15 pages, via online journal, Purpose: This article assesses a non-traditional training methodology for extension agents, focused on the exchange of experiences among peers and the reflection on practice, with the aim of exploring its potential as a training strategy.
Design/Methodology/approach: A quali-quantitative investigation was conducted, which included interviews with extension agents, the use of different questionnaires, and recordings of the evaluation sessions carried out during each workshop.
Findings: This research allowed us to understand the importance of effective group coordination, a participatory climate, working in small groups, and the feedback loop between theory and practice for processes of experience sharing and reflection on practice. Some of the positive effects of the training observed were that extension agents acquired new knowledge and methodologies, reflected critically upon their practice, and put into question their own extension approach.
Practical Implications: Given its potentialities, implementing training processes focused on experience sharing and reflection on practice for rural extension workers, seems advisable.
Theoretical Implications: This article contributes to the understanding of how experience sharing and reflection on practice can generate transformations in rural extension agents’ approaches and positioning.
Originality/Value: This study systematically assesses the impacts that training has on extension workers, as well as the underlying processes that made it possible to generate them.
20 pages., Article 97, Via online journal., Multiple factors constrain smallholder agriculture and farmers’ adaptive capacities under changing climates, including access to information to support context appropriate farm decision-making. Current approaches to geographic information dissemination to smallholders, such as the rural extension model, are limited, yet advancements in internet and communication technologies (ICTs) could help augment these processes through the provision of agricultural geographic information (AGI) directly to farmers. We analysed recent ICT initiatives for communicating climate and agriculture-related information to smallholders for improved livelihoods and climate change adaptation. Through the critical analysis of initiatives, we identified opportunities for the success of future AGI developments. We systematically examined 27 AGI initiatives reported in academic and grey literature (e.g., organisational databases). Important factors identified for the success of initiatives include affordability, language(s), community partnerships, user collaboration, high quality and locally-relevant information through low-tech platforms, organisational trust, clear business models, and adaptability. We propose initiatives should be better-targeted to deliver AGI to regions in most need of climate adaptation assistance, including SE Asia, the Pacific, and the Caribbean. Further assessment of the most effective technological approaches is needed. Initiatives should be independently assessed for evaluation of their uptake and success, and local communities should be better-incorporated into the development of AGI initiatives
19 pages., Article 3945, Via online journal., Information communication technology (ICT) has changed the traditional agricultural extension service mode worldwide. This paper examines the effects of the Rural Distance Education Project (RDEP) on the household income, agricultural productivity, and off-farm employment of farmers in peri-urban areas in Beijing. Using the survey data of 783 randomly selected farm households from 54 villages in three Beijing peri-urban districts in 2014, and the propensity score matching method (PSM), we find that the RDEP has a significant and positive effect on agricultural productivity and input use. Meanwhile, the program’s effects are heterogeneous across districts and households. For example, the RDEP has significant impacts on several outcome indicators, such as agricultural labor productivity (at a 5% level of significance), agricultural land productivity (at a 10% level), and input use intensity (at a 1% level) in Tongzhou (an agriculturally more important district, with a more intensive RDEP usage), but none of these effects is significant in Pinggu district. Furthermore, the RDEP is found to have bigger, and statistically more significant effects, for households with junior high school education than for those with either lower or higher than junior high school education. Furthermore, the RDEP is more effective for households with more assets than those with fewer assets. These results point toward the importance of using a rural distance education program as an effective extension service, and the need to take community and individual characteristics into account in the implementation and design of future programs.