Khondokar Humayun Kabir

Brief profile summary

Khondokar Humayun Kabir has worked in agricultural extension and education as a researcher and practitioner for the past 10 years. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Agriculture and a Master's degree in agricultural extension education from Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh. He is currently working as a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, University of Guelph, Canada. Kabir received his PhD degree from the Department of Rural Sociology, the Institute of Social Sciences in Agriculture, University of Hohenheim, Germany. He conducted a research project funded by DAAD: German Academic Exchange Services on capacity development issues in participatory forest management. He took part in modules related to research methodology at different universities in Germany. He has advanced skills in SPSS, Atlas-ti software, PQ-method software, and basic skills in ‘NVivo’ and ‘r’ software.

Following his PhD he was awarded an International Climate Fellowship by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for postdoctoral research at the University of Hamburg in 2021. He used Q-methodology to assess perceptions of climate change and adaptation capacity within the vulnerable farming community in Bangladesh. Besides DAAD and Alexander von Humboldt Foundations, Kabir also awarded several scholarships, including the Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship and the Netherlands Fellowship Program (NFP). He has a research collaboration with international partners, including DAAD: German Academic Exchange Service; University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany; Rhine-Waal University, Kleve, Germany; Universität Hamburg, Germany; and Texas A&M University, USA.

His research focuses on information disorder and how to deal with it in agri-food and natural resource management contexts. Furthermore, capacity and capacity development, Q-methodology, climate change issues, digitalization in advisory services, social media, urban agriculture, social learning, and a rights-based approach to development remain central to his work.

His Banting postdoctoral research investigates how agricultural stakeholders view climate change misinformation and creates guiding principles to counteract online agri-food and climate misinformation.

Current Responsibilities

In addition to his Banting postdoctoral research, he is also working on several development projects, including:

1. Enabling Adoption of Digital Technologies by Ontario Rainbow Trout Farms: This project is funded by the Knowledge Translation and Transfer fund of the OMAFRA-University of Guelph’s Ontario Agri-food Alliance program. In this project, he will investigate the attitudes and perceptions of rainbow trout farmers and related farm enterprises toward digital technology adoption. He will also investigate the criteria used by rainbow trout producers to prioritize and select need-based digital technologies through the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). This study’s findings will aid public policy discussions about the future of digital technology adoption in the rainbow trout industry.
2. Improving the Effectiveness of Advisory Services for Facilitating Information Sharing, Accessibility and Adoption of Sustainable Farm Management Practices in Ontario: He will also collaborate on this project, analyzing data to deliver a discussion paper and policy brief for improving Ontario farm advisory services for information sharing and technology adoption.
3. Social Media for Strengthening Agricultural Communities of Practices (CoPs) in an Era of Misinformation: This research is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada. He’ll look at how online Community of Practices (CoPs) in the agri-food context work and how people perceive and respond to misinformation on these platforms.