16 pages., Via online journal., Indigenous Mexican immigrants (Mixtecs) from rural Oaxaca, Mexico, experience a high
level of isolation and seasonal farm work, but the increasing speed of communication
technology stands to overcome these difficulties. For farm workers, the initial experience
of landlines and public pay phones was filled with anxiety and missed connections.
Despite the benefits of mobile phones, their adoption was delayed among Mixtec in
Oxnard, California, because of a combination of legal status, high cost, and seasonal
work. This article finds that a surge in mobile phone adoption and use took place during
a time where production of labor-intensive crops like strawberries increased throughout
California, farm worker settlement patterns matured, and mobile phone plans changed
becoming more affordable and easier to understand. The widespread adoption of mobile
phones brought more predictability to the informal agricultural job market for farm
workers, but this did not necessarily mean higher wages in the strawberry fields.
17 pages., via online journal article, The Sustainable Forestry and African American Land Retention
Program (SFLR) was launched in 2012 to increase adoption of sustainable forestry practices among African American landowners in
the southeastern United States to prevent land loss, increase forest
health, and build economic assets. One of its main goals was to
build communication networks through which African American
landowners could obtain and share information about forestry practices and landowner assistance programs independent of public agencies. To measure and examine the growth of these communication
networks over a three-year period (2014-2017), we conducted 87
interviews with landowners (24 of whom were interviewed multiple
times), SFLR personnel, and Federal and State staff members in
North Carolina. We used complementary methods of data gathering
and analysis, including social network analysis and qualitative analysis. Our results showed expanding communication networks will be
sustained independently of the program over time, although there is
still a heavy reliance on program personnel.
13 pages., Via online journal., Access to food is a basic pillar of human development. It is therefore unsurprising that it features so centrally on global development agendas and that a robust, interdisciplinary literature seeks to examine its determinants. This study focuses on the relationship between mobile technology and food access. Specifically, we ask whether mobile technology can strengthen the relationship between food access and certain social and political factors such as remittance flows and political participation. We use Afrobarometer surveys and highly disaggregated data on 2G network coverage to estimate a multilevel model testing how increased connectivity measured by mobile technology influences food access. We show that mobile phone use and higher frequency of use are significantly and positively correlated with food access, but we do not find evidence that remittances and political participation levels can explain the mechanisms linking mobile technology and food access. The study highlights that connectivity can play a powerful role in shaping food outcomes even when controlling for commonly identified impediments such as income constraints or physical isolation. These findings suggest that policies aimed at improving food access should devote attention to strengthening both communication and physical infrastructure.
