Assessment of Institutional Linkages and Information Flow within the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation: Case of Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt

Abstract

Institutional linkages and information flow between agricultural organizations play a critical role in addressing sustainability issues and promoting agrarian innovation. The aim of this study was to evaluate institutional relations and information between the various actors within the agricultural knowledge and information system (AKIS). The study focused on eight actors within the AKIS in Dakahlia governorate of Egypt, namely policy, extension, research, agricultural cooperatives, higher education, secondary education, credit, and the private sector. Thus, the survey sample included 11 representatives of each actor with 88 respondents. Data were collected by a standardized questionnaire distributed online. The graph theoretical technique was used for the quantitative assessment of information flow and institutional linkages established among actors. The findings indicated that agricultural extension ranked first about their real cause and effect on the rest of the system, having a value of 7.95. Two critical information pathways within the AKIS sustained innovation outcomes: (1) higher education–extension–agricultural cooperatives, (2) research–extension–agricultural cooperatives. The results also revealed that agricultural cooperatives ranked second after the extension component on the extent of supplying information to other members in the AKIS, with a value of 4.8. In contrast, the highest component received information from other components (7.6). By analyzing institutional linkages and information flow, this article gives insights to policymakers on the mechanisms that still need to be strengthened and the information gaps between actors to address the challenges of sustainable rural development.

Formation and Management of the Development of Agricultural Production and Processing of Agricultural Products and the Value of Food Technologies

“…This is not a purely Ukrainian problem. The problem of ensuring the proper level of agricultural production management is indicated by researchers from various regions of the planet: Bjornlund et al [2] -sub-Saharan Africa, Vilas-Boas, et al [3] -Brazilia, Klerkx, et al [4] -Australia, TerAvest et al [5] -Malawi, Kassem et al [6] -Dakahlia and their experience is valuable to us. On the other hand, the analysis of the global food value chain strategy conducted by Horita [7] indicates the need to take into account the strategy of the global market when forming the management strategy of the enterprise.…”