17 pages, The positive spillover impacts of the efficiency of information and communication technology (ICT) and land accessibility as factor inputs to agricultural productivity are well documented in the literature. Furthermore, input-output efficiency as a measurement of factors contributing towards gross production is no exception in this regard. Few studies on agricultural production and ICT at the household level in South Africa show divergent empirical results. This study investigates the effect of information and communication technology (ICT) and land for farming in the context of household food production in South Africa. Household engagement in agricultural activities is proxy for agricultural production, farm land size is a proxy for land accessibility, telephone and internet use are proxies for ICT in this study. Household data of twenty-one thousand, six hundred and one (21,601) households on agricultural activities and ICTs were generated from the existing survey data of General household survey, 2015 by Statistics South Africa. Majority of the households are not engaging in agricultural activities due to no access to land for farming, but more than 80 percent of the households have access to at least one form of ICTs penetration i.e. mobile telephony. The logit regression shows that internet connection in the household have positive and significant impact on household agricultural production but land accessibility is indirectly related and significant to household food production in South Africa. Therefore land accessibility may be a barrier to agricultural activity involvement in South Africa. The study shows that the positive spillover impacts of ICT may not be possible due to lack of access to land for agriculture. Land for farming, CDMA telephony and internet are highly required for agricultural activities in order to promote food production, reduce cost of telecommunications, promoting agricultural research and development via internet accessibility.
Beilen, Ruth (author / University of Melbourne, Australia) and Andreata, Stephanie (author / University of Melbourne, Australia)
Format:
Proceedings
Publication Date:
2001-04-04
Published:
Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 138 Document Number: C20914
Notes:
Burton Swanson Collection, pages 19-26, from "Emerging trends in agricultural and extension education", AIAEE 2001, Proceedings of the 17th Annual Conference, April 4-7, 2001, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA
10 pages, For some years, the Republic of Benin has promoted mechanization and modernization of its agricultural sector as a driver of food security, socio-economic development and sub-regional solidarity. New agricultural technologies such as tractors and pesticides have been introduced into the small scale farming systems and have reached record adoption rates in various agro-ecological zones of the country. However, rural actors’ use of these technologies also leads to new forms of territoriality which make some winners and others losers. This study was carried out in the cotton basin of northern Benin to scrutinize the forms of appropriation of agricultural technologies and the effects on access to productive resources and interactions between farmers and herders who are cultural neighbors. Participatory observation was carried out over ten months in the district of Gogounou where informants who were purposively selected were engaged in 164 individual interviews and 21 focus group discussions recorded by consent, transcribed and thematically analyzed. By analyzing the mechanisms of appropriation of herbicides in rural areas and the related political ecology of land use, the paper argues that herbicides reconfigure tenure systems by inducing new forms of land-tenure insecurity and land-use conflicts between socio-professional groups that depend on the same natural resources for their livelihoods. Community-based discussions can engage stakeholders in exchanges of sustainable production alternatives, just as institutional reforms are needed to better channel the uses of modern agricultural technologies.
Center for Governmental Studies, Auburn University, Alabama.
Format:
Research report
Publication Date:
2002-04
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 148 Document Number: C23859
Notes:
25 pages., Results of a survey to appraise the awareness, opinions and attitudes held by Alabama residents regarding agriculture, the environment and the quality of rural life in Alabama.
"This paper aims to link changes in the way the central Illinois landscape was imagined and perceived, with the subsequent environmental transformation that resulted in the near total elimination of tallgrass prairie and the wholesale alteration of regional hydrology through channelization and agricultural drainage."
