Farmers’ experiments can be defined as the autonomous activities of farmers to try or introduce something new at the farm, and include evaluation of success or failure with farmers’ own methods. Experiments enable farmers to adapt their farms to changing circumstances, build up local knowledge, and have resulted in countless agricultural innovations. Most research on the topic has been conducted in countries of the south.
Organic farming is recognized as one source for innovation helping agriculture to develop sustainably. However, the understanding of innovation in agriculture is characterized by technical optimism, relying mainly on new inputs and technologies originating from research. The paper uses the alternative framework of innovation systems describing innovation as the outcome of stakeholder interaction and examples from the SOLID (Sustainable Organic Low-Input Dairying) project to discuss the role of farmers, researchers and knowledge exchange for innovation.
The creative process that leads to farmers’ innovations is rarely studied or described precisely in agricultural sciences. For academic scientists, obvious limitations of farmers’ experiments are e.g. precision, reliability, robustness, accuracy, validity or the correct analysis of cause and effect. Nevertheless, we propose that ‘farmers’ experiments’ underpin innovations that keep organic farming locally tuned for sustainability and adaptable to changing economic, social and ecological conditions.
El objetivo del presente trabajo es abordar la estrategia de desarrollo local desde las comunidades de aprendizaje (CA), con fundamento en la generación de flujos de conocimiento que subyacen en un aula de clase y se transforma en conocimiento, en el contexto municipal - parroquial vinculado con las instituciones del sector público y privado impulsando acciones de emprendimiento e innovación con el apoyo de medios virtuales propiciando el desarrollo endógeno.
En este artículo se presenta un diagnóstico realizado a la Red Socialista de Innovación Productiva (RSIP) de Champiñones ubicada en la comunidad de Mosquey del Municipio Boconó del Estado Trujillo, todo esto en la búsqueda de presentar una reflexión crítica por parte de los actores rurales involucrados en cuanto a la socialización del conocimiento y transferencia de tecnología que ha significado el desarrollo de la RSIP. Este estudio se realizó durante los meses de diciembre 2009 y febrero 2010 tomando como población a once (11) productores que integran la RSIP de champiñones.
En el presente artículo se fundamenta la figura de los “emprendimientos productivos familiares” como estrategia de desarrollo sostenible para la comunidad de “El Mamonal”, perteneciente al Municipio Falcón de la Península de Paraguaná, iniciativa comunitaria concebida en el año 2008 en el marco del Proyecto de Granjas Integrales Turísticas Educativas Comunitarias-GITEC, desde el cual los habitantes del sector han construido gran parte de los elementos que configuran su mapa territorial actual.
Con el propósito de elaborar unos constructos teóricos sobre experiencias en participación y organización de una asociación cooperativa de ahorro y crédito, se desarrolló la investigación de la cual se extrae el presente artículo. La metodología empleada fueron los métodos de razonamiento lógico. Las técnicas: la observación directa, el análisis documental y los relatos de vida
This is the proceedings of the international conference ‘Innovations in Organic Food System for Sustainable Production and Enhanced Ecosystem Services’. The proceedings are a compilation of peer-reviewed articles based on presentations of 18 speakers invited conference speakers and published as a Special Issue of the scientific journal ‘Sustainable Agriculture Research’ by the Canadian Centre of Science and Education.
There has been an increasing interest in science, technology and innovation policy studies in the topic of policy mixes. While earlier studies conceptualised policy mixes mainly in terms of combinations of instruments to support innovation, more recent literature extends the focus to how policy mixes can foster sustainability transitions.
The objective of this piece of work is to explore innovation support in the case of Greece which is a particular one given the demise, on the one hand, of the country's public extension service in the early 1990's - and since then the absence of any kind of organized extension intervention in the country, and, on the other hand, of the agricultural cooperatives; thus the extremely weak and fragmented nature of the Greek Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System which seems to be rather unique in the European Union