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2. Are farmers empowered? The role of empowerment in farmer decision making about weed and invertebrate management
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Major, Jason (author), Grant, Will (author), and Stocklmayer, Sue (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019
- Published:
- Australia
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 163 Document Number: D11649
- Journal Title:
- Rural Extension and Information Systems Journal
- Journal Title Details:
- 14(1) : 1-10
- Notes:
- 10 pages., Researchers investigated empowerment in the context of two strategies, Integrated Weed Management and Integrated Pest Management. Findings suggested: "With the rise of chemical resistance, the agricultural industry has placed considerable emphasis on the need to accelerate and achieve farmer adoption if IWM and IPM, but our evidence suggests that greater emphasis should be given to understanding the socio-cultural factors that affect farmer decision making. Farmer empowerment emerged as a core concept from the data."
3. COVID-19 and the Sustainability of Agricultural Extension Models
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Siankwilimba, E. (author), Hiddlestone-Mumford, J. (author), Hang’ombe Mudenda, B.M. (author), Mumba, C. (author), and Hoque, Md. E (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-01-05
- Published:
- United Kingdom: Visnav
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12485
- Journal Title:
- International Journal of Applied Chemical and Biological Sciences
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 3 (1)
- Notes:
- 20 pages., Agricultural extension and advisory services in information and technology dissemination and delivery are critical in a developing country’s food security and sustainability. Without extension service provision, the productivity and production smallholder farmers are experiencing would have been much lower, and current global hunger and malnutrition worse. This paper assesses the effects of COVID-19 on the sustainability of agricultural extension models/approaches for smallholder farmers in developing countries. Over 60 papers were reviewed covering 2019-2021, commencing with the disease outbreak in China. Based on characteristics and usage, the findings indicate most reviewed extension models were disrupted. No single model was entirely disbanded as the impact of COVID-19 was being felt. However, each model incorporated a digital means of communication to keep farmers and service providers in touch. There is considerable criticism around the inadequacy of these extension techniques in advancing the agenda for smallholder farming’s long-term viability that needs to be addressed
4. Context Specificity and Time Dependency in Classifying Sub-Saharan Africa Dairy Cattle Farmers for Targeted Extension Farm Advice: The Case of Uganda
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Ahikiriza, Elizabeth (author), Wesana, Joshua (author), Gellynk, Xavier (author), Van Huylenbroeck, Guido (author), and Lawyers, Ludwig (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-07-29
- Published:
- Switzerland: MDPI
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12516
- Journal Title:
- Agriculture
- Journal Title Details:
- 11 (9)
- Notes:
- 6 pages, Despite the huge potential for milk production, interventions to improve productivity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are barely based on specified farm classifications. This study aimed to develop robust and context-specific farm typologies to guide content of extension farm advice/services in Uganda. From a sample of 482 dairy farmers, we collected data on farmer socio-demographics, farm management practices, ownership of farm tools and facilities, willingness to pay for extension services, milk production, and marketing. Farm typologies were obtained based on principal component and cluster analyses. Thereby, of the three dairy production systems that emerged, small-scale, largely subsistence yet extensive and low productive farms were more prominent (82.6%). Farms that were classified as large-scale, less commercialized yet extensive with modest productive systems were more than the medium-scale commercial farms with intensive and highly productive systems. However, the later were considered to potentially transform dairy farming in Uganda. It was also predicted that the validity of our farm classification may persist until half of the farms have moved between clusters. The study gives new insights on dairy production systems in Uganda, which can be used to organize more targeted research on farmers’ extension needs for facilitating delivery of relevant and effective extension services and designing appropriate extension policies
5. Developing agricultural extension for women farmers
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Saito, K.A. (author) and Spurling, D. (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- unknown
- Published:
- USA
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C26921
- Journal Title:
- World Bank Discussion Papers
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 156, 105 p, 1992
6. Digital extension, price risk, and farm performance: experimental evidence from Nigeria
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Oyinbo, Oyakhilomen (author), Chamberlain, Jordan (author), Abdoulaye, Tahirou (author), and Maertens, Miet (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-06-21
- Published:
- United States: Wiley Online
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12539
- Journal Title:
- American Journal fo Agricultural Economics
- Journal Title Details:
- 104 (2)
- Notes:
- 21 pages, Despite decades of investment in agricultural extension, technology adoption among farmers and agricultural productivity growth in Sub-Saharan Africa remain slow. Among other shortcomings, extension systems often make recommendations that do not account for price risk or spatial heterogeneity in farmers' growing conditions. However, little is known about the effectiveness of extension approaches for nutrient management that consider these issues. We analyze the impact of farmers' access to site-specific nutrient management recommendations and to information on expected returns, provided through a digital decision support tool, for maize production. We implement a randomized controlled trial among smallholders in the maize belt of northern Nigeria. We use three waves of annual panel data to estimate immediate and longer term effects of two different extension treatments: site-specific recommendations with and without complementary information about variability in output prices and expected returns. We find that site-specific nutrient management recommendations improve fertilizer management practices and maize yields but do not necessarily increase fertilizer use. In addition, we find that recommendations that are accompanied by additional information about variability in expected returns induce larger fertilizer investments that persist beyond the first year. However, the magnitudes of these effects are small: we find only incremental increases in investments and net revenues over two treatment years.
