Towards enabling tacit knowledge externalization using mobile phone: The case of participatory agricultural innovation in Ethiopia

Mobile technology has huge potential to address challenges in the areas of tacit knowledge elicitation, capturing, sharing and integration in participatory agricultural innovation where farming communities are actively involving. Past studies emphasized the behavioral and managerial perspectives of tacit knowledge and limited studies have been conducted from ICT perspective. Those ICT related studies focused more on advanced technologies including Web 2.0, groupware, audio & videoconferencing tools which are beyond the reach of the rural communities. The purpose of this study is therefore, to identify various mechanisms of tacit knowledge elicitation and sharing in participatory agricultural research process and explore how mobile based application can enhance the process. The output of the study will contribute to the development of mobile-enabled communication system that can further enhance participatory agricultural innovation through facilitating articulation, capturing, sharing and integration of tacit knowledge of multiple stakeholders including farmers.