The On-Farm Experimentation Community is pleased to announce that the first two #OFE2021 webinars (1. Value creation; 2. People and processes) were great successes with a total of 200+ participants from all over the world. Next week, two more webinars will be presented (3. Data and analytics; 4. Policy linkages). Don’t miss them!

View the session details below and be sure to register for the last two webinars! Free and open to all.

 

“Farmer-centric On-Farm Experimentation”, or “OFE”, is a shared, self-sustaining process of change. Value is essential to its development and success. With the aim of enhancing interest, trust and investment in OFE, this webinar will ask: How is value created? How is value shared? Who gains from OFE? How can science and technology improve OFE processes? Experience suggests that farmers need little persuasion to engage; on-farm experimentation is a process they already do and understand. But to scale up, we need to recognize how OFE creates value for varied stakeholders, how value is shared, and how scientific disciplines can contribute. In addition to general insights, we need to explain impact pathways for OFE which contrast markedly with those of conventional research. Clarity on the value propositions offered by OFE will help bridge diverse views from around the world. This webinar will bring together specialists from agronomy, agro-economics and social sciences to clarify and explain the value of OFE. It will also set the scene for the next webinars on People and Processes, Data and Analytics, and Policy Linkages.

 

How can we ensure that digitally enabled On-Farm Experimentation avoids the classic “Technology Fallacy,” and instead centres transformation around people? Recent research from MIT demonstrated that “people are the real key to digital transformation” (Kane 2019). Change is as much about us and our organizations as it is about the technology. Change occurs when people change, transformation occurs when individual changes scale up through their networks and their organizations. The underlying change throughout is in knowledge and shared culture. This webinar will explore various examples of scalable change that apply to OFE, through lessons learned from thinkers and practitioners with experience in a range of institutional and business settings across the world. The webinar will focus on identifying interactions between digital technologies and these varied organizational environments that nurture (or impede) transformational change. Attention will be paid to pinpoint specific mechanisms supporting systemic goals of productivity, social and environmental sustainability, in both the Global North and the Global South.

 

Following the webinars, the First Conference on Farmer-Centric On-farm Experimentation — Digital Tools for a Scalable Transformative Pathway is scheduled for October 13th-15th 2021 in Montpellier, France (or virtually if need be).