12 pages., Via online journal., Rural Resources Centers (RRCs) managed by community-based organisations, where farmers come together for training and demonstration, have been an innovative extension approach in Cameroon since 2006. This paper describes information flow in RRCs and farmers’ assessment of RRCs as information sources. All the RRCs in Cameroon were studied and 29 group interviews, involving 118 producers and 7 individual interviews with RRC managers, were performed. RRCs share information with several stakeholders including farmers, research institutions, and educational and religious institutions; and interpersonal channels are commonly used. Farmers and agricultural extension workers are the most important sources of information for RRCs. Farmers rank RRCs as their second best sources of information after fellow farmers. On average, each year, RRCs organise at least 40 training sessions for about 1777 participants. The themes are mainly agroforestry (29%), marketing (20%), group dynamics (20%) and post-harvest techniques (11%). The issue of funding the activities of the RRCs needs to be addressed, they need to be better structured, and their human resources increased and strengthened.
Enghel, Florencia (author) and International Association for Media and Communication Research, London, UK.
Format:
Abstract
Publication Date:
2010-07-18
Published:
International
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 179 Document Number: C36284
Notes:
Retrieved 03/22/2011, Via online. Pages 13-14 in Book of Abstracts: Participatory Communication Research Section of the IAMCR Conference, Braga, Portugal, July 18-22, 2010.
