Why do information gaps persist in African smallholder agriculture? Perspectives from farmers lacking exposure to conservation agriculture

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To explore why substantial agricultural information gaps persist in African smallholder farming communities and how to reduce them.

Design/methodology/approach: Using conservation agriculture (CA) as a case study, we deeply explore with 29 smallholder farmers why they are yet to obtain sufficient information to enable practice evaluation.

Findings: Respondents asserted that their lack of information on CA was not reflective of a lack of interest in obtaining it, but of the unavailability and inaccessibility of learning opportunities. A deeper analysis revealed an underlying passive approach to seeking information and culture of financial expectancy.

Practical implications: If extension systems are to catalyse broader sustainable intensification, we find the need for emphasis on (1) more inclusive extension mechanisms; (2) education of farmers about demand-driven extension; and (3) revision of direct input provision to lead farmers.

Theoretical implications: While not contesting the value of farmer-to-farmer (F2F) extension systems for those socially connected to lead farmers, we find four research questions for further exploration regarding the practical application of F2F mechanisms that may impede their broader effectiveness, namely (1) Is extension coverage sufficient? (2) Do farmers understand demand-driven extension systems? (3) Do current incentive structures complicate farmer information seeking behaviour? and (4) Do current mechanisms encourage social stratification?

Originality/Value: To date, adoption studies have largely utilised quantitative, econometric lenses that generally assume farmers are sufficiently aware of the technologies in question. Due to our in-depth qualitative analysis, we provide novel insights into how to close informational gaps that hamper efforts to increase the food and livelihood security of African smallholder farmers.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Information gap
• qualitative assessment
• Africa
• technology transfer
• knowledge gap
• farmer-to-farmer extension

Acknowledgements

Thanks must primarily go to all the farmers who participated in this research. The lead author also thanks the researchers, translators and transcribers who contributed to the interview process. The fieldwork for this study was co-funded by the CIMMYT-led Maize CRP, with additional support from CSIRO and the University of Adelaide.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Brendan Brown completed his PhD at the University of Adelaide, Australia. His PhD explores the sustainable intensification of smallholder agriculture across eastern and southern Africa. His research interests focus on ensuring that the fruits of agronomic research are able to be utilised by smallholder farmers.

Rick Llewellyn is a farming systems scientist and Research Group Leader with CSIRO’s Agriculture Flagship based at the Waite Campus in Adelaide. Rick’s research bridges farming systems field research, strategies for technology adoption and agricultural economics.

Ian Nuberg identifies as a ‘generalist’ working across a range of disciplines within agriculture and natural resource management. His focus is primarily agroforestry and then agricultural extension, particularly in the context of developing countries. He is based at the University of Adelaide with extensive field experience in Nepal.

ORCID

Brendan Brown http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4498-6399

Rick Llewellyn http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4152-7699

Ian Nuberg http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1942-1190

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation [PhD Studentship] and The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre [PhD Studentship].