Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (author)
Format:
Report
Publication Date:
2017
Published:
Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 8 Document Number: D10296
Notes:
57 pages., Report from FAO, Via website., This report responds to the request by the G20 Agricultural Ministers to FAO, IFPRI and OECD in
June 2016 to build on their preliminary assessment of existing ICT applications and platforms and
make specific proposals for consideration and action by G20 Agriculture Deputies ahead of the next
G20 Agricultural Ministers meeting on the best possible mechanism to improve agricultural ICT
exchange and cooperation. The report is organized as follows: (i) The section Summary, Evaluation and Recommendations is targeted to policy makers and draws from the detailed review undertaken in Sections 1 to 4 of the report. It provides a succinct but comprehensive account of ICTs in agriculture, including evaluating their impact. It identifies gaps, and puts forward a number of recommendations for the G20 in line with the G20 comparative advantage for collective action. Policies and measures to promote ICTs are crucial for the G20 economies and for agriculture in particular. G20 Ministers of Agriculture can take action to integrate ICTs in agricultural policies and initiatives. The report makes a number of recommendations for concrete actions in the area of ICTs that promote sustainable food systems and contribute to the realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.(ii) Sections 1 to 4 contain a detailed, albeit not exhaustive review of ICTs in agriculture. There is plethora of ICT applications on agriculture, ranging from using radio to satellite remote sensing, and in Section 2 every effort has been made to provide a comprehensive picture through the discussion of selected applications. Section 3 reviews the platforms and initiatives that promote the use of ICTs, and Section 4 examines governance issues specifically related to principles, rights and privacy. A number of Annexes provide more detail to the reader on a number of areas related to
governance.
Leagans, J.P. (author), Sharma, D.K. (author), and Department of Extension Education, J.N. Agricultural University, Jabalpur, India; Cornell University
Format:
Report
Publication Date:
unknown
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 26 Document Number: B02605
Notes:
Ithaca, NY: Department of Education, New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell University, 196- . 27 p. (Cornell International Agricultural Development Mimeograph 25)
Munthali, Nyamwaya (author), Leeuwis, Cees (author), Van Paassen, Annemarie (author), Lie, Rico (author), Asare, Richard (author), Van Lammeren, Ron (author), and Schut, Marc (author)
Format:
Online journal article
Publication Date:
2018-11
Published:
Science Direct
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 12 Document Number: D10421
13 pages., Via online journal., Agricultural extension in sub-Saharan Africa has often been criticised for its focus on linear knowledge transfer, and limited attention to systemic approaches to service delivery. Currently, the region is experiencing a new-ICT revolution and there are high expectations of new-ICTs to enhance interaction and information exchange in extension service delivery. Using an innovation systems perspective, we distinguish the roles demand-articulation, matching demand and supply, and innovation process management for innovation-intermediaries. The study explores literature on how new-ICT may support these roles, with specific interest in the possibilities of environmental monitoring and new forms of organisation enabled by enhanced connectivity. In order to contribute to the understanding of this area, the paper reports on a comparative study of two new-ICT platforms embedded in Ghanaian public and private extension organisations respectively. We assess the roles that these platforms (aim to) support, and document achievements and constraints based on interviews with extension staff and farmers. The findings indicate that while both platforms aim to support innovation-intermediation roles the focus areas and level of detail differ due to diverging organisational rationales to service delivery. In addition, we see that new-ICTs' potential to support innovation-intermediation roles is far from realised. This is not due to (new) ICTs lacking the capacity to link people in new ways and make information accessible, but due to the wider social, organisational and institutional factors that define the realisation of their potential. Therefore, more conventional modes of interaction around production advice and also credit provision continue to be dominant and better adapted to the situation. However, beyond the two platforms that were developed specifically by and for the extension organisations, there were indications that more informal and self-organised new-ICT initiatives can transform and enhance interaction patterns in innovations systems to achieve collective goals through standard virtual platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram.
25 pages., Online via UI e-subscription, Researchers evaluated the role of media through qualitative feedback from smallholder farmers identified by Community Markets for Conservation through radio programming efforts involving sustainable agriculture. Results demonstrated the centrality of the radio programming alongside other forms of communication such as extension and farmer-to-farmer communication, as well as written and visual communication.
12 pages., via online journal., This study explores the status of mobile usage among the agriculture community in the North‐Central province of Sri Lanka in relation to interactions with major agriculture stakeholders. The objectives of the study were to study the factors affecting the mobile use by farmers, farmers' willingness to receive agricultural information through mobile communication technology, and awareness on mobile based agriculture information systems. Primary data were collected at two stages using two structured interview schedules (N=390, n=65). According to the findings the access to mobile phone was considerable higher among the study group while age and education had an effect on using a mobile phone. Only a few farmers have yet started using them efficiently for agriculture and other commercial purposes. A considerable number of farmers used the mobile phones to contact input suppliers, buyers, agriculture extension officers and other farmers in the area, mostly those who represent community based organizations.
1 page., September-November issue via online., Digitalisation is improving the agricultural extension system by providing services at the right time, and facilitating adoption of new agronomic practices, resulting in yield improvements and higher incomes for farming households.
16 pages, Agricultural extension is one of the essential services that are offered by the South African Department of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development (DALRRD), to facilitate agricultural development in rural communities. The significance of agricultural extension is that it offers new knowledge to farmers and allows space for growth through various interventions such as agrarian transformation and improving livelihoods through the promotion of agriculture as a vehicle for ‘pro-poor’ economic growth. However, there is a concern that extension services are invisible in resource-restricted and previously marginalised rural communities. The study presented in this paper examined farmer’s experiences with extension practitioners and the impact of a lack of extension services on the development of impoverished rural communities. The researchers adopted a qualitative design wherein six focus group discussions were held to gather data from the farmers. Data were analyzed using ATLAS.ti22, a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS). Four themes of extension services that have a direct linkage to livelihood development, namely, the impact on rural livelihoods, production challenges, marketability, and economic impact, and the invisibility of extension services, were the central point of discussion.
