Value congruence, the success of group farming in Agricultural Extension

Abstract

Group farms are schemes involving multiple individuals not related by kin or employment relationships, who share resources for the purpose of farming. Successive group farming endeavours dictates group functioning with converging individual goals. Group farming in South Africa is common but not always successful and there is evidence that social factors are a key, but research investigating the relationship between social factors and the functioning of group farms in South Africa is lacking. This study examines value congruence as a social attribute that affect group work. Values are that which is regarded as important and pursued as goals, with values ranked in order of priority making up a value system. Value systems are both attributes of group and of the individuals making up the group. Of importance is the degree of congruency between the individual member’s value and that of the group.
Evidence from organisational sociology indicates that in high performing groups the gap between group and individual value is narrow. The objective of the study is to determine the degree of value congruence between group and individual value, in group farm schemes and to link this to the functioning of the group farm.