Grace, Margaret (author / Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Brisbane, Australia)
Format:
Paper
Publication Date:
1998-06-13
Published:
Australia
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 147 Document Number: C23536
Notes:
In "Conference Proceedings of the International Symposium on Learning Communities, Regional Sustainability and the Learning Society (June 13-20, 1998)." Edited by Ian Falk., 7 p., In Australia, as in other parts of the world, there is considerable interest in many quarters in the potential of new communication and information technologies to contribute significantly to the revitalization of regional communities. However, much remains to be understood about the social factors, which affect the success of innovative technology applications. Research conducted by the Queensland University of Technology indicates that gender significantly affects not only access and use of communication and information technologies, but also rural community development. By focusing on rural women's perspectives on communication issues, this research has revealed a need for the development of "soft" technologies to ensure that both social and economic development occurs in an integrated way in regional, rural and remote communities.
8 pages, gender, women, extension systems, acces, cell phones, farmers, Nepal (Southern Asia), India (Southern Asia), COVID-19 induced lockdowns have had far reaching impacts on the rural sector, particularly on women farmers. These impacts have been exacerbated by lack of access to reliable and timely agriculture information. Using panel phone survey data from India and Nepal, we study how women's access to agricultural extension was impacted by the lockdowns and its effect on agricultural productivity. We find that women's already low access to formal extension was reduced further, leading to an increased reliance on informal social networks. In both countries, nearly 50% farmers reported negative impacts on productivity due to inaccessibility of information during the lockdown. In India, we find that access to formal extension is mediated by crop type, geographic location and caste identity. We discuss ways in which extension systems in India and Nepal can be made more inclusive and resilient to future crisis, including by adapting group and community-based approaches to post-pandemic best practices.
