7 pages, Agricultural extension is the medium through which external agricultural technologies have been transferred to and transplanted in Africa to improve agricultural performance. Over a period of close to a century, different agricultural extension models have been proposed but their structure and content has virtually been the same: top-down, linear, non-participatory transfer of technology with no feedback loops for reverse diffusion. This presumably explains the poor performance of Africa’s agriculture and the scale of food security challenges facing the continent. In this review paper, we trace the history of agricultural extension and examine various agricultural extension delivery models to identify their major strengths and weaknesses, using Ghana and Burkina Faso as case studies. We then review the most recent literature in the field about the philosophy, scope, content, delivery, and outcomes of agricultural extension. The conclusion that agricultural extension has consistently remained out of sync with the needs and aspirations of stallholder farmers was reached. Smallholder farmers are now calling for new agricultural extension delivery models that are truly farmer-led, indigenous knowledge-based, context-specific, culturally-relevant and environmentally-sustainable to guarantee efficient farming systems into the future.
12 pages., The study reported on in this paper investigated smallholder farmers’ access to extension services. The study sought to distinguish the varying degrees of access to services of smallholder farmers engaged in different production systems, that is, home gardening, field cropping, and livestock production. The study was conducted in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape, specifically in two communities, namely Ngcabasa and Phathikhala villages. Research activities included a survey of 100 farmers as well as focus group discussions. Employing logistic regression analysis, the study aimed to understand what influences whether or not a smallholder farmer accesses extension. The study also used various types of comparative statistics (T-test) to assess the implications of access to extension support, for instance for production and farm income. The main findings of the study were that 68% of the farming households interviewed in Ngcabasa and 71% of those in Phathikhala had access to extension services. Farmers who had access to extension had more farm income in both enterprises compared to those who had no access to extension services. From the regression analysis, farmers who were more likely to receive extension support appeared to be those who were older, those with less education, and those farming with livestock.
International: Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, ACP-EU, Wageningen, The Netherlands
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 153 Document Number: D11614
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3 pages., Online from publisher., Author addresses "large gap between African extension services ... and the number of farmers being reached." ... "Africa's existing mobile network (currently the second biggest mobile market in the world) could be better utilised to bridge this gap and provide mobile-based agricultural information, advice and support to smallholder farmers."
10 pages., Smallholder farmers in Afghanistan are already facing various risks in agricultural production due to past continuous insurgencies. Climate change is likely to amplify the risk and make them even more vulnerable. The present study attempted to evaluate the vulnerability profiles of smallholder farmers due to climate change using the IPCC Framework. Primary data on relevant parameters for assessing climate change-led social vulnerability in the region were collected by classifying study region into two zones: the plain and the hills of Yangi Qala District in Takhar province, Afghanistan. Thirteen villages from each zone were selected at random, and face-to-face interviews were conducted with ten randomly selected households in each of the selected villages in both zones based on a pre-tested questionnaire. The questionnaire contained indicators for all three dimensions of vulnerability: exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. The collected data were subjected to a proposed vulnerability index, after estimating the indices of the three dimensions of vulnerability. The Iyenger and Sudershan weighting method was used to assess the contribution of each vulnerability dimension. Vulnerability was classified according to different categories based on beta distribution to evaluate the villages’ vulnerability status. The results showed that about 23% of all 26 sampled villages in both zones had low exposure, 26% moderate exposure and 51% high exposure to climate-change hazards and extreme weather events. High sensitivity was observed in 51%, moderate sensitivity in 7%, and low sensitivity in 42% of villages. High adaptive capacity to climate change was observed in 38% of villages, 19% were moderately adaptive and 42% showed a low adaptive capacity. High vulnerability was observed in 50% of villages, 4% were moderately vulnerable, and 46% had low vulnerability. A high proportion of smallholder farmers in the hilly zone in the sampled district were highly vulnerable, exposed and sensitive with a low adaptive capacity to climate change compared to the plain zone. The high vulnerability in the hilly zone was attributed to limited resources with a low adjustment capability to counter the disturbances, especially in crop cultivation, in response to climate change. A handful of low-cost and local approaches such as improving farmer extension services, introducing small-scale local infrastructure projects, reinforcing informal safety nets and protecting natural ecosystems could be viable cost-effective options that would also be sustainable given their low recurring costs and the limited maintenance required.
