Technology “in the Wild” Dynamics and uncertainty in field experiments Ben Corrigan Technology and Agrarian Development Group Supervisor: Dr. Harro Maat
Apr 08, 2017
Technology “in the Wild”Dynamics and uncertainty in field experiments
Ben Corrigan Technology and Agrarian Development Group
Supervisor: Dr. Harro Maat
Clearing up some concepts• Technology
– Skills, tools & social structures – “making things”• Innovation
– “What seems to be a better way of making things” (MacDonald, 1975)
• Impact– Why are the ‘users’ effectively amputated from ‘technology’?
• Paradigm– Where are the ‘frontier shocks’?
• Knowledge (thinking)– ‘Brain bound’ to outside the ‘skin and skull’
Normal Science Paradigm• Adoption
• Participation
• Field experiments as randomised treatment / control plots
• Boundaries of public and private sector
• Culture as norms and values
Theoretical debatesNormal Science
– Adoption / Non-Adoption– Transfer of Technology– Participatory research– Social networks– Individual as rational– Failure is unacceptable
Theoretical debatesNormal Science
– Adoption / Non-adoption– Transfer of Technology– Participatory research– Social networks– Individual as rational– Failure is unacceptable
Where Science should be– Adjusting– Inventiveness as on-going– Performance – Social and technical networks– Individual as unpredictable– Accept failure
We need…
Case Study: 1 Must Do – 5 Reductions, Viet Nam
• Activities and dynamics between those involved in a field experiment
• To examine the impact of the 1MD5R on the agroecosystem
• Who’s involved? – Technicians– Scientists– Farmers
Objectives
• What do farmers really think and do? • What can be said about the field experiment
process?
‘Real’ outcomes• Uncertainty– Unresolved ‘everyday’ science of farmers
• FFS not delivering true results– Technicians demonstrating their ‘expert’ knowledge – Failure is unacceptable
• Private sector Training versus FFS– Better resourced– Able to formulate strategy, marketing and institutional
development to meet demand
What are some of the causal mechanisms?
• Bias in selection of participants• Interference by external parties in FFS (i.e. private
sector, academe)• Technical literacy: ability to comprehend the
concentration, active ingredient, etc• Culture of science and technology: reverence for
‘western’ science
Seeking a Paradigm for Science in the Future
• Beyond adoption / participation– Mechanisms / Performance
• Field experiments as randomised treatment / control plots– Holistic thinking
• Boundaries of public and private sector – No longer applicable (dualistic)
• Hypothetical and actual explanations– Alternative mechanisms explain success or failure in
technology adoption
Multiple dimensions of technology
Material (product)
Political
Linguistic
Social
Cognitive
Organisational
IRRC recommendations I• In realising the complex web of political, legislative, moral and cultural
constraints, the IRRC and partners need to be realistic about the conditions under which livelihoods of farmers can be improved with a limited government capacity and conformity to GAP or GlobalGAP standards – Realist evaluation – Systems thinking (Not FSR!)
• PPD/DARD should see project funding as an academic research project – not as extra funding. – Financial auditing– Adaptive research and adaptive administration– Learning alliances is a good tool to kick start this, but not a solution to
rearranging organisational cultures
IRRC recommendations II• Enhance national capacity through design and delivery of training to
help ‘reinvent the PPD technician’ as an innovation broker (leeuwis)– Foster youth energy and make pay performance related – not project related
• Integrate a form of ‘risk assessment’ into any needs assessment based on political and legislative matters, organisational capacity and skills as a means of designing an appropriate intervention
• Current KAP method is time consuming for sub-PPD to collate and analyse. Find better ways to measure innovation. It’s easy to measure “the number of people coming through the door”, but less so about a projects effects
1. Reconnect the social and technical sciences – new theory is out there
2. Understand interactions in the workplace (scientific institutions and farms)
3. Re-evaluate the reality of the extension system
Take home message