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2. Do plant clinics improve household food security? evidence from rwanda
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Tambo, Justice A. (author), Uzayisenga, Bellancile (author), Mugambi, Idah (author), and Bundi, Mary (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-07-08
- Published:
- United States: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D12368
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Agricultural Economics
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 72, Iss. 1
- Notes:
- 20 pages, One of the main drivers of food insecurity is pests, which are estimated to cause around 40% of crop losses worldwide. We examine the food security effects of plant clinics, a novel agricultural extension model that aims to reduce crop losses due to pests through the provision of demand-driven plant health diagnostic and advisory services to smallholder farmers. The study is based on survey data from maize-growing households in Rwanda, where 66 plant clinics have been established. Using switching regression and matching techniques as well as various food security metrics, including the food insecurity experience scale, we find evidence that participation in plant clinics is significantly associated with a reduction in household food insecurity. For instance, among the participating households, plant clinics contribute to a decrease in the period of food shortage by one month and a reduction in the severity of food insecurity by 22 percentage points. We also show that these effects are more pronounced for female-headed households. Overall, our findings suggest that plant clinics can play an important role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 2 of zero hunger.
3. Extension Agents’ Perception on Suitability of Climate Change Information Disseminated to Smallholder Farmers
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Mbali Zikhali, Zafezeka (author), Mafongoya, Paramu (author), Mudhara, Maxwell (author), Jiri, Obert (author), and Mudaniso, Blessing (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-04-16
- Published:
- United States: SAGE Journals
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12527
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Asian and African Studies
- Journal Title Details:
- 56 (8)
- Notes:
- 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.
4. Videos and podcasts for delivering agricultural extension: achieving credibility, relevance, legitimacy and accessibility
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Chivers, Charlotte-Anne (author), Bliss, Katie (author), Boon, Auvikki de (author), Lishman, Lydia (author), Schillings, Juliette (author), Smith, Rachel (author), and Rose, David Christian (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-11-07
- Published:
- UK: Taylor & Francis
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12630
- Journal Title:
- The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- Online
- Notes:
- 26 pgs, To explore the perceived credibility, relevance, legitimacy and accessibility of videos and podcasts in farm extension.
5. On-farm demonstration: enabling peer-to-peer learning
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Sutherland, Lee-Ann (author) and Marchand, Fleur (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-10-04
- Published:
- UK: Taylor & Francis
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12644
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- V. 27, N.5
- Notes:
- 19 pages, This special issue presents recent European Commission-funded research into on-farm demonstration, undertaken through the Horizon 2020 PLAID (Peer-to-peer learning: Accessing innovation through demonstration), AgriDemo-F2F (building an interactive agridemo-hub community: enhancing peer-to-peer learning), and NEFERTITI (Networking European Farms to Enhance Cross Fertilisation and Innovation Uptake through Demonstration) projects, jointly branded ‘FarmDemo’.
6. Agricultural extension: criteria to determine its visibility and accountability in resource poor communities
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Hlatshwayo, P. P. K. (author) and Worth, S.H. (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-08-08
- Published:
- South Africa: African Journals Online
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12673
- Journal Title:
- South African Journal of Agricultural Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 47, N. 2
- Notes:
- 8 pages, Agricultural extension can be defined as the entire set of organisations that support and facilitate people engaged in agricultural production to solve problems and to obtain information, skills and technologies to improve their livelihoods and well-being. Extension officials should ensure that farmers are engaged and capacitated so that they can make production decisions that are not in conflict with nature, yet such decisions ensure that their well-being is improved. With 75% of the world’s poor living in rural areas, the topic of improved agriculture through agricultural extension is viewed as central to poverty reduction. There have been questions posed by stakeholders (communities, policy-makers and politicians) about the non-visibility and accountability of agricultural extension in the communities that it is supposed to help. There are however a number of factors (perceived or real) that make agricultural extension less or not visible nor accountable. Therefore, this paper investigates and proposes a theoretical framework or model to ensure that agricultural extension is visible and accountable to all stakeholders. This will in turn ensure that there are noticeable increases or improvement of the lives of the resource poor farmers and communities.
7. The effect of agricultural extension access on the performance of smallholder sugarcane farmers in Indonesia
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Rokhani, Rokhani (author), Asrofi, Ahmad (author), Adi, Ad Hariyanto (author), Khasan, Ahmad Fatikhul (author), and Rondhi, Mohammad (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-12
- Published:
- Indonesia: Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12677
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Agribusiness and Rural Development Research
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 7, N. 2
- Notes:
- 18 pages, Agricultural extension plays a crucial role in the Indonesian Agricultural Revitalization Program for the 2005-2025 periods, where sugarcane is one of the fourteen priority crops. The provision of an agricultural extension was aimed to increase the income and productivity of sugarcane farmers. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of agricultural extension access on smallholder sugarcane farmers' performance in Indonesia. This study used data from the 2014 Indonesian Sugarcane Farm Household Survey, consisting of 8,831 farmers. This study employed propensity score matching to estimate the effect of access to an agricultural extension on several outcome variables. These variables were gross value-added (GVA), net value added (NVA), labor productivity (LP), land productivity (LDP), net income (NI), and remuneration of family labor (ROFL). The result shows that having access to an agricultural extension increases GVA by 40.5%, NVA by 40.3%, labor productivity by 42.8%, and NI by 40.2%. However, access to agricultural extension insignificantly affects ROFL due to the differences in family working units. Also, farmers with Agricultural Extension access have 13.7% lower land productivity than non-Agricultural Extension farmers since the former has lower input use intensity than the latter. These results suggest that providing agricultural extension service is adequate to improve sugarcane farmers' economic performance.
