Towards a knowledge management system for the strengthening of coffee production: A case study in the Panama Canal Basin, Panamá Oeste province

Abstract

In today’s context, information and knowledge have emerged as key factors in various production processes and have become a newly discovered asset. One of these production processes is the coffee harvest. This paper presents the results of the first phase of research on the implementation of a technological knowledge management system in the coffee sector. During this initial phase, data was collected through a survey of coffee growers in the Cirigrande district, a member of CUENCAFE Acacpa, located in the province of Panamá Oeste, Panama. Several findings emerged from this survey: 84% of coffee growers are between the ages of 22 and 42, they have the ability to use digital tools, and 100% are willing to share their knowledge. In addition, to determine the internal consistency of the survey used, the Cronbach’s coefficient α was calculated, which yielded a favorable value of 0.85. In addition, Pearson’s correlation coefficient r was calculated to validate the relationship between the questionnaires. In summary, the 16-cell matrix analysis concluded that although coffee growers lack the technological means to manage knowledge, they do have rudimentary governance processes and they consider the presence of a knowledge management system to be potentially beneficial and a competitive advantage in strengthening the production of Robusta coffee (Coffea canephora).

Keywords

• Knowledge management system
• Coffee agricultural cooperatives
• Information technology