MIND THE GAP “Improving Dissemination Strategies to Increase Technology Adoption by Smallholders” Project Lessons Learned

Abstract

Proven agricultural technologies that can improve lives often have low adoption rates due to lack of effective service delivery systems and enabling policy environment. Agricultural extension is a common method to introduce technologies. However, little is known about which extension approaches are the most effective with farmers. Thus, the project’s(Mind the Gap-Tunisia Improving Dissemination Strategies to Increase Technology Adoption by Smallholders) implemented in Tunisia was aiming to provide clear understanding on which extension approaches have the greatest success rate will help improve future agricultural technology dissemination efforts. Through its life cycle, we learned lessons and discovered opportunities for improvement of the effectiveness of the suggested extension approaches and technology transfer methods. As a key part of project outcomes, documenting lessons learned helps the project team and their partners to discover both strengths and weaknesses. It provides an opportunity for team members and/or partners to discuss successes during the project, unintended outcomes, and recommendations for others involved in similar future projects. It is within this context, a synthesis on the key lessons learned from this project are outlined with special emphasis to the project context and its challenges, and the key recommendation strategies to improve dissemination strategies of two improved technologies introduced by the project such as new barely kounouz variety and feed blocks technology. The synthetized key lessons are to assist project teams to record the knowledge gained from the process of performing the Mind the Gap Project. The purpose is to share and use the knowledge derived from this experience to: (i) Repeat desirable outcomes in other similar contexts, and ii) Avoid undesirable outcomes.