Exploring small-scale farmers’ perceptions and needs for non-formal leadership education

Small-scale farmers serve in leadership roles within their operations and beyond, though it is not widely known whether they view themselves in this capacity. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the ways in which small-scale farmers perceive themselves as leaders, and to characterize their self-perceived leadership style. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants on their farming operations and utilizing Zoom. Observations and collection of supplemental materials were used for triangulation of data. Findings indicated that this population does view themselves as leaders, and that small-scale farmers characterize their leadership approaches differently, though some commonalities were found. Moreover, a desire for leadership education was expressed by participants. A needs assessment is recommended to better understand small-scale farmers' leadership education needs, followed by non-formal leadership education programming.