This research is concerned with how farmers’ knowledge networks are socially
developed, in order to facilitate the development of a conceptual model focusing on
the generation and transfer of technology. The conceptual background is that
farmers’ knowledge, goals and objectives should be integrated into a participatory
model for the development of an agricultural knowledge information system (AKIS).
In order to develop this research focus, two communities of Brazilian beef farmers
belonging to different eco-regions were selected as the target social groups. Further,
the National Centre for Beef Cattle Research (CNPGC-EMBRAPA) is the linked
regional agency for the development of applied technology for beef. The objectives
of this research are: (a) to investigate how farmers’ information flows are socially
developed, in relation to farm decision-making; (b) to identify and describe the
structure of beef farmers’ information systems; (c) to analyse relationships between
“farmer” knowledge and CNPGC-EMBRAPA’s technologies; (d) to develop a
methodological learning approach in order to assess farmers’ information demands
and to improve the process of generating and transferring technology.In order to examine the above research issues, a combination of survey
(questionnaire) and case studies (in-depth interview) was applied to elicit data from a
stratified random sample of the farmer population. Six groups of farmers were
identified through application of multivariate analysis (factor and cluster) on selected
set of information and social variables. In-depth interviews (qualitative data) were
carried out with one representative farmer from each group and four nominated
“trusted persons”, in order to obtain deeper insights into the social construction of the
farmers’ information network, and to access additional data to permit a more
comprehensive testing of the research hypotheses.This research has indicated that each group of farmers develops its own information
system. The social construction of the farmers’ information networks presents some
common characteristics, but each farmer builds the network on the basis of his/her
values, beliefs, education, time preferences, and intensity of using the available
sources of information; however, this is always marked by the presence of a “trusted
person”. Informal communication is preferred among farmers rather than reading to
obtain information. The participation of CNPGC-EMBRAPA in the farmers’
information networks has been peripheral. Although the farmers are using some of
the developed technologies, the more advanced and wealthy farmers are taking
advantage of the overall technologies. A participatory conceptual framework, both to
link the technological innovation to the majority of farmers’ needs and, at same the
time, to increase the institutional efficiency, is proposed