A sustainable approach to fostering agricultural knowledge sharing in conflict-affected areas of Eastern Ukraine
| Autor: | Nevena Alexandrova, Yana Voitovska, Farrukh Toirov, Ruslan Markov, Andrew F. Fieldsend |
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| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Service (business)
business.industry media_common.quotation_subject 0211 other engineering and technologies 021107 urban & regional planning 04 agricultural and veterinary sciences 02 engineering and technology Plant Science Development Public relations Innovation system Focus group Knowledge sharing Intervention (law) Agriculture Local government 040103 agronomy & agriculture 0401 agriculture forestry and fisheries Animal Science and Zoology Quality (business) Business Agronomy and Crop Science Food Science media_common |
| Zdroj: | NJAS: Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences. 89:1-10 |
| ISSN: | 2212-1307 1573-5214 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.njas.2019.02.004 |
| Popis: | The agriculture sector of the Donbass Region in eastern Ukraine is facing serious challenges caused by the ongoing military conflict and consequent disruption of the earlier-established value chains. An advisory service potentially could help farmers to adapt to the changed circumstances. To inform the development process, an interview survey was conducted among 80 farmers in the region of their perceived information and advisory needs. Most interviewees stated that many issues affect the performance of their farm. Of all the given farmer × issue ‘interactions’ (i.e. a given farmer facing a specific issue), advice had been sought in around 70 per cent of instances. For any specific issue, most farmers sought advice from several sources. Interviewees attached very high importance to accessibility, convenience, previous personal experience, personal recommendation and confidence in the quality of advice given. Friends and family was the most popular source of advice, with farmers’ organisations, local government agencies and agricultural Internet portals all being consulted by more than half of the interviewees. Many other sources were used by fewer than ten farmers. Twelve interviewees said that they would seek advice from advisory services if this was available. Following the analysis of the questionnaire results, three farmer focus groups were held to help interpret them. We conclude that, even in the absence of a formal advisory service, many farmers in the region are actively acquiring and sharing knowledge and that the agricultural innovation system continues to function despite the disruption caused by the conflict. Any new intervention should recognise this fact and be designed to improve knowledge flows between actors further, rather than to replace those that currently exist. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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