This document discusses the importance of agriculture and knowledge management in Ethiopia. It notes that agriculture makes up 85% of employment, 45% of GDP, and 90% of exports in Ethiopia. However, 70 million people still face food insecurity. The document defines knowledge and knowledge management, and discusses tacit vs explicit knowledge. It outlines the importance of knowledge management in agriculture for researchers, governments, and farmers. Finally, it discusses organizational knowledge management processes like knowledge creation, storage, transfer and application.

1. CHAPTER I
FOUNDATION OF AGRICULTURAL
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Agriculture is the backbone of the Ethiopian
economy
85% of the total employment, 45% of Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) and 90% of the foreign
exchange earnings.
70 million of the population are food insecure due
to many factors.
Traditional agriculture was human physical labor-
oriented
Modern agriculture is intensified with ICT and its
applications.

2. IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE
SHARE OF AGRICULTUE IN ETHIOPIA
YEAR GDP EXPORTS EMPLOYMENT
2002-2003 46.3% 76.9% 80%
2006-2007 44.9% 83.9% 80%
2009-2010 57% - 86%
1. Agriculture generates Employment
2. Agriculture promotes Exports
3. Agriculture increases the GDP
4. Agriculture provides raw materials to the Industries
5. Agriculture supplies Food

3. IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE
Agriculture is the backbone of Ethiopian economy.
More than 60% world population in rural areas.
A country is socially & politically stable only if it
possesses a very stable agriculture.
The most basic problem of Mankind is Food Insecurity.
FAO attack the ‘root causes’ of persistent Food
Security.
A stable agriculture industry ensures a country of
Food Security.
Food Security is considered one of the primary
requirements of any Nation.
Agriculture determines the hunger-free status + good
HRD of the nation

4. IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE
Agriculture is closely connected to the rural areas
where the farmers have lands with the modern
technologies.
Agriculture supplies raw materials to the industries
employs one-third of the wage earners.
Agriculture promotes National Economy, Total
Employment, Industrial Inputs, Food Supply, State
Revenue and Trade.
Traditional Agriculture is the predominant Farming
System & Practices of Crop Production.
Modern Agriculture is linked with marketing, export
bring in the question of profit or loss.
 Vision – “Think Globally, Act Locally”. It emphasizes
the proper development of the individual’s intellectual ,
physical and spiritual capacities of his/her actions as
the key to Agriculture and Rural Development.

5. DEFINITION OF KNOWLEDGE
 1. “Knowledge is the perception of agreement and
disagreement of two ideas”-John Locke (1689)
 2. “Knowledge is a range of information gained
from experience about technology environment
and farming related conditions” (Hedja, 1999)
 3. “Knowledge as the capacity for effective action,
clearly distinguishing it from data and information”
Peter Drucker
 4. “Knowledge is information in the context to
produce an actionable understanding” Ermias
Sehai, 2006.
 5.” Knowledge is a fluid mix of contextual
information, values, experience and rules”

6. DEFINITION OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
 Knowledge Management can be defined as a systematic
discipline of policies, processes and activities which
empower organization to apply knowledge to improve
effectiveness, innovation and quality.
 Effective Knowledge Management means that an
organization or network of partners (actors) gets the right
information to the right person at the right time in a user
friendly and accessible manner so that they can perform
their jobs efficiently.
 Knowledge Management is defined as the creation,
organization, sharing and use of knowledge for
development results.
 KM comprises all possible human and technology oriented
interventions and measures which are suited to optimize
the production, reproduction, utilization and logistics of
knowledge in an organization (Schyppel, 1996).

7. ADVANTAGE OF KNOWLEDGE
1. Avoidance of Costly Mistakes
 Invention of new knowledge which helps to reduce
the cost of production, wastage and more utilitarian
aspects
2. Faster Problem Solving
 Growing/updated knowledge have simplified the task
of the event. Eg. Networks
3. Better Customer Solutions
 Problems are the stepping stone of finding a new
solution to gain access
4. Gaining New Business
 Familiar companies will introduce new products
according the taste of the customer at very faster
rate.

