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2. Adoption of crop insurance and impact: insights from India
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Aditya, K.S. (author), Khan, Md. Tajuddin (author), and Kishore, Avinash (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2018
- Published:
- India
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 7 Document Number: D10284
- Journal Title:
- Agricultural Economics Research Review
- Journal Title Details:
- 31(2) : 163-174
- Notes:
- Via journal online., Agriculture is inherently a risky enterprise because of its dependence on rainfall. To mitigate risks, farmers diversify crops and enterprises, maintain stabilization account or resort to the sale of assets. Crop insurance is a complementary institutional mechanism that aids farmers to cope with risks better.Considering the importance of crop insurance in risk mitigation, this paper using data from a large-scale farmers’ survey we identify the factors that influence farmers’ decision to buy crop insurance and subsequently assess its impact on farm income, production expenses and productive investments in agriculture. Farmers’ adoption of crop insurance is low— 4.80% kharif season and 3.17% in the rabi season mainly on account of lack of awareness about insurance products. Nevertheless, the probability of adoption of insurance is higher for those who experience higher crop loss and have some formal training in agriculture. The subsidy on premium also positively influences crop insurance uptake decisions. On the other hand, the factors like the lower social status, tenant farming and exposure to deficit-rainfall in the previous year are negatively associated with the decision to insure. The results on the impact of insurance are not conclusive to prove that insured farmer subsumes higher risks compared to the uninsured.
3. Can the TV makeover format of edutainment lead to widespread changes in farmer behaviour and influence innovation systems? Shamba Shape Up in Kenya
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2018
- Published:
- Elsevier
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 16 Document Number: D10461
- Journal Title:
- Land Use Policy
- Journal Title Details:
- 76: 338-351
- Notes:
- 14 pages., Edutainment, the combination of education with entertainment through various media such as television, radio, mobile phone applications and games, is increasingly being used as an approach to stimulate innovation and increase agricultural productivity amongst smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Shamba Shape Up, a widely publicised makeover reality TV programme, is an example of edutainment that has received considerable attention, and airs in three countries in East Africa where it is estimated to be watched by millions of viewers. There is no published academic research on the influence of makeover television formats on innovation systems and processes in smallholder agriculture. Using an Agricultural Innovation Systems approach, this paper explores how makeover edutainment is influencing smallholder farmer innovation systems together with the effect this is having on smallholder farms. In the absence of previous research, it articulates a Theory of Change which draws on research traditions from mass communication, agricultural extension and innovation systems. Data came from two large scale quantitative (n = 9885 and n = 1572) surveys and in-depth participatory qualitative research comprising focus group discussions, participatory budgets, agricultural timelines, case studies and key information interviews in Kenya. An estimated 430,000 farmers in the study area were benefiting from their interaction with the programme through increased income and / or a range of related social benefits including food security, improving household health, diversification of livelihood choices, paying school fees for children and increasing their community standing / social capital. Participatory research showed SSU enhanced an already rich communication environment and strengthened existing processes of innovation. It helped set the agenda for discussions within farming communities about opportunities for improving smallholder farms, while also giving specific ideas, information and knowledge, all in the context of featured farm families carefully selected so that a wide range of viewers would identify with them and their challenges. Broadcasts motivated and inspired farmers to improve their own farms through a range of influences including entertainment, strong empathy with the featured host farm families, the way ideas emerged through interaction with credible experts, and importantly through stimulating widespread discussion and interaction amongst and between farmers and communities of experts on agricultural problems, solutions and opportunities. The fact that local extension workers also watched the programmes further enhanced the influence on local innovation systems. The findings indicate that well designed makeover edutainment can strongly influence agricultural innovation processes and systems resulting in impact on the agricultural production and behaviours of large numbers of smallholder farmers.
