Perceptions of Science, Technology, and Innovation in Colombia: Comparison of the III National Survey with a Pilot Survey Conducted in a Rural Coffee-Growing Community in Ituango

Abstract

The quality of Colombian coffee is recognized worldwide. Its production requires an extensive chain in which the coffee grower applies their knowledge and skills at key stages of the process, such as planting, cultivation, harvesting, and post-harvest. Various factors come into play that determine the quality and, consequently, the economic value. Innovation appears in the coffee chain, especially at the marketing stages, generating new demands on the harvesting and post-harvest stages, raising the question of how familiar coffee growers are with science to respond to these demands. Thus, the purpose of this article is to descriptively compare a survey on perceptions of science, technology, and innovation tested in a community of coffee growers in the municipality of Ituango with the national survey conducted in urban environments and determine the degree of understanding of the questions. It is found that, despite the cultural richness of the regions where observation and learning are permanent bases to respond to the demands of the coffee market, the words "science" and "technology" are not part of the coffee growers' imagination as found in the national survey. This highlights, on one hand, the challenge of building a research culture and bringing together the accumulated knowledge of the coffee growers with the forms of Western science, and on the other hand, the challenge of modifying the language of the surveys and applying other participatory methodologies to access perceptions of science and technology in rural communities.