8. ADVANTAGE OF KNOWLEDGE
5. Organization are Machines
 Role of managers to recombine the parts to achieve those
outcomes. People treated organization as machines.
6. Only Material things are real
 Difficult to work with invisible things, only material objects
can be perceived
7. Only numbers are real
8. Manage what you can measure
9. Technology Saves

9. GENESIS OF KNOWLEDGE
Peter Ducker also defines “knowledge” is the
capacity for effective action, clearly distinguishing
it from data and information.”
1. Knowledge is created by Human beings
2. Human needs and motivation lead to create a
new knowledge
3. Everybody is Knowledge Worker
4. People to choose to their knowledge
5. Knowledge Management is not about Technology
6. Knowledge is born in Chaotic (State of being
confused) Process

10. DIMENSION OF KNOWLEDGE
According to Engel (1997) identifies four different
dimensions of knowledge
First Knowledge can be seen as Cognition to
perceive;
Second Knowledge is practical, intrinsically woven
in daily practical life.
Third Knowledge can be perceived as a property of
the individual, experience, observation and
reasoning
Fourth Knowledge is socially constructed,
embedded in the social dynamics of organization,
community or group.

11. KNOWLEDGE IDENTIFICATION
1. Knowledge Dispersed
Knowledge society comes to a knowledge dispersion, in
which a competitive labor market reduces “skill” to
scare locally relevant knowledge. Knowledge is most
valuable complements to gain benefit.
2. Knowledge Distributed
Knowledge distributed equally in all the aspects of
human life attempts at Standardization,
Homogenization and Globalization.
3. Knowledge Divided
Division of Labour entails that the modernization as a
strategy designed to category the group of workers in
different knowledge level. Eg. Skilled Labour, Semi-
skilled Labour, Unskilled Labour.

12. SKILLS OF MANAGER
1. Conceptual Skills – the ability to see
the overall organization and to
integrate all part of the system.
2. Human Skills – the ability to work with,
communicate with and understand
other people.
3. Technical Skills – the ability to use
specific knowledge, techniques and
resources in performing work.

13. PERSPECTIVES OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
KM is the deliberate and systematic coordination of an
organization’s people, technology, process and
organizational structure in order to add value through reuse
and innovation.
1. From the Business Perspective
Business activity reflected in Strategy, Policy and Practice at
all levels of the organization and direct connection
between an organization’s intellectual assets –both
explicit (recorded) and tacit (personal know-how) and
positive business results.
2. From the Cognitive Science or Knowledge Science
Perspective
Insights, understandings and practical know-how are the
fundamental resource to function intelligently.
Knowledge is also transformed to other manifestations –
books, technology, practices and traditions within the
organizations in general.

14. PERSPECTIVE OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
 3. From the Technology Perspective
Knowledge Management is the concept under which
information is turned into actionable knowledge.
Flow of knowledge to the right people at the right time
efficient and effective decision making in their
everyday business.
Multi-Dimensional Perspectives
- Knowledge is Information - Sociologist Perspective
- Knowledge is Positive Energy - Psychologist Perspective
- Knowledge is a Resource - Agriculturalist Perspective
- Knowledge is a Public Good - Technologist Perspective
- Knowledge is Intellectual Capital - Economist Perspective

15. ADVANTAGE OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
 KM relates to the Fact deals with knowledge as well as
information. Knowledge is a more subjective based on
individual values, perceptions and experience.
DATA
 Raw transactional representations and outputs with
inherent meaning
 Content is directly observable or verifiable; a fact; Ex.
Agriculture production figure from CSA.
 Data is a set of facts, concepts or statistics
 Data is converted into information through 5Cs-
Condensation, Contextualization, Correction,
Categorization and Convention.
INFORMATION
 Information is a product of human mind.
 Knowledge is derived from Information.
 Farmers is getting information from DAs.
 “Information” is data + Meaning, but the “Knowledge” is
Information + Processing.

16. TYPES OF KNOWLEGE
TACIT AND EXPLICIT KNOWLEDGE
TACIT/IMPLICIT KNOWLEDGE
 Skill or capability derived from knowledge and
experience.
 Tacit knowledge resides in the mind of the
individual.
Tacit knowledge is more difficult to articulate or
write down with formal language.
Tacit Knowledge is personal knowledge embedded
in individual experience and involves intangible
factors such as personal belief, perspective and
values.
Tacit knowledge can be communicated into words,
models or numbers that can be understand.

