Studying Agricultural Institutions : A Modular Approach. A Summary Report on: The Agricultural Management Research and Training Project, 1974 / William Herzog, Ed. and Mason Miller, Ed.

The document is the terminal report of an Agricultural Management and Training Project. Chapter I, The Project Rationale and Setting, explains that the project focuses on small farmers in less developed countries, specifically Costa Rica. It was assumed, however, that the system of analysis developed would have general application to the study of public institutions serving agriculture. Chapter II, Data Gathered by the Modules of Inquiry, includes a general view of the agricultural task environment, covering the small farm setting, the agricultural agent, the regional organization, and the orientation and knowledge level of national administrative leaders, An Evaluation of the Modular Research Approach (Chapter III) attempts to set forth some of the problems the research team encountered, especially the political issues that were the consequences of particular interests of the other organizations involved in this project. For Chapter IV, Suggestions for Facilitating Institutional Change, the study team accepted the premise that public institutions, a dominant force in agricultural development projects, should have small farmers share in the development process so that their needs can be more effectively met. Covering the management workshop, change agent training, and small farmer organizations, the chapter concludes that new institutions or major revisions of old ones will be required to meet the expanding needs of the small farmer. The Appendix, Management Training for Rural Sector Change, explains organizational change strategies and the organizational process. (KM)

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