17 pages, Small farms and small farmers are a growing sector of the agricultural economy nationwide. Notably, small farms are influenced by similar antagonists to the success of their business as large, concentrated operations, but they experience it differently. The purpose of this study was to describe small farms and farmers in North Dakota to assist North Dakota State University Extension in defining their needs for programming development. We found that nearly 45% of small farmer respondents are women. Small farmers prefer to access information for their operations in a variety of ways but like to engage with Extension through more direct and personal means. Recommendations include developing programming targeted at female farmers and organizing Extension information resources targeted at small farm needs, specifically.
9 pages., Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is an important regional food source, providing food and income to over 30 million farmers, processors, and traders in Nigeria. Extension programs support awareness and interest in new technologies; they facilitate the adoption and adaptation of new approaches to crop production, post-harvest processing, and marketing. Extension can be understood as an intermediary or catalyst in the dissemination of information to rural farmers. This study analyzed the effect of cassava farmers’ exposure to extension on a broad measure of cassava technology adoption, while considering the influence of some individual and farm characteristics as control variables. Data were obtained from personal interviews with sample of 952 households conducted in southern Nigeria. Results show a relationship between extension exposure and technology adoption. Farmer-to-farmer interaction played the greatest role in diffusion of the technologies. Interactions with extension agents were low, suggesting that adoption of improved technologies could be enhanced by improved regular contact with extension information. The results underscore the importance of farmer-to-farmer interaction processes that often overshadow extension assistance in supporting and guiding the use of production technology. The conclusions consider some implications for 21st century extension.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12540
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33
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8 pages, The term “feminization of agriculture” is used to describe changing labor markets that pull men out of agriculture, increasing women's roles. However, simplified understandings of this feminization persist as myths in the literature, limiting our understanding of the broader changes that affect food security. Through a review of literature, this paper analyses four myths: 1) feminization of agriculture is the predominant global trend in global agriculture; 2) women left behind are passive victims and not farmers; 3) feminization is bad for agriculture; and 4) women farmers all face similar challenges. The paper unravels each myth, reveals the complexity of gendered power dynamics in feminization trends, and discusses the implications of these for global food security.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12528
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2 pages, The objective of this study was to assess the possibility of mobile phone use by vegetable farmers for dissemination of agricultural extension services in the South Gezira Locality. Descriptive approach was used and 280 farmers are selected from 1025 farmers in South Gezira Locality. A close ended questionnaire was constructed to collect primary data from 280 vegetable farmers in three units in the South Gezira Locality in April 2019. The collected data were coded, fed to computer and statistically analyzed using SPSS to show frequency distribution and chi-square to test the postulated hypotheses. Results showed that the majority of respondents (92.2%) were males, middle in age and literate, 70% of the farmers had an experience in the cultivation of vegetables more than ten years. The majority of respondents possess normal and smart mobile phones 81% of the farmers had an experience in the use of mobile phones, 81% used mobile phone for both social contact and collection of information. About 53.1% of the respondents used mobile phone for access of the internet. Chi-square test showed a significant association between having a mobile phone, mobile type, use of a mobile and benefits obtained from using a mobile and some personal characteristics of respondents. From this study, it can be concluded that it was possible to use mobile phone in the delivery of agricultural extension services to vegetable farmers in South Gezira Locality. The study recommended that farmers families should be encouraged to use mobile phones by supporting them financially and materially by governments and private sector. More awareness and training of both farmers and extension agents on the effective and efficient use of mobile phone facilities are recommended.
