On-farm agricultural innovation through incorporation of new technologies and practices requires access to resources such as knowledge, financial resources, training, and even emotional support, all of which require the support of different actors such as peers, advisors, and researchers. The literature has explored the support networks that farmers use and the overall importance ranking of different support actors, but it has not looked in detail at how these networks may differ for different farmers. This study fills this gap by looking at farmer support network configurations through the lens of the social capital available to them in such configurations. Using a Chilean fruit-farmer case, was examined how different types of social capital (bonding, bridging, and linking) are used to achieve what has been called ‘ambidexterity’. Ambidexterity implies both that open networks (based on linking and bridging social capital) are used to explore and access new knowledge and resources, and that closed networks (based on bonding social capital) are used to successfully implement and exploit new technologies and practices
Extension services play a crucial role by improving skills and access to information that result in greater farm level innovations, especially on family farms which are the predominant form of agriculture in the world. This study analyzed the connection between...
This paper contributes to the ongoing discussion in the scientific literature on the advantages and disadvantages of privatization of extension and advisory services and the shift from thinking in terms of the traditional Agricultural Knowledge System towards a broader Agricultural Innovation...
Depuis une dizaine d’années, SOS Faim développe avec ses partenaires latino-américains, une nouvelle stratégie pour endiguer la pauvreté rurale : le développement territorial rural (DTR). On peut définir le DTR comme étant une dynamique d’animation et de concertation entre acteurs...
El objetivo de este trabajo fue identificar a los actores involucrados en sistema de innovación de los productores de maíz de la Región Centro de México, destacando el papel de los actores de soporte institucional en su adopción de innovaciones....
The aim of this study was to identify the actors involved in the innovation system producers of corn Mexico Center Region, highlighting the role of the actors of institutional support in adoption of innovations. To do this, 490 corn producers...