4. Cleaner and greener livestock production: appraising producers' perceptions regarding renewable energy in Iran
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Bozorgparvar, Elham (author), Yazdanpanah, Masoud (author), Forouzani, Masoumeh (author), Khosravipour, Bahman (author), and Khuzestan Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, Mollasani, Ahvaz, Iran
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2018-08-27
- Published:
- Elsevier
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 93 Document Number: D10859
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Cleaner Production
- Journal Title Details:
- 203 : 769-776
- Notes:
- 8 pages., Via Science Direct., This paper aims to use a comprehensive modeling framework to investigate the intention of Iranian livestock producers to deploy renewable energies on their farms to mitigate climate change. A survey was conducted in southern Iran using a random sample of farmers (n = 140). Structural equation modeling showed that attitude, moral norm, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control are significant predictors of farmers' intention to use renewable energies. Attitude was determined by positive affect and perceived benefits, and moral norm was determined by perceived benefits, perceived cost, and outcome efficacy. The findings not only have public policy implications for promoting the use of renewable energies by farmers in Iran, but also contribute to the literature on environmental psychology, renewable energy, and pro-environmental behavior in a non-Western country.
5. Comparison of extension personnel and supervisor perceptions of communications activities
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Bowman, Brittany (author), Settle, Quisto (author), North, Elizabeth Gregory (author), Lewis, Kerri Collins (author), and Oklahoma State University Mississippi State University
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2018
- Published:
- United States: New Prairie Press
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 152 Document Number: D10159
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Applied Communications
- Journal Title Details:
- 102(4)
- Notes:
- 18 pages, via online journal, Extension is often called the “best-kept secret” having low awareness with the public but high satisfaction with clientele. Extension services nationwide have faced budget cuts, creating a need for the organization to re-evaluate its activities, including how it communicates with its stakeholders. While Extension personnel are the ones who will do most of the communicating, their supervisors impact the personnel’s actions, which means it is important to assess both groups. A survey was conducted with Extension personnel and their supervisors in Mississippi assessing engagement in communications activities and perceptions of those activities, as well as personnel’s preference of professional development activities. Personnel reported higher use, comfort, and importance of more traditional (e.g. making a speech) and written activities (e.g. writing a promotional handout) than media-relations activities (e.g. being interviewed for TV), social media-related activities (e.g. managing a Twitter account), and visual communication activities (e.g. graphic design). Supervisors perceived individual communications activities as less important overall than personnel did, and although supervisor and communication scores for use and comfort/capability were similar for most communication activities, there were noticeable exceptions. Additionally, personnel preferred professional development activities that were hands-on or showing the activities first-hand (e.g. demonstrations and field days). Future research should be expanded to other states, conducted in a case study format to study specific relationships, and involve qualitative components. Extension should ensure clear supervisor-communication dialogue on prioritizing communication activities, provide training on communication activities with low use and comfort, and utilize early innovators who are comfortable using newer communication activities.
6. Constraints to the utilisation of conservation agriculture in Africa as perceived by agricultural extension service providers
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Brown, Brendan (author), Nuberg, Ian (author), Llewellyn, Rick (author), and School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide CSIRO Agriculture
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2018
- Published:
- Elsevier
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 16 Document Number: D10460
- Journal Title:
- Land Use Policy
- Journal Title Details:
- 73: 331-340
- Notes:
- 10 pages., Via online journal., Conservation Agriculture (CA) is a knowledge-intensive set of practices which requires substantial access to functional agricultural extension services to enable utilisation. Despite this importance, the perspectives of those providing extension services to smallholder farmers have not been fully investigated. To address this, we qualitatively explore the perspectives of agricultural extension providers across six African countries to understand why uptake of CA has been limited, as well as the institutional changes that may be required to facilitate greater utilisation. Across the diversity of geographical, political and institutional contexts between countries, we find multiple commonalities in the constrained utilisation of CA by smallholder farmers, highlighting the difficulties non-mechanised subsistence farmers face in transitioning to market-oriented farming systems such as CA. The primary constraint relates to the economic viability of market-oriented farming where farmers remain in low input and low output systems with limited exit points. The assumed exit point used by CA programs appears to have led to a culture of financial expectancy and reflects a continuation of top-down extension approaches with inadequate modification of CA to the contextual realities of subsistence farmers. If African agricultural systems are to be sustainably intensified, we find a need for greater flexibility within extension systems in the pursuit of sustainable intensification. If extension systems are to persist with CA, it will need to be promoted through more transitional pathways that disaggregate the CA package, and with that there is a need for the provision of a mandate to, and necessary funding for, more participatory extension services.
