Purpose: To explore the structures and processes within agricultural advisory organisations that may enhance absorptive capacity (AC) and determine how organisations develop their AC. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative explorative case study of advisory services in Norway, which are structured as farmer cooperatives. Interviews, document…

Purpose: This paper aims to contribute to deepening insights on social media in agricultural research by presenting a case study on how a research and education centre in Mexico connected, communicated, and interacted in a research and education community on Twitter. Design/methodology/approach: By using a Social Network Analysis (SNA) approach,…

Purpose: Current developments in the Australian agricultural research, development and extension (RD&E) system exemplify the complex governance challenges arising from the international privatisation of agricultural extension. Presenting early challenges emerging from a multi-stakeholder project aimed at stimulating the role of the private…

Purpose: Within the context of the European-funded JOLISAA project (JOint Learning in and about Innovation Systems in African Agriculture), an inventory of agricultural innovation experiences was made in Benin, Kenya and South Africa. The objective was to assess multi-stakeholder agricultural innovation processes involving smallholders. Approach:…

Purpose: This article reviews the experience of ICT applications as a tool for putting research derived knowledge into use for innovation in South Asia. Design/methodology/approach: The article uses the contemporary understanding of communication and innovation in reviewing the experience of ICTs in putting new knowledge into use in South Asia.…

In this paper we outline an analytical approach to identifying points in the policy process where management intervention to adjust organizational design could enhance delivery of innovation policy over time. We illustrate this approach using an example from native vegetation policy in the state of Victoria, Australia. We then use this approach to…

Purpose: This article outlines the development of extension as a discipline in Australia, its organization, and the ideological changes that have occurred from the second half of the nineteenth century through to the present. Design/Methodology/Approach: It considers the evolution of extension across the different states of Australia from a…

The aim of this study was to understand the role that agricultural consultants in New Zealand were undertaking in the Research, Development and Extension (RD&E) system--and in particular in relation to environmental extension. New Zealand does not have a public extension service and hence there is a strong reliance on consultants and regional…

A constructivist framework based on active listening, interpretation, and dialog was used to initiate collaborative research and development among farmers, researchers, and advisers. The method overcame polarized, conflictual communication about sustainable land use. (SK)

The key to agricultural development in the eastern region of India, where problems of excess water and water scarcity coexist, is the scientific management of water resources with the adoption of recommended water-management technologies. A vast networking of infrastructure for the development and dissemination of water-management technologies…

Following the economic reforms in the early 90's, most of the south-eastern European countries (SEE) made efforts to establish agricultural extension services. However, a number of factors including tight governmental budgets, lack of experience, and the existence of vested interests have constrained the development of extension services. This…