Farmer regeneration and knowledge co-creation in the sustainability of coconut agribusiness in Gorontalo, Indonesia

Abstract Farmer regeneration in agribusiness sustainability originates from the innovation of knowledge co-creation among farmer generations and interaction between stakeholders within and outside local contexts. The present work aims at exploring knowledge co-creation in the context of different orientations between young and old farmers. It also seeks to characterize the orientation of the two farmer groups from the aspect of agriculture, processing, and marketing of coconut through knowledge co-creation interaction to further their agricultural activities. All data in this grounded theory research came from in-depth interviews; the data were further examined using an open, axial, and selective coding method. The transcription of the field note was analyzed using an ATLAS.ti version 9, a program for analyzing qualitative data. The sample of the study was 13 of young farmers (25 to 45 years old) and 17 of old farmers (45 to 65 years old). The results revealed that the old farmers focused on revitalizing coconut trees for long-term purposes. The knowledge co-creation process among this farmer group (with other stakeholders) put an emphasis on copra and cooking oil production. Young farmers, however, focused on coconut tree integration with annual plants for short-term purposes, especially on the virgin coconut oil and innovative products from foreign technology adaptation. In conclusion, coconut business sustainability is the byproduct of knowledge co-creation and engagement between old and young farmers. This condition results in the survivability of coconut farmers. The novelty of this study lies in the classification of the orientation of the two coconut farmer groups in terms of agricultural, processing, and marketing aspects, which results in knowledge co-creation and its relation to the sustainability of coconut agriculture.