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2. A survey of communication media preferred by smallholder farmers in theGweru District of Zimbabwe
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Moyo, Rachel (author), Salawu, Abiodun (author), and Department of Communication, North West University, Private Bag X2046, Mafikeng, 2735, South Africa
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-02
- Published:
- South Africa: Elsevier
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 151 Document Number: D10129
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Rural Studies
- Journal Title Details:
- 66 : 112-118
- Notes:
- 7 pages., Via online journal., This study is a quantitative survey of communication media preferred by smallholder farmers resettled under the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) in the Gweru district of Zimbabwe. Data were gathered using a questionnaire and simple random sampling. Communication is integral to agricultural development, particularly so in the context of the FTLRP characterized by a dearth of information, education and training, ensued by the discriminatory command agriculture (Murisa and Chikweche, 2015). Farmers' preferences of communicationmedia in receiving agricultural innovations should be prioritised to improve agricultural communication andsubsequently, productivity, which is dire in Zimbabwe in the light of the continuing food insecurity. Thefindingsindicated that farmers prefer media that are stimulating and engaging such as television and demonstrations;convenient such as mobile phones and detailed such as books probably because the majority of them do not have training in agriculture. Demographic variables of age-group and education were found to be associated with communication preferences of some media. The study has implications for agricultural communication media policy. Beyond prioritization of farmers’preferences, a model of a multi-media approach to agricultural communication has been developed, that could widen communication reach if implemented.
3. Accessing agricultural extension by video
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Mkoka, Charles (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019
- Published:
- International: Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, ACP-EU, Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 153 Document Number: D11611
- Journal Title:
- Spore
- Journal Title Details:
- 194 : 24-25
- Notes:
- Online from publisher website., By embracing modern technology and engaging enthusiastic young people, the work of an NGO in Malawi is extending the reach of agricultural extension across the country.
4. Agricultural information on air: analyzing farm radio through contemporary models of science communication. A comparison of three cases in rural Kenya
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Oswald, Fabian (author) and Kalsruhe Institute of Technology
- Format:
- Dissertation
- Publication Date:
- 2019-04-02
- Published:
- Germany: Kalsruhe Institute of Technology
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 121 Document Number: D11122
- Notes:
- 196 pages., via institutional depository., Fabin's work is based on Kilimo Media’s work. He sought to investigate how information flow through agricultural radio programs in local languages is structured and whether contemporary theories of science communication are observable in the practice of farm radio through a cross-case study approach. Fabian held qualitative interviews with local actors and group discussions with farmers in Kajiado, Marsabit and Kitui counties and three radio stations Bus radio, Radio Jangwani and Syokimau FM.
5. Agriculture–nutrition linkages in farmers’ communication networks
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Jäckering, Lisa (author), Gödecke, Theda (author), and Wollni, Meike (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-08
- Published:
- Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 78 Document Number: D10824
- Journal Title:
- Agricultural Economics
- Notes:
- 16 pages., via online journal., To date, little is known about how information flows within farmer groups and how extension interventions could be designed to deliver combined information on agriculture and nutrition. This study uses unique network data from 815 farm households in Kenya to investigate the structure and characteristics of agricultural and nutrition information networks within farmer groups. Dyadic regressions are used to analyze the factors influencing link formation for the exchange of agricultural and nutrition information. In addition, we apply fixed‐effects models to identify the characteristics of central persons driving information exchange in the two networks, as well as potentially isolated persons, who are excluded from information networks within their farmer groups. Our results show that nutrition information is exchanged within farmer groups, although to a limited extent, and mostly flows through the existing agricultural information links. Thus, diffusing nutrition information through agricultural extension systems may be a viable approach. Our findings further suggest that group leaders and persons living in central locations are important drivers in the diffusion of information in both networks and may thus serve as suitable entry points for nutrition‐sensitive extension programs. However, we also identify important heterogeneities in network characteristics. In particular, nutrition information is less often exchanged between men and women, and some group members are completely isolated from nutrition information exchange within their farmer groups. We derive recommendations on taking these differences in network structure and characteristics into account when designing nutrition‐sensitive extension programs.
6. Assessing intercultural communication: testing technology tools for information sharing in multinational research teams
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Ward, Wesley S. (author) and Given, Lisa M. (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019
- Published:
- USA: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 12 Document Number: D10363
- Journal Title:
- Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology
- Journal Title Details:
- 70 : 338-350
- Notes:
- 13 pages., Via online journal., Agricultural research in developing countries often involves collaboration between dispersed multicultural teams of scientists from developed and developing countries. The teams use information and computing technologies (ICTs) to communicate between team members, who originate from different cultures using different languages. This paper investigates the usability and utility of a range of ICTs used for communication between team members from different cultures. The research used an intercultural heuristic evaluation tool, or I‐CHET, to evaluate nine ICTs used by Australian and Lao scientists for team communication. The evaluation showed that asynchronous ICTs (e.g., e‐mail) were preferred by non‐native English speakers, while synchronous media (e.g., audio conferencing, instant messaging, Skype) presented considerable problems between team members from different cultures. Most ICTs evaluated in the study demonstrated little consideration for non‐native English speakers and for inexperienced ICTs users. However, all evaluated ICTs demonstrated the ability to transmit information and encourage communication between information users in scientific collaborations. The I‐CHET assessment tool highlights the ongoing need for a “toolbox” of communication ICTs for research collaborations that can be adapted to suit the cultural and professional needs of multinational teams, worldwide.
