Factors influencing the creation of synergies between research-based technologies and farmers’ indigenous knowledge systems and practices in Sierra Leone

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify factors that affected the synergy between scientific research and technology and farmers' indigenous knowledge systems and practices during the 2018 planting season in Sierra Leone. The study clearly demonstrated the importance of understanding indigenous knowledge and identifying areas where policy makers, service providers and researchers may intervene in future agricultural extension, research and development activities, since farmers also make recommendations on areas that need improvement. The results demonstrated that significant proportion of rice farmers (both male and female) across the ten districts (53.8%) cultivated traditional rice varieties as a result of limited access to improved rice varieties. The results further demonstrate that improved techniques need to be integrated with indigenous practices of farmers through their learning fields; back up with the availability, accessibility and affordability of agro inputs, as farmers admitted that they cannot increase rice production by growing it their own ways. The conclusion of this paper is that, despite many changes in agricultural practices, indigenous knowledge has been used by most small-scale farmers in agricultural production, mainly because it has been tested over several generations.