7. Factors influencing adoption of improved maize seed varieties among smallholder farmers in Kaduna State, Nigeria
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Chete, Oluwatoyin Bukola (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-06-30
- Published:
- International: Academic Journals
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12204
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Extension and Rural Development
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol.13(2)
- Notes:
- 8 pages., This study ascertained factors influencing adoption of improved maize seed varieties in three local government areas of Kaduna State, North-central Nigeria. It collected cross-sectional data for a sample of 180 randomly selected farming households across three local government areas of the State in 2015/16. Both descriptive and inferential analyses were performed on the data. The descriptive statistics differentiated adopters from non-adopters, while the inferential analysis involved estimation of a logit model to determine factors driving adoption of improved maize seed varieties in the study areas. The results of the descriptive analysis show significant mean differences between adopters and non-adopters regarding several farm households’ characteristics. The model results reveal that adoption of improved maize seed varieties among the households was positively influenced by age, household size, level of education, farming experience, labour availability, contacts with extension agents, farm size, off-farm income and membership of associations. Thus, the study concluded that improving farmers’ education, expanding coverage and depth of extension services and strengthening farmer associations are useful policy actions for promoting adoption of improved maize varieties. It is also important to address availability, accessibility and affordability issues constraining adoption, enhance credit access and mitigate risk perceptions. The link between researchers and innovators and the farmers who are the off-takers of their outputs should be reinforced to increase maize productivity in order to satisfy national demand and promote food security.
8. Happily ever after... A systematic literature review of the use of storytelling in extending agricultural research
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Thomson, Michael (author), Cosby, Amy (author), and Swain, Dave (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019
- Published:
- Australia
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 163 Document Number: D11653
- Journal Title:
- Rural Extension and Innovation Systems Journal
- Journal Title Details:
- 15(1) : 62-72
- Notes:
- 11 pages., Authors focus on the Australian perspective and draw on a detailed global context to better understand how research might inform the use of creative non-fiction storytelling to aid new technology development.
9. Influence of public agricultural extension on technology adoption by small-scale farmers in Zimbabwe
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Worth, S. (author) and Masere, T.P. (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-11
- Published:
- South Africa: SciELO
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12446
- Journal Title:
- South African Journal of Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 49 No. 1 (2021)
- Notes:
- 18 pages, This paper presents the findings of challenges facing Zimbabwe’s extension services and how these have affected the adoption of technologies they render to small-scale farmers. This study uses a critical review of relevant literature on Zimbabwe’s primary public extension agency (AGRITEX). Additionally, 21 key informant interviews (KIIs) were conducted to corroborate data collected in secondary research on extension approaches currently in use, the key factors affecting technology adoption, and the technology adoption process of small-scale farmers. The study found AGRITEX’s major challenges to be poor funding, poor remuneration and incentives for extension personnel, lack of in-service training, lack of appropriate technology, as well as poor operational resources like transport to reach all farmers. Consequently, services offered to small-scale farmers were compromised, which led to poor adoption of recommended technologies. Furthermore, the study determined that key factors influencing technology adoption are related to the farmers’ circumstances, the operating environment, and the attributes of technology itself. As a lasting solution to poor technology adoption, an adaptive extension system that promotes building the capacity of extension workers and researchers, as well as embracing farmers and their indigenous knowledge, is proposed
10. Perspectives on communicating 21st-Century agricultural innovations to Nigerian rural farmers
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Ejem, Agwu Agwu (author), Aremu, Charity (author), Ajakaiye, Olanrewaju O.P (author), Ben-Enukora, Charity (author), Akerele-Popoola, Oluwakemi E. (author), Ibiwoye, Tope Israel (author), and Olaniran, Abiola Folakemi (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2023-01-19
- Published:
- Netherlands: Elsevier B.V.
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12819
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Agriculture and Food Research
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 11
- Notes:
- 8 pages, This perspective paper reviews the existing research directions on agricultural extension programmes in Nigeria and highlights how they are incapable of diffusing enough knowledge to facilitate the adoption of 21st-century agricultural innovations and enhance sustainable practices among rural farmers. A key idea of this paper is to suggest a new direction of research that is oriented towards the quality, skills, and strategies of effective and efficient communication that the extension agents possess, and a two-way communication delivery, and accentuate how it is a panacea for effective diffusion of knowledge and adoption of agricultural innovations among rural farmers. The methodology was to review and compare bodies of literature from countries with the best agricultural extension and rural advisory services, particularly some countries in Asia, and show how insights from those countries can inform a new research direction in effectively communicating agricultural innovations to Nigerian rural farmers. Drawing on experiences from those countries, it was confirmed that Nigeria's extension system is not effective and efficient in communicating innovations in global agricultural practices to farmers in the rural areas, and research efforts in extension services in the country are still fixated on the role of extension agents as teachers to farmer-pupils and one-way communication delivery from research through extension to farmers, and the availability and ability to use communication channels. Based on the current challenges in farming and agriculture at large, there is a need to rethink the concept of extension in Nigeria, emphasize training of agents, acquisition of communication skills and adoption of a two-way communication delivery that recognises farmers as autonomous agents and co-designers of agricultural innovations and not just passive receivers. The value of this paper is that it is arguably the first attempt to chart a new perspective and communication delivery methods for research and practice in agricultural extension programmes in Nigeria.