Worldviews Apart: Agricultural Extension and Ethiopian Smallholder Farmers

This paper presents an inquiry-based learning assessment into why farmers in the highlands of Ethiopia were not adopting a new planting methodology promoted by the government and non-governmental organizations. It offers a process of reflexivity whereby assumptions emerge as the key barriers to misunderstanding, and focuses on the concept of divergent worldviews as an important consideration for understanding (non)adoption.The learning process offers insight for policy, programming and research, emphasizing learning instead of definitive conclusions.