1 min
A typical agrarian community is a rural area where people of similar cultural values live together; sharing ideas and information, producing similar crops and possibly carrying out similar agricultural practices. Dissemination of this information amongst farmers is easily done and dispersed faster (and most times, undistorted). Sadly, this system is gradually fading away.
This is because there are systems in place to verify and safeguard information or new ideas shared and at the same time, a great support system to help other farmers to try the new ideas or information and get the desired results. It is a dynamic system created by the rural people specifically designed to meet their needs and everyday realities. And this system is built on the foundation of TRUST.
Sadly, this system is gradually fading away in some communities where greed is replacing trust and values being eroded. Food being produced is becoming unsafe as a result of bad practices or cutting corners to make more profit. Custodians of knowledge cannot be trusted and people only trust their own practices (even if the yield obtained is poor). For instance, an improved seed is released, no farmer wants to try it, a new idea or information to improve yield is known and shared by an organization, no farmer desires to try it. More stories like this are common amongst us nowadays because some people took advantage of the good gestures of farmers for profit and many of the farmers lost a fortune.Thus, the distrust in the system. Although attempts have been made by some organizations to build trust back into the information dissemination system through the extension system, it collapsed as a result of lack of continuous funding and low acceptance. Thus, there is a need to rebuild our agricultural extension system (incorporating a component of trust which must be the foundation) that is self-sustaining and that has the ability to build more trust amongst our farmers.
Where information or technologies that are shared with farmers are verified and that can provide the needed support system for farmers irrespective of their location or social status. We need agricultural stakeholders to rethink how our community model can be leveraged toward food security. In essence, our trust can be built, sustained and mobilized for growth and development of the agricultural sector. We can build a new generation of farmers' community, where distance is no longer a barrier to interact, who can live in separate communities but share common ethical values, who can provide a strong support system for one and other and still have strong community ties and with a common goal of improving the food system. There are generations of food champions that can emerge from this. It starts from us!
Yours-in-Service
Babatunde
Sadly, this system is gradually fading away in some communities where greed is replacing trust and values being eroded. Food being produced is becoming unsafe as a result of bad practices or cutting corners to make more profit. Custodians of knowledge cannot be trusted and people only trust their own practices (even if the yield obtained is poor). For instance, an improved seed is released, no farmer wants to try it, a new idea or information to improve yield is known and shared by an organization, no farmer desires to try it. More stories like this are common amongst us nowadays because some people took advantage of the good gestures of farmers for profit and many of the farmers lost a fortune.Thus, the distrust in the system. Although attempts have been made by some organizations to build trust back into the information dissemination system through the extension system, it collapsed as a result of lack of continuous funding and low acceptance. Thus, there is a need to rebuild our agricultural extension system (incorporating a component of trust which must be the foundation) that is self-sustaining and that has the ability to build more trust amongst our farmers.
Where information or technologies that are shared with farmers are verified and that can provide the needed support system for farmers irrespective of their location or social status. We need agricultural stakeholders to rethink how our community model can be leveraged toward food security. In essence, our trust can be built, sustained and mobilized for growth and development of the agricultural sector. We can build a new generation of farmers' community, where distance is no longer a barrier to interact, who can live in separate communities but share common ethical values, who can provide a strong support system for one and other and still have strong community ties and with a common goal of improving the food system. There are generations of food champions that can emerge from this. It starts from us!
Yours-in-Service
Babatunde
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