Nigeria, the seventh most populous country in the world, is plagued by livelihood challenges such as poverty and food insecurity, which are more pervasive among farming households and rural communities. Organic farming is being promoted by some domestic non-governmental organizations as a means of addressing the problem of poverty and food insecurity among farming households and rural communities in the country. Promoters consider organic farming to be well-suited to smallholder farmers’ socio-economic conditions in Nigeria, and that it can help improve their livelihood conditions through increased agricultural productivity and farm income. However, the adoption of the technology by smallholder farmers has been underwhelming, for reasons yet to be studied. Using a livelihood framework and through a case study of farmers in Ibadan, Oyo State, this study qualitatively explores and provides insights into the factors that influence, constrain, and gender the adoption of organic farming in Nigeria. Overall, it was found that a mix of factors, which include institutional considerations, farmers’ livelihood assets and vulnerability contexts, their livelihood activities, and gender-related variables shaped adoption decision-making. The policy implications of the findings were outlined.
Bin, Li (author), Shahzad, Muhammad (author), Khan, Hira (author), Bashir, Muhammad Mehran (author), Ullah, Arif (author), and Siddique, Muhammad (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2023-09-18
Published:
Switzerland: MDPI
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12959
20 pages, Sustainable agriculture is a pivotal driver of a nation’s economic growth, especially considering the challenge of providing food for the world’s expanding population. Agriculture remains a cornerstone of many nations’ economies, so the need for intelligent, sustainable farming practices has never been greater. Agricultural industries worldwide require sophisticated systems that empower farmers to manage their crops efficiently, reduce water wastage, and optimize yield quality. Yearly, substantial crop losses occur due to unpredictable environmental changes, with improper irrigation practices being a leading cause. In this paper, we introduce an innovative irrigation time control system for smart farming. This system leverages fuzzy logic to regulate the timing of irrigation in cotton crop fields, effectively curbing water wastage while ensuring that crops receive neither too little nor too much water. Additionally, our system addresses a common agricultural challenge: whitefly infestations. Users can adjust climatic parameters, such as temperature and humidity, through our system, which minimizes both whitefly populations and water consumption. We have developed a portable measurement technology that includes air humidity sensors, temperature sensors, and rain sensors. These sensors interface with an Arduino platform, allowing real-time climate data collection. This collected climate data is then sent to the fuzzy logic control system, which dynamically adjusts irrigation timing in response to changing environmental conditions. Our system incorporates an algorithm that generates highly effective (IF-THEN) fuzzy logic rules, significantly improving irrigation efficiency by reducing overall irrigation duration. By automating the irrigation process and precisely delivering the right amount of water, our system eliminates the need for human intervention, rendering the agricultural system more dependable in achieving successful crop yields. Water supply commences when the environmental conditions reach specific thresholds and halts when the requisite climate conditions are met, maintaining an optimal environment for crop growth.
17 pages, The creation of commercialization opportunities for smallholder farmers has taken primacy on the development agenda of many developing countries. Invariably, most of the smallholders are less productive than commercial farmers and continue to lag in commercialization. Apart from the various multifaceted challenges which smallholder farmers face, limited access to extension services stands as the underlying constraint to their sustainability. Across Africa and Asia, public extension is envisioned as a fundamental part of the process of transforming smallholder farmers because it is their major source of agricultural information. Extension continues to be deployed using different approaches which are evolving. For many decades, various authors have reported the importance of the approaches that effectively revitalize extension systems and have attempted to fit them into various typologies. However, there is a widespread concern over the inefficiency of these extension approaches in driving the sustainability of smallholder farming agenda. Further, most of the approaches that attempted to revolutionize extension have been developed and brought into the field in rapid succession, but with little or no impact at the farmer level. This paper explores the theory and application of agricultural extension approaches and argues the potential of transforming them using digital technologies. The adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as mobile phones and the internet which are envisaged to revolutionize existing extension systems and contribute towards the sustainability of smallholder farming systems is recommended
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