Farmers' Organisations In The Technology Change Process

This bibliography was prepared as part of an ODI/ISNAR study on farmers' organisations and their role in technology change. Firstly, the study is described and, secondly, a brief discussion of the roles of such organisations in improving small-scale farmer access to relevant technologies is presented. Three different roles are identified: a representational role, a technology role, and a service role. An organisation's ability or desire to undertake any role depends partly upon its own members' needs and its organisational structure. It also depends upon the environment in which it is located, the role and attitude of government and the activities of other bodies such as non-governmental organisations and other farmers' organisations. The final section of this paper presents summaries of key articles, books and documents from the empirical literature on farmers' organisations. This annotated bibliography is intended to increase the reader's awareness of the diversity of farmers' organisations involved in the technology change process, the variety of activities which they perform, and the conditions influencing their effectiveness.