Does anyone know of any ongoing outreach programs/methods specifically targeting farmers or other potential stakeholders (e.g., ag consultants, conservationists) to increase implementation of best management practices or other ag conservation practices. My research involves water quality and aquatic conservation, but I would be interested in using other topics as a template. Specifically, I'm trying to find out about programs that use a behavioral approach to go beyond dissemination of information and actually track behavioral changes or implementation rates.
Hi Samuel, feel free to email me and I can send you relevant info from work I have done internationally, E; jaycjayc20032yahoo.com visit our website www.internationalagriculture.com.au
Suggest you look at work of Reading University (UK) especially relating to Garforth, also the work of M Winter at Exeter University, and also the Rural Economy and Land Use Programme www.relu.ac.uk. there has been a lot of work done on this in the UK - especially England in the last few years. You may also find the Integrated Advice Pilot Study funded by the UK Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&Completed=0&ProjectID=17635 useful as this involved research with farmer groups to inform the outcome. Finally there are other projects shown on my website www.brianangell.com . Contact me via the website if you want to know more.
Thanks! Brian & Jay, I will contact you next week after I've had a chance to review the info you've provided.
Dear Samuel, please find a link to a guide on cluster based farmer field schools, an approach used by IITA, ICRISAT and some of their partners for a range of subjects. I've used it for integrated Striga and soil fertility management in sorghum and pearl millet in West Africa. Please also find a link to farmer-to-farmer videos we have produced with lessons learnt from our activities. Best wishes, Tom
http://hope.icrisat.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/GuideCBFFS-ISSFMRevision-edited-4TVM.pdf
http://hope.icrisat.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/AppendicesGuideCBFFS-ISSFMGhana-Editedv2TVM.pdf
videos: www.accessagriculture.org
See also http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/farming/csf/default.aspx
Good Point Alison I should have put that in bearing in mind my current role!! This programme has a lot of relevant docuementation and research.
Dear Samuel,
Using the farmers experience through involving them in the co-design and development processes can be a good option.
Following links may be useful.
Regards,
http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/73/09/24/PDF/TH2010_Promburom_-_Panomsak.pdf
http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss4/art41/
A number of programs are run only these lines in Australia and specifically in the state of New South Wales. These are largely coordinated through Catchment Management Authorities (that will be replace shortly) and also through some of the bulk water supply managers such as the Sydney Catchment Authority. I would suggest having a look at some of their web sites to give an overview of the practice, although the theoretical frameworks behind these may take some additional digging around (www.sca.nsw.gov.au) (www.cma.nsw.gov.au). The more successful yet higher cost delivery programs are the outreach with one to few landholders often combined with financial grants to rectify key threatening processes (eg: specific erosion gullies). Peter
We have been doing interviews with farmers regarding their motivatons for desciding to make different decisions in participating in our Environmental Farm Plan program. The interviews are behavioural interviews focused on the seven key decision points in adotion and completion of the program. We also interviewed farmers who were non-participants to determine the rational from not participating and undertaking BMP implementation (the reeasoned action part).
The research utilizes Ajien and Fishbeins theory of reasoned action and planned behaviou.
Not only did we ask why they chose to do what they did but alos asked what they would do if faced with a set of possible changes to the program (the planned behaviour part).
The data was analysed by constucting logic trees (Gladwin (1979) for each of the participants. The participants were grouped in to groups who had followed the program to the same level and for each group a normative logic tree was constructed. This provided us with information to identify the elements of the program that promoted adoption and those that limited adoption. The planned behaviour questions linked too an alternative logic tree for each respondent and allowed us to identify the changes that were need for the program to influence greater participation and more succes in adoption of the BMPs. We will publish the work in the next few months.
Hello, I am currently involved in a project in Mexico on this theme. I'm more than prepared to share my work with you. Meanwhile, attached is a paper co-written with some Mexican colleagues. Best wishes Ged McElwee [email protected]
This isn't an answer, rather it is a question. Related to this issue, is there research on the number of farmers per field worker that may be effectively trained to develop capacity with BMP's?
In Agricultural Extension, the acceptance and practice of disseminated information by farmers are sometimes deterred by the fact that some farmers for a long time are used to their indigenous ways of doing things (farming). In recent programmes,extension is gradually using participatory approaches that are bottom-up (grass root) to disseminate useful information such as the Farmer Field School. It uses experiential learning, people are more convinced when they try out (experiment) something on their own and observe the difference between the new and what they have been doing. Here farmers are taught to collect data (bio-physical) by themselves, observe the changes in their farms (as regards the interaction between animate and inanimate objects) Agro-Ecosystem Analysis is conducted which enables them to priotize and implement the best management practices based on their findings. This can also be applicable in your field of study. You may wish to look at this for more clarifications on agro-ecosystem analysis procedure. http://www.nafri.org.la/document/sourcebook/Sourcebook_eng/Volume1/34_aea_lsuafrp.pdf
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