7. Enabling learning in demonstration farms: a literature review
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Ingram, Julie (author), Chiswell, Hannah (author), Mills, Jane (author), Debruyne, Lies (author), Cooreman, Hanne (author), Koutsourts, Alexandros (author), Pappa, Eleni (author), and Marchand, Fleur (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2018
- Published:
- International
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 132 Document Number: D11341
- Journal Title:
- International Journal of Agricultural Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- 2018 : 29-42
- Notes:
- 13th European Farming Systems Association (IFSA) Symposium, Greece., Provides a narrative review which identifies key functional characteristics that enable learning in demonstration farms.
8. Engagement with extension services by small-acreage sugarcane farmers in selected districts of Pakistan
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Khan, Faheem (author), Wegener, Malcolm (author), and Khan, Muhammad Zafarullah (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2018
- Published:
- Pakistan: Australasia-Pacific Extension Network (APEN)
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 124 Document Number: D11211
- Journal Title:
- Rural Extension and Innovation Systems Journal
- Journal Title Details:
- 14(2) : 34-42
- Notes:
- Personal interviews with 336 small-acreage sugarcane growers indicated that less than half had any knowledge of the public extension services available. Growers who were aware of extension services and sought information from extension achieved substantially higher average yields than growers who did not. Authors recommended that the Pakistan government review current extension services and consider strengthening them.
9. Examining internet access and social media application use for online nutrition education in SNAP-Ed participants in rural Illinois
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Loehmer, Emily (author), Smith, Sylvia (author), McCaffrey, Jennifer (author), and Davis, Jeremy (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2018
- Published:
- USA
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 151 Document Number: D11598
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior
- Journal Title Details:
- 50(1) : 75-83
- Notes:
- 9 pages., Online via UI e-subscription, Researchers examined Internet access and interest in receiving nutrition education via social media application among low-income adults participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed).Results indicated similar Internet accessibility in southern Illinois among low-income populations compared with national rural rates. Interest in using online nutrition education varied among participants according to age. Overall, 49% of middle-aged adults aged 33-64 years and 87% of seniors aged 65 years or older reported they would not use online nutrition education.
10. Exploring Information Seeking Behavior of Farmers’ in Information Related to Climate Change Adaptation Through ICT (CHAI)
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Tumbo, Siza (author), Mwalukasa, Nicholaus (author), Fue, Kadeghe G. (author), and Mlozi, Malongo R. S. (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2018-07-01
- Published:
- International: Athabasca University Press
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D12413
- Journal Title:
- International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning
- Journal Title Details:
- Issue 19, Vol. 3
- Notes:
- 22 pages., In Tanzania, agriculture sector is known for employing more than 70% of the total population. Agriculture sector faces many challenges including climate change. Climate change causes low productivity in agriculture; low productivity is caused due to poor implementation of agricultural policies and strategies. This poor implementation of policies has also caused many farmers to be not competent in climate change adaptation. Over the years, provisions of agricultural advice and extension were provided by various approaches, including training and visit extension, participatory approaches, and farmers’ field schools. However, provision of agricultural advisory and extension service is inefficient. Also, in most cases the usage of most agricultural innovations and technologies developed is limited. A literature review indicates that the main reasons given by Tanzanian farmers for not using improved technology are not lack of knowledge or skill, but rather that the technologies do not contribute towards improvements (e.g., the technologies are not profitable or they imply to high risk). Thus, agricultural extension service needs to be geared towards teaching farmers how to develop innovative and cost effective technologies that are contextualized. Limited numbers of agricultural extension staff and less interactivity of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), such as radio and television, have been mentioned to be among the factors limiting the provision of agricultural advisory and extension services to the majority of farmers in Tanzania. The advancements in ICTs have brought new opportunities for enhancing access to agricultural advisory and extension service for climate change adaptation. In Tanzania, farmers and other actors access agricultural information from various sources such as agricultural extension workers and use of various databases from Internet Services Providers. Also there are different web – and mobile – based farmers’ advisory information systems to support conventional agricultural extension service. These systems are producing bulk amounts of data which makes it difficult for different stakeholders to make an informed decision after data analysis. This calls for the need to develop a tool for data visualization in order to understand hidden patterns from massive data. In this study, a semi-automated text classification was developed to determine the frequently asked keywords from a web and mobile based farmers’ advisory system called UshauriKilimo after being in use for more than 2 years by more than 700 farmers.
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