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42. Rethinking technological change in smallholder agriculture
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Glover, Dominic (author), Sumberg, James (author), Ton, Giel (author), Andersson, Jens (author), and Badstue, Lone (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-08-22
- Published:
- International: SAGE Journals
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12493
- Journal Title:
- Outlook on Agriculture
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol 48, Issue 3
- Notes:
- The concept of technology adoption (along with its companions, diffusion and scaling) is commonly used to design development interventions, to frame impact evaluations and to inform decision-making about new investments in development-oriented agricultural research. However, adoption simplifies and mischaracterises what happens during processes of technological change. In all but the very simplest cases, it is likely to be inadequate to capture the complex reconfiguration of social and technical components of a technological practice or system. We review the insights of a large and expanding literature, from various disciplines, which has deepened understanding of technological change as an intricate and complex sociotechnical reconfiguration, situated in time and space. We explain the problems arising from the inappropriate use of adoption as a framing concept and propose an alternative conceptual framework for understanding and evaluating technological change. The new approach breaks down technology change programmes into four aspects: propositions, encounters, dispositions and responses. We begin to sketch out how this new framework could be operationalised.
43. Roof water-farm: participatory and multifunctional infrastructures for urban neighborhoods
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Million, Angela (author), Bürgow, Grit (author), Steglich, Anja (author), and Raber, Wolf (author)
- Format:
- Proceedings
- Publication Date:
- 2017
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D08823
- Notes:
- Pages 801-831 in Rob Roggema (ed.), Agriculture in an urbanizing society volume two: proceedings of the sixth AESOP conference on sustainable food planning. United Kingdom: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Pages 601-1274.
44. SPARLAC implications for FUNDEAGRO
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Byrnes, Kerry J. (author)
- Format:
- Memo
- Publication Date:
- 1993-03-01
- Published:
- USA
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: KerryByrnes4 Document Number: D01490
- Notes:
- Kerry J. Byrnes Collection, Draft case studies of the Jamaica Agricultural Development Foundation and the Ecuadorean Foundation for Agricultural Development,9 pages.
45. Socioeconomic factors affecting farmer decision making on fertilizer use
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Byrnes, Kerry J. (author)
- Format:
- Conference paper
- Publication Date:
- 1982-11-06
- Published:
- USA
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: KerryByrnes1; Folder: IFDC File Document Number: D01434
- Notes:
- Conference paper with slides, Kerry J. Byrnes Collection, Prepared for the IFDC/APPI, fertilizer marketing training program for the asian region. Cikampek, Indonesia. 22 pages, including 36 visuals in appendices.
46. Socioeconomic factors affecting farmer decision making on fertilizer use
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Byrnes, Kerry J. (author)
- Format:
- Conference paper
- Publication Date:
- 1984-04-14
- Published:
- USA
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: KerryByrnes1; Folder: IFDC File Document Number: D01437
- Notes:
- Kerry J. Byrnes Collection, Prepared for the IFDC fertilizer marketing management training program for BADC. Dhaka, Bangladesh, 22 pages with appendices.
47. Supporting Womens Agro-Enterprises in Africa with ICT : A Feasibility Study in Zambia and Kenya
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- World Bank (author)
- Format:
- Report (abstract)
- Publication Date:
- 2015-02-01
- Published:
- United States: World Bank Group, Washington, D.C.
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12492
- Notes:
- 104 pages in full report, A new generation of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is finding a small foothold among poor, small-scale farmers in developing countries. Even so, many barriers still prevent poor rural people from accessing, using, and benefiting from new ICT tools and platforms, and those barriers are arguably higher for rural women. The relationship between gender and agriculture has been studied intensively over the years, and many agricultural interventions now include gender as a crosscutting issue or mainstream gender throughout their operations. Studies of the relationship between gender and the use of ICTs in agriculture have started to appear only quite recently, however. The Africa Region of the World Bank views ICTs as potentially transformative technology for rural development and seeks to incorporate the use of ICTs throughout its portfolio of projects. The present study was designed to examine the feasibility of integrating ICTs into two large investment programs: the Irrigation Development and Support Project (IDSP) in Zambia and the Kenya Agricultural Productivity and Agribusiness Project (KAPAP). The specifi c goal was to examine how ICT-based interventions might be designed to strengthen women s participation in commodity value chains under the two projects.
48. Synthesis and challenge
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Miller, Mason E. (author)
- Format:
- Report
- Publication Date:
- unknown
- Published:
- USA
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 198 Document Number: D09718
- Notes:
- NCR-90 Collection, Winrock International. Pages 187-203.
49. Tapping the full potential of the digital revolution for agricultural extension: an emerging innovation agenda
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Steinke, Jonathan (author), van Etten, Jacob (author), Muller, Anna (author), Ortiz-Crespo, Berta (author), van de Gevel, Jeske (author), Silvestri, Silvia (author), and Priebe, Jan (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-03-27
- Published:
- International: Taylor and Francis
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12480
- Journal Title:
- International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability
- Journal Title Details:
- 5-6
- Notes:
- 26 pages, Agricultural extension in the Global South can benefit greatly from the use of modern information and communication technologies (ICT). Yet, despite two decades of promising experiences, this potential is not fully realized. Here, we review the relevant research literature to inform future investments into agricultural information services that harness the full potential of digital media. We describe a recently emerging innovation agenda that is, in part, a response to the eventual failure of many new agro-advisory initiatives. One important cause of failure has been a focus on pushing certain technologies, rather than responding to the particular communication challenges of potential users. To avoid such bias in designing new services, the new innovation agenda rests on two major foundations: strong user-centredness and problem-orientation. In our review, we first describe how user-centred design methods help in specifying both problems and (digital) solutions in agricultural extension. To inform responses to the communication challenges defined by that analysis, we then describe eight emerging aspects of using ICT for development, and how they can address common deficiencies of agricultural extension. Practical examples from the literature highlight the possibilities and limitations of these innovation directions. Beyond digital design, however, technological innovation requires enabling institutions.
50. The Perceptions of Smallholder Farmers on the Use of Mobile Technology: A Naturalistic Inquiry in Zimbabwe
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Format:
- Book chapter
- Publication Date:
- 2022-03-12
- Published:
- International: Springer Link
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12572
- Journal Title:
- Future of Information Communication Conference
- Notes:
- 14 pages, This research is an inquiry into the (under)utilisation of mobile phones by smallholder farmers in their agricultural activities in Zimbabwe. Through a naturalistic enquiry, the research established that agricultural extension officers are vital in the adoption and use of mobile phones for agricultural purposes. Those extension officers who were not skilled in productively using mobile phone technology had technophobia, which was the primary reason they did not use the technology in their interactions with farmers. Yet, a sizeable number of farmers used their mobile phones to receive information from agricultural extension officers, officials, other farmers, and market vendors. Interviewed farmers perceived the mobile phone as a tool for education in agricultural matters. However, very few used their phones effectively for agricultural purposes. The research identified two main inhibitors to the acceptance and use of mobile phones by farmers: a lack of the necessary digital skills, and lacking information to use mobile phones. Other inhibiting factors included semi-literacy, old age, insufficient infrastructure, socioeconomic status, excessive cost, and lack of support from telecommunications companies and other service providers. This research contributes a novel perspective to the body of knowledge regarding mobile technology adoption for agricultural activity in marginalised communities.