Mediation of perceived content validity on motivation and training transfer among smallholder farmers in Central Uganda

Abstract

Farmer training is a key strategy for building skills that lead to enhanced productivity of small-scale farmers' fields. This result hinges on farmers transferring the training to their fields. However, the factors that determine the subsequent transfer of training including those with mediating effects are not fully known. A study was conducted to assess the mediating role of perceived content validity on the association of farmers' motivation to implement acquired knowledge with actual training transfer outcomes from a random sample of 603 Ugandan farmers who had received four agricultural related trainings. Using Structural Equation Modelling, results indicated intrinsic motivation (β = 0.246; t = 2.991; p < 0.05) and perceived content validity (β = 0.325; t = 2.693; p < 0.05) to strongly influence training transfer. Intrinsic motivation predicted up to 45% of variance in farmers' perceptions about training design suitability. Perceived content validity mediated the relationship between intrinsic motivations to implement acquired knowledge and training transfer. In order to improve the transfer of learnt knowledge among smallholder farmers, trainers need to pay attention to pre-training efforts, such as adopting a criterion of assessment checklist for identifying highly motivated trainees, as mechanisms for obtaining internally motivated training participants.