The International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists (IAALD)
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 102 Document Number: D10897
Notes:
8 pages., IAALD XIIIth World Congress., via IAALD website., Governments have been largely responsible for research and the provision of extension services in Nigeria. The emphasis has been on the transfer of technology, paying little attention to farmer development and communication needs. Recently, the high output of agricultural research has led to a large pool of new agricultural technologies, which are yet to be disseminated to farmers, particularly those in the core rural areas. Therefore this study examined development and information need of the resource poor and the strategy adopted to meet these needs, using „town crier‟ as a case study. The study identified 2 states in south west, Nigeria, based on literature/past studies, where this concept has been adopted. A focused group discussion technique and interview schedule was adopted for data collection. The study identified 141 „town criers‟ across the study areas through the help of key informants. Results shown all Town Criers are male, average age of 55.54 years and all have postsecondary education. Town Crier primarily source of information is from the traditional-head. Main information disseminated by the Town Crier bothers on security of the town and community development and projects. The study concluded that this channel rarely meets the information need of the people, as the study revealed that only 20% of such information meets these needs. Past studies have documented that information/communication channels in Nigeria such as extension institution has collapse, there is no effective communication channels in the country again. The small number of extension officers that exists, only congregate at the urban towns, leaving behind those at the rural areas. Thus, the use of town criers in this regards can be used effectively to fill this gap and can also be trained on basic extension work.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 147 Document Number: C23441
Notes:
Reports on other topics featuring interviews with rural Americans can be found at www.wkkf.org., This report is part of a project seeking to understand how various groups perceive rural America, its challenges and strengths. "Perceptions of rural America" looks at how certain news organizations report on the rural population. Researchers analyzed the events and issues making news, the sources quoted, and the opinions these sources expressed about the current and future state of rural America. Researchers conducted a content analysis of news coverage during the six-month period from Jan. 1, 2002, through June 30, 2002, in a sample of major newspapers, news magazines and television networks.
Blake, Valerie (author), Evans, James F. (author), and Evans: Head, Office of Agricultural Communications and Education, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL; Blake: Librarian, Muresk Library, Muresk Institute of Agriculture, Northam, Western Australia, Australia
Format:
Bibliography
Publication Date:
1992
Published:
Australia
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 89 Document Number: C06319
Notes:
James F. Evans Collection, Northam, Western Australia, Australia : Muresk Library, Muresk Institute of Agriculture, [1992]. 120 p.
21 pgs., CTs (Communications technologies) have revolutionized agricultural information services at every level in the agricultural sector, thus impacting rural development and catalysing poverty alleviation strategies. This has largely been the case with small-scale farmers in rural areas in developing countries where mobile technologies have penetrated more than most other ICT tools. However, in some of the farming environments, mobile phone use is largely driven by agricultural extension workers. This paper seeks to examine the way mobile phones are used for information access in situations where agricultural extension workers are a critical intermediary in the agricultural information services. Interviews were conducted with 10 randomly selected farmers who were part of the Dzindi irrigation scheme. The findings were that from the variety of information available to the farmers the most important source was the extension officer. The extension officer and the radio were indicated to be the most reliable independent sources of information. The other sources, such as the radio, family members, and friends, suppliers of chemicals, books and magazines, were only considered reliable if the information could be verified or vouched for by the extension officer. Increasing the information handling skills of extension officers, training of farmers to use smart features of their phones and promoting the usual face-to-face communication use of conventional methods, which is what usually gives rise to the mediation of mobile phones, were recommended.
