Cultivating knowledge for farming futures: insights from participatory stakeholder workshops in Central and South Asia

Spies M. Alff H. Zakirova A. Zuberi M.
2025 Routledge

Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension
2025

Purpose: This paper presents findings from a knowledge co-production and co-design process for desirable farming systems envisioned by farmers in Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan and discusses its methodological implications. Design/methodology/approach: We applied a systemic-participatory method that combined knowledge mapping with tools for strategy development and assessment, implemented through workshop cycles with farmers and other local stakeholders. Findings: The knowledge mapping results and strategies proposed by local stakeholders revealed a hybridity of knowledge and ideas, which our approach integrated in a collaborative, reflective, and non-hierarchical manner. Practical implications: We highlight the benefits of visual knowledge-mapping tools and systemic analysis in overcoming knowledge hierarchies and facilitating deliberative consensus. We also point to the limitations of such approaches in settings where social structures constrain equal participation, such as the patriarchal context of our case study regions. Theoretical implications: Our findings show how local knowledge and viewpoints are hybridisations of different knowledge sets, emphasising the importance of understanding how co-production and co-design processes are shaped by existing knowledge hierarchies. Originality/value: The article presents original insights into farmers’ knowledge and perspectives from three underrepresented case study areas, contributing to the broader debate on knowledge co-production and co-design in agriculture.

agriculture , co-design , Knowledge co-production , participatory methods , smallholder farmers , systemic thinking

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Centre for Econics and Ecosystem Management, Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, Eberswalde, Germany
College of Social Sciences, KIMEP University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
IRI THESys, The Department of Geography, Humboldt-University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Centre for Econics and Ecosystem Management
College of Social Sciences
IRI THESys

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