17. TYPES OF KNOWLEGE
EXPLICIT KNOWLEDGE
EK can be recorded digitally in documents, records,
patents and other intellectual property artifacts.
EK can be manipulated within the digital domain, can
be articulated into formal language, words, numbers
can be processed by a computer, transmitted
electronically or stored in databases.
Knowledge can be expressed, articulated easily in
words or numbers, and stored in databases.
 Eg.Telephone Directory, an instruction manual, Report
of research findings.
EK can be categorized as either Structured
(Documents, databases) or Unstructured (e-mails,
images, training courses and audio & video that can't
be retrieved (Servin, 2005).

18. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
KMS is a plan that describes how an organization, bureau or
office will share and apply its knowledge and expertise.
KMS is an initiatives begin before strategy is a way of
consolidating, improving and systematizing existing
activities.
Benefits of KMS
Increase awareness of good Knowledge Management
Practice
Clear Communicable plan where you want to go, how you
plan to get there;
Gain senior management commitment;
Integrate KM into the corporate culture;
Attract resources for implementation and
Provide a basis against which you can measure progress.

19. HOW TO DEVELOP KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
STEP 1: Look at Strategy and Objectives
 Important factors in guiding KMS are the overall strategy and
goals.
 KMS is consistent with human resource and information
technology strategies.
STEP 2: Conduct a Knowledge Analysis
• Knowledge Analysis (often called Knowledge Audit) can
reveal organization’s KM needs, strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, threats (SWOT Analysis) and risks.
• KMS provides evidence-based assessment of where you
need to focus your KM efforts.
STEP 3: Develop yr Strategy by answering 3 Questions
• Where we are now?
• Where do want to be?
• How do we get there?

20. HOW TO DEVELOP A KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
PEOPLE + PROCESS + TECHNOLOGY
FARMERS
What they want
When they want
Where they want
Agriculture
Professionals
Where are we now
Where we want to go
How we plan to get there

21. WHY KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN AGRICULTURE
FOR RESEARCH SCIENTISTS AND GOVERNMENTS
 Disseminate information related to cultivation,
Market needs & trading.
 Help research scholars in R&D centers to interact
and manage vast information, analyze and take
right decisions.
 Share the experience gained in a project to avoid
reinvention and reduce the cost of research.
 Get quick input on innovative techniques on
Agriculture.
 Knowledge related to Food Industry and Herbal
medicines can be linked to farming.

22. WHY KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN AGRICULTURE
FOR FARMERS
Empower farmers with right information at the right
time to gain insights into the best practices in farming
to maximize yield.
Easy access to rural area on Food Security farming,
organic and herbal farming and market potential.
Help farmers interact with scientists and agriculture
experts to dispel (dismiss) their ignorance.
Energize farmers and improve the self-esteem
(confidence) of all the people in farming.
Right information to farmers help to reduce cost, effort
and have good yield.

23. ORGANIZATION KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
According to Honeycutt, 2000 – unique knowledge
assets and unique challenges within their
organizations processes and measures success in
many ways.
According to Berger and Luckman, 1997 – Potential
Information Technologies in Organizational Knowledge
Management based on Fours sets of socially enacted
Knowledge processes:
1. Knowledge Creation (Knowledge Construction)
2. Knowledge Storage/Retrieval
3. Knowledge Transfer and
4. Knowledge Application

24. ORGANIZATION KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
1.Knowledge Creation (Knowledge Construction)
Developing new content and replacing existing
content within the organization’s tacit and explicit
knowledge (Pentland, 1995).
 Computer mediated communication may increase
the quality of knowledge creation by enabling
forum for constructing and sharing believes,
interpretation and new ideas (Henderson &
Sussman, 1997)
 Sharing ideas, dialog, information systems may
enable new insights. (Boland et. al. 1994)

25. ORGANIZATION KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
2. Knowledge Storage/Retrieval
 Empirical studies shown that while organizations
create knowledge and learn, they also forget
(Argote et at., 1990)
 Storage and retrieval of organization knowledge
also referred to as organizational memory (Stein
and Zwass, 1995)
 Advanced computer storage technology such as
Query Languages, Database Management Systems
(DBMS) can be effective tools in enhancing
memory.
These tools increase the speed at which
organizational memory can be accessed.

