Sharing seed and knowledge: farmer to farmer dissemination of agroforestry technologies in western Kenya

Abstract

Although there's increasing emphasis on farmer-led extension in rural development, very few studies have been done to understand the social processes involved. This study was undertaken to identify farm and farmer characteristics that may influence dissemination of seed and knowledge of improved fallows and biomass transfer, to whom, how and what is disseminated. This was done by carrying out a formal and informal survey involving a random sample of 120 farmers from Siaya and Vihiga districts of western Kenya who were involved in a pilot project on soil fertility replenishment by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) and Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI). A second survey involved 40 farmers, selected using the snowball sampling technique that were given seed and information by the first group of farmers. Descriptive statistics and logit regression models were used to analyze data. Results presented showed that seed and knowledge were mostly shared along kinship ties. Furthermore, informal social networks were found to be more effective for seed than knowledge. This calls for simplification of technical information by development professionals in order to help support farmers' understanding and communication of complex principles. Farmers with leadership status in their groups, those who belonged to many groups and those with larger farm sizes were more likely to give out seed of improved fallows. These categories of farmers could be targeted to enhance the spread of technologies.

Bringing Agroforestry Technology to Farmers in the Philippines: Identifying Constraints to the Success of Extension Activities Using Systems Modelling

“…This is in accord with the findings of Kiptot et al (2006) in Kenya, that technical information must be simplified to help farmers' understanding of complex principles. In this case, even when graphics are included to bolster comprehension, approximately one farmer in four is predicted to fail to comprehend written materials.…”

The role of knowledge, attitudes and perceptions in the uptake of agricultural and agroforestry innovations among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa

“…As agricultural production systems can vary considerably in nature and complexity in different settings, it is important to take these differences into account in tailoring extension interventions (Bernet et al 2001). There has been a growing emphasis on farmer-led extension, in which farmers are the principal agents of change in their community and help disseminate the new technology to other farmers (Franzel et al 2001, 2004, Kiptot et al 2006. This was initiated by the 'farmer first' approach, which stressed the importance of local knowledge and farmer innovation to complement the traditional transfer of technology approaches to agricultural research and extension (Chambers et al 1989).…”

Innovation in input supply systems in smallholder agroforestry: seed sources, supply chains and support systems

“…Often they were assisted by extension agents who procured seed and linked farmers to customers. Most non-commercial seed sources consisted of fodder shrubs (particularly Calliandra calothyrsus and Leucaena trichandra; Mbora and Lillesø 2007) promoted originally in the region by ICRAF under a 'no-cost' to farmers' and farmer-to-farmer diffusion approach (Kiptot et al 2006;Place et al 2009); about 60% of these sources are still distributed in this way.…”