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2. Animating online communities - a facilitator's experience
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Opigo, Johnson (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2016-02
- Published:
- International: Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, ACP-EU, Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 166 Document Number: D08519
- Journal Title:
- ICT Update
- Journal Title Details:
- 81 : 4-6
3. Economic upliftment and social development through the development of digital astuteness in rural areas
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Lombard, Antoinette (author), Wiese, Hein Johan (author), and Smit, Jan (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2016
- Published:
- South Africa
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 169 Document Number: D08754
- Journal Title:
- Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology
- Journal Title Details:
- 13: 111-120
4. Reaching out? Governing weather and climate services (WCS) for farmers
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Vedeld, Trond (author), Hofstad, Hege (author), Mathur, Mihir (author), Büker, Patrick (author), and Stordal, Frode (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-02
- Published:
- Elsevier
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 138 Document Number: D11503
- Journal Title:
- Environmental Science and Policy
- Journal Title Details:
- 104: 208-216
- Notes:
- 9 pages., via online journal., High-quality weather and climate services (WCS) can be critical for communicating knowledge about current and future weather and climate risks for adaptation and disaster risk management in the agricultural sector. This paper investigates the structure and performance of weather and climate services for farmers from a governance perspective. Empirically the paper compares the institutional design and operations of agro-meteorological services in Maharashtra/India and Norway through a ‘most different case study’ approach. The two cases were selected to represent great diversity in location, scale and institutional design. A governance approach based on semi-direct interviews and policy and institutional analysis was combined with local survey data of farmers’ perceptions and use of the services. Despite the fact that the context for the two agromet advisory services was very different from a climate-weather, eco-agriculture and socio-institutional angle, the analysis reveals great similarities in the services structures and critical governance challenges. In both countries the agromet services communicated knowledge that was largely perceived not to be well tailored to farmers’ needs for decisions in specific crops- and farm operations, spatially too coarse to address local issues, and, often unreliable or inaccurate in terms of the quality of data. Farmers did, however, respond positively to specific and locally relevant information on e.g., warnings about high rainfall and spread of pests. Observing such similarities across very diverse contexts enhances the generalization potential, precisely because they evolved under very different circumstances. Similar observations find support in the wider WCS literature. Based on the empirical findings, we propose a more deliberate approach to institutional design of WCS in order to enhance governance performance and co-creation of the services at local, district and national scales. It is suggested that greater participation of farmers and agricultural extension agents in the co-creation of these services is a necessary means of improving the services, supported by the WCS literature. However, we insist that greater participation is only likely to materialize if the deficiencies in institutional design and knowledge quality and relevance are addressed to greater extent than done today. The comparison between the two services shows that Norway can learn from India that a more ambitious scope and multiple forms of communication, including the use of social media/WhatsApp groups, can facilitate greater awareness and interest among farmers in multi-purpose agromet services for multi-way communication. India can learn from Norway that a more integrated and decentralized institutional design can strengthen the network attributes of the services, foster co-creation, and improve participation of both poor and large-scale farmers and extension agents.
5. Reconfiguring the agricultural knowledge system in Switzerland
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Obrist, R. (author), Moschitz, JH. (author), and Home, R. (author)
- Format:
- Journal article abstract
- Language:
- German with English abstract
- Publication Date:
- 2015
- Published:
- Switzerland
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 132 Document Number: D11344
- Journal Title:
- Agrarforschung Schweiz
- Journal Title Details:
- 6(5) : 218-223
- Notes:
- Online from the University of Illinois Online Catalog, using article title search, via Scopus, Results of a workshop prompted a conclusion that "a change is under way in the understanding of the role of stakeholders in science, extension and education, with the latter progressing from mere conveyors of information to facilitators who generate new knowledge jointly with the various actors." ... "There is still a need to shape more clearly the choice of research topics, the efficient and effective performance of the practice-oriented research, the processing of research results, stakeholder discussions, and joint implementation."
6. Where to put the focus on rural development: changing the focus from funding to learning
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Katona Kovacs, Judit (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2014
- Published:
- International
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 102 Document Number: D10918
- Journal Title:
- Studies in Agricultural Economics
- Journal Title Details:
- 116 : 41-48
- Notes:
- Why is a change in the focus of rural development needed? Sinek (2009) pointed out that the first question addressed by successful entrepreneurs when establishing their companies is, why should the enterprise be created, what is the purpose of it? With the outcome of a conversation with an academic colleague in mind, that even scientific papers have a story to tell, the author has structured this paper in line with the 'golden circle' approach of Sinek (2009), namely asking why, then how and then what? At the beginning of her research career in rural development, the author examined the role of the European Union's (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in Hungary, with special regard to agri-environmental management. As this research was linked to policy regulations it was in rather a 'top down' direction, examining the effects of selected tools such as agri-environmental measures, direct payments and the LEADER approach. The experience gained during this period (2001-2006) redirected the interest of the author to human and social capital. Examination of sustainability, resilience and system thinking has become a basic element in her work. Acceptance by agriculture that corporate social responsibility is a pre-condition for the licence to produce is now an established societal demand. Production methods that have regard for the planet and people as well as profi t have become a 'must' for the food industry (Slingerland and Rab-binge, 2009). The author keeps in mind the three dimensions of sustainability (nature, society and economy), in which nature creates the frame, the limits of growth, and society is understood to be part of it. Each human being, as an indi-vidual part of society, has his/her responsibility and has to understand the system he/she lives in. This is very important because, as Senge (2011) points out, people do not believe that they infl uence the future, while Johnson (2013), in line with Meier (2005), states that our future is based on how we as individuals live and talk today. In Hungary, human and social resources, which play an important role in the rural economy, show a great defi cit (Katona Kovács, 2006a). Appreciating the importance of human and social capital and their deficit in the North Great Plain NUTS 2 region where she lives, the author is look-ing for ways to increase these resources. This is the first and most important answer to the why question. Since 2006 the author's research work has sought answers to how human and social capital could be increased in local economies, as key factors for future development, even in the improvement of agri-environment management. Although there are good examples of changes generated through policy instruments, such as the LEADER pro-gramme (ÖIR, 2004), instead of trying to form or to increase human and social capital via 'top down' policy mechanisms, while keeping the importance of these instruments in mind, the author is looking for 'bottom-up' tools and participatory actions. This preference is based on an increasing body of evidence. For example, Dam et al. (2009) explore the transi-tion of societal organisation from heavy reliance on the state towards self-organisation by citizens in communities. They note that private citizens are increasingly expected to take responsibility for the direction of their own lives. The suc-cess of the LEADER programme also comes from the space it gives for bottom-up approaches, for partnership and co-creation. Based on the model elaborated by Lukesch (2007), Katona Kovács et al. (2011) examined, from the three modes of operation offered by the model (animating actions, struc-turing actions and consolidating actions), the types of activities of the Local Action Groups (LAGs) in the North Great Plain region. Their results demonstrate the importance of animating actions amongst the LAGs in the region. In this region the level of governance is such that "the ability of people to articulate their common needs is the starting point for many innovations ... It is the only point where we can speak about development programmes in the strict sense" (Lukesch, 2007, p.16). Today animating actions are the most needed operations in the North Great Plain region, so as to encourage different actors to work together and experience the results of common thinking. Dialogue about the common needs is an important first step to help the development of local communities.