11 pages, Extension is well-positioned to facilitate communication strategies that foster community resilience and disaster recovery, particularly for rural residents. This paper proposes a new approach to post-disaster communication that strengthens rural community capacities in locally and culturally relevant ways. The findings revealed specific post-disaster information needs, preferences for local resources, and communication that encourages resilience through a document analysis and interviews with informants recovering from the 2020 Colorado wildfires. The practical recommendations discussed serve as a starting point for Extension professionals in other areas to consider ways to engage with their communities before, during, and after a disaster.
23 Pgs., Information and Communication Technology is a potent force in the developing world for social, economic and educational transformation of individuals, agencies and institutions. This study examined the veritable roles of ICT in empowering rural women farmers in Rivers State. The specific objectives were to examine the demographic characteristics of the respondents, identify ICT devices in use by the respondents; information needs of the respondents, the roles of ICTs in rural women empowerment and constraints to the use of ICT devices by the respondents. Structured questionnaire was used to elicit information from respondents and oral interview where necessary. The respondents were 120 rural women farmers purposively selected from the farmers list obtained from the ADP (Agricultural Development Project) Office in the Area. The results indicate that 54.2% of the respondents are married, 57.5% with secondary education, 52.5% hold a farm size of 0.25 – 1 hectare of land. ICT devices in use include mobile phones, television, radio and other devices. They need information on inputs, prices, markets, produce demand, new practices and technologies. ICT play various roles in empowering the women such as offering entrepreneurial opportunity, breaking isolation, providing linkages to inputs and markets, assisting small and medium size business, reducing poverty, and illiteracy and improving income and savings of rural women. The problems affecting use of ICT devices include absence and erratic supply of electricity, lack of ICT skills, low level of awareness etc. Government should provide basic amenities to the rural dwellers to improve their socio-economic well-being.
Via online UI subscription, Recent research suggests that Internet usage can positively influence social capital in
rural communities by fostering avenues for voluntary participation and creating social
networks. Most of this research has examined whether Internet use is associated
with participation in local organizations and social networks but not the means by
which residents use the technology to learn about local activities. To address this
gap in the literature, the authors use a mixed-methods approach in an isolated rural
region of the western United States to evaluate how residents use their connections
to maintain local social networks and learn about local community events and
organizations. The authors show that Internet usage can play an important role in
building social capital in rural communities, thus extending the systemic model of rural
voluntary participation and community attachment. Implications for rural community
development are addressed.
USA: Federal Communications Commission, Washington, D.C.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 201 Document Number: D11767
Notes:
Full FCC report at http://wireless.fcc.gov/outreach/ruralbroadband, Via online from publisher. 2 pages., "Report to Congress important building block for national broadband plan"
19 pages., Information is an important factor in agricultural development. The study investigated farmers’ agricultural information needs and seeking behavior in the Southern Regional State of Ethiopia. A cross-sectional research design was employed and the study population included all household heads of the eight sampled villages in four administrative zones. A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed to obtain a sample of 320 farmers. Quantitative data were collected and research adopted descriptive statistics. The results revealed information on crop production technologies; information about diseases, pests and weather forecasts, and market information were identified as the top three most important types of agricultural information. Similarly, crop production technologies; animal husbandry technologies, and information about agricultural inputs were the information farmers seek frequently. Farmers use development agents as the first source of agricultural information. All of the respondents communicate with development agents face-to-face.
Apentibadek, Norbert (author) and Koopman, Martine (author)
Format:
Brief
Publication Date:
2011-01
Published:
The Netherlands: International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD)
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 149 Document Number: D10108
Notes:
8 pages., Via Website., This learning brief describes the lessons learned in the ACDEP Rural Access to Information project. This project established a multimedia centre at the ACDEP Secretariat and five satellite information centres. The project explored the opportunities for knowledge sharing, communication and information exchange to accelerate community (health and agriculture) development programmes.
