micro community enterprises in the province of Phetchaburi, Thailand. The authors utilize both quantitative and qualitative research techniques. Approximately one hundred questionnaires were sent to leaders of the community enterprises. Simple statistical…