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82. The use of mobile phones as a panacea to facilitate quick food trade rollout between markets and countrysides: a study of Ayaou-Sran
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Oura, Raphaël Kouadio (author) and Kouassi, François N’goran (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2015
- Published:
- Ivory Coast
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 158 Document Number: D07590
- Journal Title:
- Net Journal of Agricultural Science
- Journal Title Details:
- 3 (4): 104-111
83. To diversify or not to diversify, that is the question. Pursuing agricultural development for smallholder farmers in marginal areas of Ghana
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Bellon, Mauricio R. (author), Kotu, Bekele Hundie (author), Azzarri, Carlo (author), and Caracciolo, Francesco (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-09-18
- Published:
- Science Direct
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 121 Document Number: D11076
- Journal Title:
- World Development
- Journal Title Details:
- 125
- Notes:
- 10 pages., Via online resource., Many smallholder farmers in developing countries grow multiple crop species on their farms, maintaining de facto crop diversity. Rarely do agricultural development strategies consider this crop diversity as an entry point for fostering agricultural innovation. This paper presents a case study, from an agricultural research-for-development project in northern Ghana, which examines the relationship between crop diversity and self-consumption of food crops, and cash income from crops sold by smallholder farmers in the target areas. By testing the presence and direction of these relationships, it is possible to assess whether smallholder farmers may benefit more from a diversification or a specialization agricultural development strategy for improving their livelihoods. Based on a household survey of 637 randomly selected households, we calculated crop diversity as well as its contribution to self-consumption (measured as imputed monetary value) and to cash income for each household. With these data we estimated a system of three simultaneous equations. Results show that households maintained high levels of crop diversity: up to eight crops grown, with an-average of 3.2 per household, and with less than 5% having a null or very low level of crop diversity. The value of crop species used for self-consumption was on average 55% higher than that of crop sales. Regression results show that crop diversity is positively associated with self-consumption of food crops, and cash income from crops sold. This finding suggests that increasing crop diversity opens market opportunities for households, while still contributing to self-consumption. Given these findings, crop diversification seems to be more beneficial to these farmers than specialization. For these diversified farmers, or others in similar contexts, interventions that assess and build on their de facto crop diversity are probably more likely to be successful.
84. Transforming African agriculture
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- McIntire, John Murray (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2014-01
- Published:
- SAGE Journals
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 18 Document Number: D10518
- Journal Title:
- Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies
- Journal Title Details:
- 6(2) 145–179
- Notes:
- 36 pages., via online journal., This article examines the challenges facing agriculture in Africa. First the article outlines agriculture’s connection with overall economic growth; then, the author evaluates agricultural productivity and food security in Africa in 2010. From this point, the author evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of seven paths that African agriculture is likely to evolve along between now and 2050: five for Sub-Saharan African and two for North Africa. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the types of farming proposed are: extensive, mechanized; intensive export; intensive peri-urban; subsistence; and reserves, game ranching, and tourism. In North Africa, the author proposes: irrigated and rainfed. In order to realize the most positive benefits of these paths in 2050, Africa has to tackle six challenges, outlined by the author: reducing population growth, promoting irrigation, adapting the role of the state, promoting the acceleration of technical change (including fertilizer and biotechnology), and preparing for climate change. Increasing the competitiveness of Africa’s commercial farming will improve income, inequality, and nutrition across the continent.
85. USDA calls scientist gag order a “misunderstanding”
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Maron, Dina Fine (author)
- Format:
- Online article
- Publication Date:
- 2017-01-25
- Published:
- Springer Nature
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 34 Document Number: D10671
- Notes:
- 4 pages., via Scientific American website., Hours after the news broke that the U.S. Department of Agriculture e-mailed its scientists ordering them not to speak to the press, and informing them that there would be an immediate halt on press releases, the USDA insisted it isn’t really suppressing its researchers’ communications with the public—because they can still publish peer-reviewed journal articles or give media interviews if the agency approves them.
86. Understanding the adoption of climate change adaptation strategies among smallholder farmers: Evidence from land reform beneficiaries in South Africa
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Thinda, K.T. (author), Ogundeji, A.A. (author), Belle, J.A. (author), and Ojo, T.O. (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- unknown
- Published:
- International: Elsevier
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 201 Document Number: D11872
- Journal Title:
- Land Use Policy
- Journal Title Details:
- 99
- Notes:
- 11 pages, Climatic change has a negative impact on people’s livelihoods, agriculture, freshwater supply and other natural resources that are important for human survival. Therefore, understanding how rural smallholder farmers perceive climate change, climate variability, and factors that influence their choices would facilitate a better understanding of how these farmers adapt to the negative impacts of climate change. A Zero-inflated double hurdle model was employed to estimate the factors influencing farmers’ adoption of adaptation strategies and intensity of adoption at the household level in South Africa. Different socioeconomic factors such as gender, age, and experience in crop farming, institutional factors like access to extension services, and access to climate change information significantly influenced the adoption of climate change adaptation strategies among beneficiaries of land reform in South Africa. Concerning intensity of adoption, age, educational level, farming experience, on-farm training, off-farm income, access to information through ICT and locational variables are the significant determinants of intensity of adaptation strategies. Thus, education attainment, non-farm employment, farming experience are significant incentives to enhance smallholder farmers' adaptive capacity through the adoption of many adaptation approaches. This study therefore concluded that farm-level policy efforts that aim to improve rural development should focus on farmers’ education, on-farm demonstration and non-farm employment opportunities that seek to engage the farmers, particularly during the off-cropping season. The income from non-farm employment can be plough-back into farm operations such as the adoption of soil and water conservation, use of improved planting varieties, insurance, among others to mitigate climate variability and subsequently increase productivity. Policies and investment strategies of the government should be geared towards supporting education, providing on-farm demonstration trainings, and disseminating information about climate change adaptation strategies, particularly for smallholder farmers in the country. Thus, the government, stakeholders, and donor agencies must provide capacity-building innovations around the agricultural extension system and education on climate change using information and communication technologies.
