Knowledge increasingly has become a vital resource. Within our communities,
institutions, and organizations, practical insights are needed for optimizing its use. Knowledge management needs to become an object of study. This article deals with two issues. First, using both knowledge systems concepts and tools, and insights gained from comparative research, it explores the vital qualities of agricultural knowledge systems. These qualities, like the multi- plicity and relative autonomy of the actors, the level of integration reached through linkage mechamsms, and the coordination needed to overcome default situations, might provide leverage points for effective knowledge management. Second, it probes into a more specific definition of the tasks and areas of attention of the knowledge manager. Knowledge management can focus on various levels of a system (e.g., the individual, organizational, or system level) and can make use of a variety of instruments and skills.
Vital Qualities of Agricultural Knowledge and Information Systems
An effective agricultural knowledge and information system (AKIS) makes
available the necessary intermediate outputs (e.g., technologies, software, ex- pert systems, trained professionals, and information) necessa~ to continuously innovate and develop agriculture. These knowledge products, constitute the "state of the art" in agricultural knowledge and information. AKIS performance can be measured in terms of its contribution to sustained agricultural adaptation and innovation. The definition of the type of innovation desired, and the direction of change it implies, are the outcomes of a political process. They seldom are the responsibility of the actors in the AKIS alone. Societal objec- t i v e s - c l e a n drinking water, fresh air, healthy forests, rural employment, an attractive landscape--play an increasingly important role, where formerly on- farm productivity was the main yardstick. Optimum performance depends upon the political, administrative, technical, and economical environment of the system. International and national agricultural trade and price policies, rules
Paul G. H. Engel is also a member of the Department of Extension ScLence,Wageningen
Agricultural University, P.O. Box 8130, 6700 EW Wageningen, The Netherlands. His interests include rural development and the transformauon of agricultural knowledge.
Knowledge tn Society" The lnternaUonal Journal of Knowledge Transfer, Fall 1990, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 28-35. Engel 29
and regulations, and environmental, educational, and research policies, need
to provide incentives for, rather than impediments against, achievement of the type of innovation desired. Resources provided should enable the system to perform its tasks adequately. Multiplicity and relative autonomy of actors. AKIS actors are many: farmers' organizations, cooperatives, specialized services, and groups of study clubs; agro-based industries; public and private research, extension, and training in- stitutions; agricultural press and information services; agricultural policy units; and formal and informal networks of many kinds. More recently, environmental and consumer groups claim an increasingly important role. The multiplicity found within agricultural knowledge and information systems has its roots in two simultaneous processes: (1) functional specialization, arid (2) system seg- mentation. Functional specialization refers to the division of labor among ac- tors, such as policy-makers, research institutes, extension agencies, and edu- cation and farmers' organizations. Each process occupies its "niche" on the science-practice continuum, and develops a relative advantage based on it. System segmentation refers to the process by which certain categories of producers are singled out, or single themselves out, because of common ele- ments in their situations (e.g., targeting sales), shared interests (e.g., tomato marketing), or a common strategy (e.g., biological pest control). Other actors may then target their services and support such a category. The multiplistic character of agricultural knowledge systems is invigorated by the relative au- tonomy that characterizes the actors. Each one acts according to a particular strategy and operational agenda and uses resources, intellectual and otherwise, to achieve long and short term objectives. AKIS performance, therefore, has to be envisaged as the combined outcome of the policies and actions of many, not necessarily cooperating, actors. Diversity in sources and types of knowledge and information. Since all actors are at the same time sources and users of knowledge and information on agriculture, the multiplicity described above translates itself into a large di- versity in sources and types of knowledge and information. Producers no longer rely solely upon their own practical know-how and research-based technical knowledge. Marketing knowledge and information provided through cooper- ative auctions, or private advisory services, play increasingly important roles. Also, policy-related knowledge and information, produced by EEC or national policy bodies, increasingly determine farm results. Similar comments can be made for extensionists. Recent research suggests that exposure to, and inte- gration of, many different types of knowledge and information, through active involvement in a number of different networks, plus ample availability of information of all sorts, are crucial to an extensionist's effectiveness in modern agriculture (Engel, 1989). Integration. To successfully make available "state of the art" knowledge and information among its actors, a continuous circulation, or rather an "alternating current" of knowledge products has to take place within the AKIS. Evidence (R61ing, 1988; Engel, 1990) suggests that the effective AKIS exhibits high levels of integration with strong links among core actors. Moss Kanter (1983) and