Learning Dynamics and Appropriation of Agroecological Innovations by Experimental Farmers: Case of Farmers in the Kita District in Southwestern Mali

This article examines how experimental farmers learn and transform their learning into actionable knowledge. Data collection articulated qualitative and quantitative approaches among 52 farmers, through semi-structured interviews supplemented by questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression were used for data analysis. The results revealed a diversity of learning forms, with 73% of farmers involved in reproduction, including 64% with adaptation and 35% without adaptation. This high level of reproduction reflects experiential learning’s capacity to promote adaptation and sustainable appropriation of agroecological innovations, while strengthening farmers’ capacity for innovation (86.5%). However, the sharing of acquired knowledge remains low (44%). Logistic regression showed that learning among experimental farmers, understood as their ability to learn about innovations, experiment with them, adapt them, and integrate them into their daily practices with a view to improvement, is more closely associated with the support and networking dynamics in which they operate than with their individual characteristics alone. These results call for strengthening learning environments by reinforcing local networks and organizing spaces for collective reflection on experiments. This approach opens up prospects for innovation policies focused on learning processes rather than on the dissemination of innovations, by supporting local innovation systems that promote continuous adaptation to climate, environmental, economic, and health challenges. On a scientific level, it also opens up prospects for research into the institutional conditions that enable these dynamics to be consolidated over time.