19 pages, The USDA has identified coexistence, or producers growing food in a variety of ways (conventionally, organic, etc.) in a harmonious manner as a critical challenge and high priority. Despite this call for coexistence and assurance of mutual success, agricultural sectors often have conflicts. Both sides of the niche and mainstream rift tend to pick and choose radical examples of problematic practices to portray the opposition. Producers, more so than most other occupations, have a deeply entrenched occupational identity. Many studies focused on the need for relationships between agricultural producers and the public. No work has been found to understand how producers from different sectors of agriculture view one another. This study sought to understand producers' identities and the relationships producers have with one another. Results indicate the occupation of farming, family ties, connection and duty to the land, hard work and pride defines producers' identities. When defining a "good farmer," producers cited innovation and efficiency, farm succession, passion and joy, and profits as markers of success. The relationships between producers varied. Overall, producers respected other producers enough to make their own choices concerning production. Social media was often mentioned when producers talked about how they communicate with one another.
9 pages, This paper compares the supply and demand of agricultural technologies related to maize crop in Sussundenga district, Mozambique. The field work was carried out in February and March 2018 and comprises of a survey of 140 households’ maize growers, interviews with 15 agricultural technicians and six focus group meetings (four with maize growers and two with agricultural technicians). Data analysis was done using Bardin’s content analysis and descriptive statistics. The results reveal that agricultural research and rural extension focus more on supplying technologies related to maize production. But farmers have holistic expectations that go beyond production technologies to include the entire marketing chain. It makes the technical support provided with little use to maize growers. Besides it, there are also farmers’ unanswered demands and the supply of non-demanded technologies. It means that there is a mismatch between supply and demand of maize farming technologies. Agricultural research and rural extension organizations are suggested to supply not only agricultural technologies that maximize crop yield, but also services that help households improve their ability to store agricultural products and to sell it when prices are high. These actions have the potential to improve agricultural market performance and make the agricultural technologies more useful to maize growers.
16 pages, Systematic reviews and meta-analyses generally focus on intervention impacts or outcomes. Less common, however, are reviews of the assumptions and theory underlying the pathways between intervention and outcome. We consider the hypothetical case for interventions to empower female farmers, either by prioritising women for new investments or re-allocating existing resources. Empowerment is defined as increased women's decision-making authority related to agricultural resources, management and production, and income. We hypothesise two avenues through which productivity or health benefits might arise: (i) eliminating female-male differences in, e.g. input access; or (ii) leveraging gendered risk, time, and social preferences leading women to differentially allocate resources. A review of evidence highlights the extent of support for the baseline, behaviour change, and economic benefit assumptions behind these hypothesised avenues. Findings suggest returns to investing in female farmers could be significant in various contexts but estimates of economic returns to empowering women in agriculture remain limited.
18 pages, This study examined gaps in climate information within public agricultural extension in Limpopo Province, South Africa. It assessed extension officers’ climate change perceptions, knowledge and climate education. Lastly, the study examined the extension approaches for overall suitability of climate information disseminated to rural smallholder farmers. The results indicated that participants were predominately male, with tertiary education. Education levels had an influence on exposure to climate education and extension approaches in disseminating agricultural information to farmers. There is a need to retool extension officers in climate change extension work, integrating indigenous knowledge to increase suitability and acceptability of information by smallholder farmers.
15 pages, Drawing on the narratives of women and men who have domestic or international migration experiences, this study explores the gendered impacts of migration on small-scale farming in rural Ha Tinh province in Vietnam. The paper investigates men’s and women’s migration experiences, their influence on agricultural production, and impact on their livelihoods after migration. The findings show that households use various strategies to sustain agricultural production in the absence of some members. Women’s increased economic independence through labor migration has not necessarily lead to their increased management roles in agriculture, but they are increasingly challenging stereotypical images of rural women. While migration can be a catalyst for men to transform their livelihoods, it can also widen gaps in social and economic statuses among men.
Coggins, Sam (author), McCampbell, Mariette (author), Sharma, Akriti (author), Sharma, Rama (author), Haefele, Stephen (author), Karki, Emma (author), Hetherington, Jack (author), Smith, Jeremy (author), and Brown, Brendan (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2022-03-01
Published:
United States: Elsevier
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12486
10 pages, Digital extension tools (DETs) include phone calls, WhatsApp groups and specialised smartphone applications used for agricultural knowledge brokering. We researched processes through which DETs have (and have not) been used by farmers and other extension actors in low- and middle-income countries. We interviewed 40 DET developers across 21 countries and 101 DET users in Bihar, India. We found DET use is commonly constrained by fifteen pitfalls (unawareness of DET, inaccessible device, inaccessible electricity, inaccessible mobile network, insensitive to digital illiteracy, insensitive to illiteracy, unfamiliar language, slow to access, hard to interpret, unengaging, insensitive to user's knowledge, insensitive to priorities, insensitive to socio-economic constraints, irrelevant to farm, distrust). These pitfalls partially explain why women, less educated and less wealthy farmers often use DETs less, as well as why user-driven DETs (e.g. phone calls and chat apps) are often used more than externally-driven DETs (e.g. specialised smartphone apps). Our second key finding was that users often made - not just found - DETs useful for themselves and others. This suggests the word ‘appropriation’ conceptualises DET use more accurately and helpfully than the word ‘adoption’. Our final key finding was that developers and users advocated almost ubiquitously for involving desired users in DET provision. We synthesise these findings in a one-page framework to help funders and developers facilitate more useable, useful and positively impactful DETs. Overall, we conclude developers increase DET use by recognizing users as fellow developers – either through collaborative design or by designing adaptable DETs that create room for user innovation.
Lassa, Mitch J. (author), Wilmer, Hailey (author), Boone, Madison (author), Brown, Zach (author), Derner, Justin D. (author), Peck, Dannele E. (author), Thissen, Carmen (author), and Marlow, Clayton (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2020-10
Published:
United States: Extension Journal, Inc.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12286
15 pages, This article offers the Extension community a pathway to drought resilience and climate-related conversations through knowledge exchange workshops. In 2017, a "flash drought" affected eastern Montana, and ranchers in the region faced numerous challenges. Moreover, drought-favorable climate conditions are predicted to increase for the region. We held five workshops to facilitate an exchange of adaptive drought management strategies, focusing on key themes for drought resilience: (a) drought planning and adaptive management, (b) use of local knowledge networks, (c) flexible stocking and grazing, and (d) adaptation to shifting baselines. Extension can use this approach to foster multidirectional knowledge sharing to strengthen ranching resilience to drought conditions.