87. Unearthing the potential of participatory, and information and communication technologies’ led extension and learning approaches in agricultural and environmental education in Uganda
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Karubanga, Gabriel (author) and Agea, Jacob Geofrey (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-08
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 122 Document Number: D11143
- Journal Title:
- African Journal of Rural Development
- Journal Title Details:
- 3(2):29-737.
- Notes:
- 9 pages., ISSN 2415-2838, via online journal., Uganda’s public agricultural extension system has experienced several reforms since colonial times. However, available literature indicates that a large number of smallholder farmers remain unreached by the extension systems. To address the above problem, there has been a call to unearth the role of participatory and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)-led extension and learning approaches for agricultural and environmental education, and development in the country. As such, a review study was conducted on the context and the potential of participatory, and ICT-led extension and learning approaches to agricultural and environmental education. The reviews involved thematic and content analysis of variables of interest. The review findings presented a critical review of the historical and current state of agricultural extension reforms in Uganda. It also highlighted the challenges and lessons on the status, context, and potential of participatory, and ICT-led extension and learning in agricultural and environmental education in Uganda. It elaborated on recurring extension issues and described the experiences on the role of ICTs to extension and emerging practices that are enhancing the delivery of timely information that suits the needs of farmers. Policy recommendations were henceforth made to tap the potential of participatory, and ICT-led extension and learning approaches in order to enhance the performance of agricultural extension systems in Uganda.
88. Urban gardening realities: the example case study of Portsmouth, England
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Hallsworth, Alan (author) and Wong, Alfred (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2015
- Published:
- England
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 153 Document Number: D06911
- Journal Title:
- International Journal on Food System Dynamics
- Journal Title Details:
- 6(1) : 1-11
89. Usability attributes influencing the adoption and use of mobile apps for dissemination of agricultural information
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Kandagor, Jonathan C. (author), Githeko, Jason M. (author), and Opiyo, Arnold M. (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2018-01-01
- Published:
- eSci Journals Publishing
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 123 Document Number: D11160
- Journal Title:
- International Journal of Agricultural Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- 6(1)
- Notes:
- 9 pages., via online journal., Mobile apps such as social media have friendly attributes and unbiased usage across gender and age; and have become one of the most promising channels for dissemination of agricultural information. The current sources of agricultural information available to farmers do not allow a two-way flow of information and instant feedback. The information disseminated using such channels are generally not customized to specific farmers’ needs. Despite the availability of various mobile apps providing agricultural information, the adoption rate is too minimal. The aim of this study was to determine the usability attributes of social media influencing its adoption and use. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 149 respondents. The respondents were selected through purposive sampling technique from a population comprising of farmers, extension staff, lecturers and students enrolled in agricultural courses participating in the Farm Attachment Program of Egerton University. Data collected was analysed using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) and probit regression was used to analyse expected probability of social media adoption. The findings indicate that the main usability attributes of social media are Ease of use, usefulness, credibility, flexibility and Internet availability. Mobile apps being used to disseminate agricultural information should incorporate some of the usability attributes that have significantly influenced the adoption and use of social media to enhance its uptake and use.
90. Use of information communication technologies among agricultural extension officers in Lesotho
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Akintunde, Moruf Abiola. O. (author) and Oladele, Oladimeji Idowu (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-07
- Published:
- African Journals Online
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 122 Document Number: D11142
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Agricultural Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- 23(3)
- Notes:
- 16 pages., via online journal., The study assessed the use of ICTs among public and private extension officers in Lesotho. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 86 public and 19 private extension officers. Data collected were analysed, using percentages, mean, and standard deviation, multiple regressions and t-test. Extension officers use ICT tools to obtain information on new technology (79.1%), preservation of farm produce (79.1%); time of planting crops (75.6%), call attention of extension officers (75.6%) and cultural practices (75.6%). Serious constraints to the use of ICTs, as perceived by extension officers were: high cost of ICT (83.7%); poor basic infrastructure (79.1%); non-availability of technical personnel (72.1%), failure of service (73.7%) and non-availability of genuine parts. There is a strong relationship between access to information, residing within place of work, constraints, age awareness, type of extension and use of ICTs. There is also a significance differences in the use of ICTs between public and private extension officers. Policy makers should improve national e-readiness and make more ICT tools available and accessible to extension officers. Constraints of high cost, lack of ICT infrastructure and training of technical personnel should be dealt with.