26. ORGANIZATION KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
3. KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER
 Transfer Knowledge between individuals
 Transfer Knowledge from individuals to explicit sources
 Transfer from Individuals to Groups
 Transfer from between Groups
Transfer Group to Organization
 ICT can increase Knowledge Transfer than formal lines.
 Encounter new knowledge through their class-knit
networks because individuals possess similar information.
 Expanding the Individuals network connection is central to
the knowledge diffusion process.
Computer Network and electronic bulletin boards and
Discussion Groups create greater access to a new
knowledge.

27. KNOWLEDGE TRANSFORMATION PROCESS

28. INTERNALIZATION - EXTERNALIZATION
Internalization The conversion of explicit knowledge
into tacit knowledge; understanding of new
knowledge and its integration into existing mental
models; accepting that this new knowledge is
valuable and acting accordingly.
Externalization The conversion of tacit knowledge
into explicit knowledge-rendering previously
unarticulated, undocumented, uncaptured content
into a visible, tangible, and concrete form (e.g.,
recording a meeting, writing up minutes of a
meeting).

29. TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE CAN BE THROUGH
INFORMAL OR FORMAL CHANNELS

30. ORGANIZATION KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
4.KNOWLEDGE APPLICATION
 Knowledge based theory of the firm is that the
source of competitive advantage resides in the
application of the knowledge rather than
knowledge itself. (Grant, 1996).
 Technology can support knowledge application by
embedding knowledge into organizational
routines.
 ICT can have a positive influence on knowledge
integration and application by facilitating
capturing, updating and accessibility of
organizational directives ( Grant, 1996).

31. HISTORICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS
FOR KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge: Why now?
 Knowledge Society
Chief Knowledge Officers (CKOs)
Power Society or money society or culture society
Pursuit of knowledge “for its own sake” regardless of
its costs and benefits.
Knowledge as a Resource
Taylorist - increasing the level of surveillance of one’s
own workers
Rising the level of efficiently demanded of the market
can take different forms.
Fruits of their labors are reaped by the corporate
employers

32. HISTORICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS
FOR KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge is a Rational Attitude
 Economic scenario, Knowledge as a “Public good”.
 Profit is our concern and innovation new ideas
 Acquisition of intellectual property rights.
Economists Views of Knowledge
 New knowledge generated on the basis new species.
 Factors of Production-land, labor, capital and Organization.
 Cost – Effectiveness to maximize the profitability
 18th Century – Industrial Revolution
 19th Century – Market Expansion

33. ECONOMISTS VIEWS OF KNOWLEDGE
 20th Century – Information Explosion
 21st Century – Documentation- Knowledge Recording
 Global Success of Capitalism – USA End of the Cold
Over Socialism – USSR War
 Humanities & Arts - Value of Social Control
 Natural Sciences – Building Nation’s Infrastructure &
defense System
 Free Exchange of Goods and Services
 Efficient way of communication

34. INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL
 According to Hirsch Knowledge is a “Positional good”.
 Understanding the nature of knowledge may be its
practical demonstration, other things being equal
 More people who has got naturally but less valuable it.
K.Difference between Knowledge worker & Manual labors.
 Scientific Professionalization- Scientists have never been
able to even to agree on a code of professional conduct.
 U.S.Poet Robert Frost’s memorable line: “Good fences
make good neighbors”.
 “Self Organizing” environment that enables “reflexivity”
 Taylorist “Scientific Manager”, Knowledge worker, Manual
labor are relatively segregated from the Corporate goals.

35. KNOWLEDGE GAP
 Marxist terms, the owners of the means of production
– the shareholders, agents and manager were handling
their investments.
 Modern K.Management Guru Peter Drucker’s own
innovation was to anticipate that the gap between
knowledge workers and their managers.
 As far as Agriculture is concerned that the knowledge
gap between the Scientist and Farmers.
 “Hands-on” approach applied to even skilled manual
labors.
 Knowledge engineering and the design of customized
computers known as expert systems

36. PRACTICAL UTILITY OF KNOWLEDGE
 Information Technology (IT) is as KM’s revolutionary
principle.
 The work associated with the concept of
“organizational learning”.
 Knowledge workers intellectually open, accountable
to each other but not to managers or clients.
Knowledge in Rural context
 Usual bombardment of mass media are invitations
to more “participatory” and “user-centered” (Kyng
1991)
 Ethnographers act as facilitators to convince the
local knowledge to the farmers at village level.

