Knowledge systems for farmers in the EU

The project called Prospects for Farmers’ Support: Advisory Services in European AKIS (PRO-AKIS) has recently compiled an inventory of European Agricultural Knowledge and Information Systems (AKIS) and in particular advisory services. It has produced a useful set of reports and posters per EU country, as well as a searchable database and online map showing the many different knowledge systems that EU farmers are involved in.

Farmers throughout Europe are facing changing political conditions and strong pressure from markets and citizens to adjust and to innovate. Access to knowledge and information, to training and education and to facilitating and support services is essential. The project aims to respond to these needs. Their focus is on how and from what sources can farmers get reliable and relevant knowledge, orientation and support to continuously evolve, to successfully solve problems and to respond to external expectations and development opportunities.

The inventory was developed through desk-based research and interviews with experts and key informants in each country. Where countries could not be covered by a member of the project team, local experts were subcontracted to gather the information and conduct interviews in the local language. Preliminary versions were discussed with AKIS stakeholders at three EU-wide workshops and improved based on suggestions received.

The inventory consists of:

• country reports (AKIS and advisory organisations in each country),
• country posters (AKIS diagram and summary points from the report),
• a synthesis report (volume I and II), and
• a searchable database of the core information describing advisory services and AKIS in each of the 27 EU member states, visualised in a map.
• A directory of advisory organisations (contact details and advisory topics for organisations from across the EU)

Dr Katrin Prager, project co-ordinator at the James Hutton Institute who is responsible for UK and Ireland data, said: “The project is contributing to building a European agricultural innovation system and supports better informed policy decisions to improve the functioning of the different components at European, national and regional levels.

“We believe this work will be of great use to agricultural and rural policy makers, administrators, agricultural chambers, farmer organisations, advisory organisations, researchers, consultants and stakeholders in the European Innovation Partnership ‘Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability’.”

PRO AKIS is led by Prof. Andrea Knierim, University of Hohenheim, Germany and it has partners coming from eight agricultural research institutes and universities across seven EU countries. The project received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 311994.

www.proakis.eu