7. Assessing the social media use and needs of small rural retailers: implications for extension program support
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Son, Jihyeong (author), Niehm, Linda S. (author), Russell, Daniel W. (author), and Lee, Juyoung (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-04
- Published:
- USA: Extension Journal, Inc.
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 12 Document Number: D10424
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- 57(2)
- Notes:
- 7 pages., Article # 2RIB2, Via online journal., To assess small rural retailers' use of social media and the role of social media in their business sustainability, we conducted focus group interviews with small business owners/managers from rural communities in a midwestern state. Participants revealed strong interest in social media, especially for use in sales and marketing. However, their engagement in social media was limited due to lack of knowledge and resources (i.e., time, human resources, financial resources, effectiveness measurement) related to developing and updating content. On the basis of these findings, we examine implications for Extension professionals and outreach educators regarding social media needs and programming for small rural businesses.
8. Automated pastures and the digital divide: How agricultural technologies are shaping labour and rural communities
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Rotz, Sarah (author), Gravely, Evan (author), Mosby, Ian (author), Duncan, Emily (author), Finnis, Elizabeth (author), Horgan, Mervyn (author), LeBlanc, Joseph (author), Martin, Ralph (author), Tait Neufeld, Hannah (author), Nixon, Andrew (author), Pant, Laxmi (author), Shalla, Vivian (author), and Fraser, Evan (author)
- Format:
- Online article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-02-13
- Published:
- Canada: Science Direct
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 7 Document Number: D10251
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Rural Studies
- Notes:
- 11 pages., Via online article, A “digital revolution” in agriculture is underway. Advanced technologies like sensors, artificial intelligence, and robotics are increasingly being promoted as a means to increase food production efficiency while minimizing resource use. In the process, agricultural digitalization raises critical social questions about the implications for diverse agricultural labourers and rural spaces as digitalization evolves. In this paper, we use literature and field data to outline some key trends being observed at the nexus of agricultural production, technology, and labour in North America, with a particular focus on the Canadian context. Using the data, we highlight three key tensions observed: rising land costs and automation; the development of a high-skill/low-skilled bifurcated labour market; and issues around the control of digital data. With these tensions in mind, we use a social justice lens to consider the potential implications of digital agricultural technologies for farm labour and rural communities, which directs our attention to racial exploitation in agricultural labour specifically. In exploring these tensions, we argue that policy and research must further examine how to shift the trajectory of digitalization in ways that support food production as well as marginalized agricultural labourers, while pointing to key areas for future research—which is lacking to date. We emphasize that the current enthusiasm for digital agriculture should not blind us to the specific ways that new technologies intensify exploitation and deepen both labour and spatial marginalization.
9. Bad news: seeing communication for and about development through an expose of Swedish aid to Zambia
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Enghel, Florencia (author) and Danielsson, Magnus (author)
- Format:
- Article
- Publication Date:
- 2019
- Published:
- International
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 153 Document Number: D11618
- Journal Title:
- Journal of International Communication
- Journal Title Details:
- 25(2) : 254-274
- Notes:
- 23 pages., Online via open access., How is bilateral development cooperation communicated about in the news? How does a donor agency communicate for and about development? And what are the links between one and the other? This article focuses on a 2016 expose reported on Swedish public television about alleged corruption in aid to Zambia, reflecting failure of both donor and recipient. Authors focus on the news media as mediator of the donor's communication with its tax-paying audiences and demonstrated potentials of an integrated conceptual approach to communication for and about development. Findings reveal greater media coverage of financial accountability than on doing good for Zambian citizens.
10. Between words: a generational discussion about farming knowledge sources
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Wójcik, Marcin (author), Jeziorska-Biel, Pamela (author), and Czapiewski, Konrad (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-03-09
- Published:
- Poland: Science Direct
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 7 Document Number: D10245
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Rural Studies
- Journal Title Details:
- 67: 130-141
- Notes:
- 12 pages., Via online journal., This article is concerned with the shaping of agricultural knowledge among farmers, in the context of the rapid changes Polish agriculture has been subject to since the time of the country's EU accession. The theoretical underpinnings of this work have been described in terms of the significant notional categories, i.e. knowledge, knowledge-cultures and sources of knowledge. The research made use of the joint interviews method. Interviews were run with representatives of different generations in 10 farming families in central Poland. The main research objective was to determine sources of farming knowledge among farmers. The use of joint interviews allowed for the identification of sources of knowledge of different kinds. These reflect a division into farmers' closer and more distant surroundings, i.e. to the family and neighbours on the one hand, and to institutions and media on the other. Knowledge acquisition among farmers is in fact found to be a complex process, reflecting socialisation in a multi-generation environment of family and neighbours, on the one hand, and the impact of the institutional and legal system, on the other. In a general sense, this corresponds to the well-known division of sources of knowledge into the tacit and the explicit, with the acquisition of tacit (i.e. informal) knowledge not meeting with any more major obstacles thanks to proximity in a sense that may be cultural (i.e. the agriculture itself), family-related (and in fact multi-generation) and spatial (physical proximity in a given locality). Microsocial conditioning thus plays a major role in the shaping of this source of knowledge. However, the most important factor distinguishing contemporary cultures as regards knowledge on farming is the capacity to adapt to conditions set by the institutions supporting the latter's development. Formal knowledge flowing into farming families from their institutional surroundings requires growing adaptability and preparation if a succession of innovations are to be taken on board. The multi-source nature of knowledge and the achievement of some kind of balance in this respect actually poses a major challenge for the future functioning of family farms as cultural microsystems.