A bourdieusian exploration of knowledge sharing practices in the agriculture sector: the case of Uganda

The agriculture sector constitutes a cornerstone of Uganda's economy, characterized by a diverse array of actors possessing heterogeneous knowledge. However, knowledge sharing among these actors remains limited. The primary aim of this study was to enhance heterogeneous knowledge sharing within the Ugandan agriculture sector.

This study applied Pierre Bourdieu’s framework to analyse the sector’s knowledge sharing practices. The sector was conceptualized as a field with various knowledge actors possessing distinct habituses and capitals. Empirically, the study engaged 231 participants belonging to 8 distinct agriculture actor groups, i.e. smallholder farmers, medium scale commercial farmers, high scale commercial farmers, herbalists, technical agriculture specialists, agribusiness players, Government officials and NGO officials. The data revealed three key factors influencing knowledge sharing in the sector: class consciousness, capital and power, and doxa.

Class consciousness, shaped by people’s social background and dispositions (habitus) guarantees their membership into social classes, causing agriculture actors to share knowledge only within heir social classes. The varying forms of capital (mostly class-relevant) are a source of different power levels, and lead actors to only share knowledge to enhance or protect their preferred capitals and powers. There is also an established doxa in the sector, which has shaped the unspoken assumptions and established beliefs, including how actors engage in knowledge sharing.

Due to these complexities, knowledge sharing across the social classes is limited and is ineffective when forced. The study proposes using medium-scale commercial farmers as boundary spanners to promote knowledge flow across the sector’s social classes. The researcher also calls for inclusive development of agriculture programs and deliberate leadership to disrupt the current field structure, as well as use of mass media to influence a change in actors’ habituses. However, achieving positive results will be a gradual process due to deeply ingrained structural issues within the agricultural sector.