Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 196 Document Number: D08012
Notes:
John L. Woods Collection, Overhead visuals describing StratComm resources of Chemonics International, Inc., for development assistance projects. 15 overhead visuals.
21 Pages, Purpose: The article examines the implementation and effects of the model farmer-based approach of farmer-to-farmer extension delivery that is in use in Ethiopia.
Methodology: The study used mixed methods, combining focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and a household survey.
Findings: The model farmer approach has increased extension coverage, improved the possibility for information and technology dissemination, and enabled the inclusion of virtually all farming households in extension and advisory networks. Simultaneously, the approach has become a mechanism for the top-down control of farmers, for the identification and favouritism of better-off farmers, and those with political commitments.
Practical implications: The findings show that there is a need to critically reflect on who model farmers are, how they are selected, what their historical and current roles and impact have been, as well as follower farmers’ feedback on the approach in order to avoid perpetuating the misuse of the approach.
Theoretical implications: The article argues that the Ethiopian context that rewards rapid increase in production and productivity, modernisation of agriculture, competitive commercialisation, and a context that allows the continued entanglement of extension delivery with politics have enabled such misuse of the approach to proliferate. The article questions the extent of applicability of the core farmer-to-farmer extension principles that relate to social ties, reciprocity, collaboration, and minimal social hierarchies in such a context.
Originality/value: The study generates important insights about the effects of model farmer-based extension approach, its political dimensions, and the importance of context for successful farmer-to-farmer extension.
14 pages., via online journal., The preservation, management, and sharing of indigenous knowledge is crucial for social
and economic development in rural Africa. The high rate of illiteracy (print-based) in
rural Africa and the exclusion of indigenous knowledge from Western education add to
the information gap experienced in rural Africa. Other challenges facing oral cultures are
the disappearance of traditional knowledge and skills due to memory loss or death of
elders and the deliberate or inadvertent destruction of indigenous knowledge. The
rapidly increasing use of social media and mobile technologies creates opportunities to
form local and international partnerships that can facilitate the process of creating,
managing, preserving, and sharing of knowledge and skills that are unique to
communities in Africa. This article proposes the use of social media and mobile
technologies (cell phones) in the creation, preservation, and dissemination of indigenous
knowledge and discusses the role of libraries in the integration of social media
technologies with older media that employ audio and audiovisual equipment to reach a
wider audience.