37. WHAT’S IN A NAME: KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
 Renald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher adopted the
hard-line Western stance that coincided with the
internal collapse of the Soviet regime.
 When Soviet regime was failure that the adequate
welfare of the population – welfare management rather
than knowledge management.
 Adam Smith suggested increasing the wealth of the
nations.
 Citizens responsibility as “contribution to society” for
raising and distributing revenue.
 Systematic collection of data about people’s lives
which projected the strength of the history.

38. KNOWLEDGE AS INFORMATION
 August Comte – Father of Sociology who designed to
harness innovations in science and technology.
 Benefiting the middle class and the ideology of
Socialism and Positivism.
 Statistics a slightly shortened version of “state-istics”.
 Social scientists have strong positive correlation
between faith in the state’s power and rely on
statistical data as “indicators”
 Daniel Bell (1973) Knowledge Society as a Power
society.
 Intellectual Technologies enabling administrative state
to control the capitalism
 Keynesian Economists & Alvin Gouldner (1970) called
the “Welfare-warfare State”

39. ECONOMISTS VIEWS OF KNOWLEDGE
 Information as an agent needs to determine the Market
Strategy (Schiller, 1988). It can be understood in two
course of action. (i)Consumption and (ii) Production.
(i) Consumption
 Difference between the Epistemologist and Economist
is most apparent.
Epistemologist stresses the Quality control in
methodical search will lead to knowledge that enable
the agent to perform better.
 Economist presumes no such neat link between the
“Quality of Information” and “Quality of Action”

40. ECONOMISTS VIEWS OF KNOWLEDGE
(ii) Production
Information involves the construction of mediating
instruments i.e ICT.
Agent to achieve the current goal but also other agents
to achieve related goals.
Shortage of perfect information will affect the common
goal.
Exchange of information pursue their own respective
personal goals.
Knowledge emerges as the institution of money was
invented by German Sociologist Georg.
Legal System is Intellectual Property Law imposes the
regulated fee, stability and growth of modern capitalist
economies.

41. The Scientist: KM’s Enemy Number One?
 Scientists and Knowledge Managers should alert in
Research & Development division regardless of the
resources.
 Scientists regard knowledge as an end in itself,
whereas managers regard it as a means toward
market-driven ends.
 High investment for market research by the scientists
to measure the long-term market competition.
 William Whewell (1830s) addressed the scientists who
is systematically indulging the pursuit of knowledge.
 Aristotle’s Metaphysics that knowledge is something
disposal of intellectual mind.
 Trinity College Cambridge was coined of “artist” to
capture those trained in “mechanics colleges”

42. Discipline of Knowledge by Different Scientists
 The origin of the word “scientist” raises from political
economy of knowledge production.
 Charles Darwin - human originates from genes of
monkeys
Galileo- the world is oval shape on which the entire
planets are existing on this earth.
Joseph Schumpeter’s classic phrase “creatively
destroys” markets
Issac Newton was one of the Royal Society members. He
invented that for every action has its own an opposite
reaction.
 Einstein, Physicist who invented the Atom Bomb explodes
a lot of energies which can be used for electricity
production.

43. Discipline of Knowledge by Different Scientists
 Einstein, Bohr and Heisenberg for whom the
chalkboard was the laboratory but their intellectual
contributions persist today.
 Craig Venter - DNA’s structure, Watson and Crick
methodical mapper of the human genome that has
enabled the promise of biotechnology to become
reality.
 John Doe who invents battalion of well-financed lab
scientists who arrive at equally counterintuitive and
better discovery.
“Most Bang for the Buck” principle seems to rule our
intuitive judgments of genius.

44. “A BIRR INVESTED IN
INTELLECTUAL
DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN
BEING IS INCREASING THE
NATIONAL INCOME THAN A
BIRR DEVOTED TO THE
TRANSPORATION,
CONSTRUCTION OF DAMS,
MATERIALS AND
MACHINES”

45. THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND
LISTENING