Donor Transfer of Agricultural Knowledge and Self-Reliant Farming Among Smallholder Farmers: Evidence from Yambio County, South Sudan

Abstract

Indigenous knowledge is still firmly linked to farming among smallholder farmers in Yambio County, even though donor programs offer new practices through training, extension services, and demonstration plots and emphasize knowledge transfer as crucial to shifting smallholder farmers away from outside aid. In this study, the degree and direction of the relationship between donor agricultural knowledge transfer and self-reliant farming were ascertained. A cross-sectional correlational survey with a qualitative component was employed, guided by the theories of diffusion of innovations and collective action. The target population was 1,405 registered smallholder farmers, eight extension officers, 30 leaders of farmer groups, 30 group accountants and 30 group secretaries. From the farmers, 180 members were selected by simple random sampling, and 170 returned usable questionnaires (94.4%). All 98 key informants were purposively included (100% participation), giving a targeted sample of 278 and an analytical sample of 268. Perception items used a five-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree), and reliability was assessed with Cronbach's alpha. Descriptive statistics, multiple linear regression, an inferential method with a single dependent variable, and theme analysis were used to analyze the data. Donor transfer of agricultural knowledge was positively and significantly correlated with self-reliant farming after controlling for financial inflows, technical support, and demographic characteristics (B = 0.359, p < .001). Respondents scored low on expert knowledge as their only reliable source (M = 2.188, SD = 1.323, on a five-point scale from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree), while learning from experts (77.1%), group savings (71.8%) and farmer exchange programmes (68.2%) were widely endorsed. Causal claims are precluded by cross-sectional data and a sample below conventional size; clustering within groups was not modeled. Donor programs could combine knowledge transfer with ongoing, peer-led, and participatory learning that builds on indigenous knowledge; this is an interpretation based on qualitative and descriptive data rather than a tested effect.