The Search for ‘Real’ Farmers- Questions of Social Identity in Farmer-Based Organizations

This paper studies the social identity of farmers in the small and medium scale agricultural networks of Zambia. It particularly explores the impact of the social identity of ‘real’ farmers on individual and collective perceptions of and attitudes towards farming, on trust behaviours displayed in engaging with farmer-based organizations and on knowledge flows. The focus on farmer identity emerges as a result of research data collected that indicate that farmer identity is a core determinant of knowledge flows. The study is qualitative in nature, employing grounded approaches to arrive at an understanding of how farmer identities are shaped. Agriculture is the main economic activity of developing nations and yet is among the sectors that suffers a dearth of adequate attention in management studies. This attention ought to be focused on the management of knowledge, knowledge being the driving force behind the successful management of agricultural businesses. The transfer of knowledge in the agricultural business sector largely occurs among government organizations, non-governmental organizations, private sector enterprises, farmers and farmer-based organizations. At the heart of the transfer of knowledge is the farmer to whom knowledge must be transferred and from whom a feedback loop ought to be established.