8. Analysis of factors affecting dissemination of agricultural information among farmers through ict in punjab,Pakistan
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Ahmad, Waqar (author), Ali, Tanvir (author), Shahbaz, Babar (author), and Siddiqui, Muhammad Tahir (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-06-10
- Published:
- Pakistan: Directorate of Agricultural Information Lahore
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12690
- Journal Title:
- journal of agricultural research
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 59, N.2
- Notes:
- 7 pages, Present study was carried out in 2018-19, in the three districts of Punjab i.e., Faisalabad, Sargodha and Muzaffargarh to analyse the factors affecting dissemination of agricultural information to farmers through ICT tools. One hundred and twenty respondents were selected randomly from each district, making a total sample of 360 respondents. Concerning the general use of ICT tools in the dissemination of agricultural information, the findings indicated a change in trend from the radio (11.1%) towards TV (85.6%) and mobile phone SMS (75.8%). The relevance of information and ICT tools’ cost appeared as common determinant factors for technology transfer effectiveness by ICT tools. Furthermore, farmers also indicated that the most effective tool to disseminate agricultural information was television, followed by the mobile phone and social media. Moreover, most of the farmers (81.7 % and 73.1%, respectively) indicated that the lack of innovative information and difficulties in using ICT tools were significant barriers while communicating via these tools. The use of television and mobile phones in extension should be improved because they were relatively more popular among farmers. It was recommended that the Punjab government should also design a system of periodic monitoring and evaluation of the use of information and communication technologies in the extension with agricultural universities’ participation and relevant non-governmental organizations in Punjab. A dynamic feedback system should be designed, based on the local advisory committees’ recommendations, to determine the local farmers’ needs/problems, which should be sent immediately to the Directorate of Agricultural Information to suggest some suitable solution and disseminate through ICTs.
9. Nexus between the invisibility of agricultural extension services and rural livelihoods development: Assertions from rural farming communities
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Qwabe, Q.N. (author), Swanepoel, J.W. (author), Zwane, E.M (author), and Van Niekerk, J.A (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-11-02
- Published:
- South Africa: South African Society for Agricultural Extension
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12717
- Journal Title:
- South African Journal of Agricultural Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol.50, N.2
- Notes:
- 16 pages, Agricultural extension is one of the essential services that are offered by the South African Department of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development (DALRRD), to facilitate agricultural development in rural communities. The significance of agricultural extension is that it offers new knowledge to farmers and allows space for growth through various interventions such as agrarian transformation and improving livelihoods through the promotion of agriculture as a vehicle for ‘pro-poor’ economic growth. However, there is a concern that extension services are invisible in resource-restricted and previously marginalised rural communities. The study presented in this paper examined farmer’s experiences with extension practitioners and the impact of a lack of extension services on the development of impoverished rural communities. The researchers adopted a qualitative design wherein six focus group discussions were held to gather data from the farmers. Data were analyzed using ATLAS.ti22, a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS). Four themes of extension services that have a direct linkage to livelihood development, namely, the impact on rural livelihoods, production challenges, marketability, and economic impact, and the invisibility of extension services, were the central point of discussion.
10. Harnessing the use of alternative media for South Africa’s agricultural extension service delivery in the face of the covid-19 global pandemic
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Yusuf, S.F.G. (author), Popoola, O.O. (author), and Yusuf, F.T.O. (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-11-02
- Published:
- South Africa: South African Society for Agricultural Extension
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12721
- Journal Title:
- South African Journal of Agricultural Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 50, N. 2
- Notes:
- 19 pages, Agricultural extension service delivery remains pivotal in disseminating contemporary and innovative agricultural information, and the training and capacity building of farmers; all of which are critical to increased farmer productivity. There are several agricultural extension methods used by extension field officers to engage their target farmers; some of the contact methods used, like the individual and group methods amongst others, necessitates close interactions between both parties. As such, physical contact between persons cannot be avoided. In the current spate of COVID-19 threats to global health, there is a possible risk of human-to-human transmission of the disease. Some temporary measures like social distancing and the ban of gatherings are currently utilised by many countries to mitigate the rapid spread of the virus. The findings of several research reports showed that these restrictions negatively impacted agricultural extension service deliveries. This paper, therefore, reviewed alternative media delivery mechanisms as a probable palliative measure in sustaining the continuous delivery of agricultural information to farmers. The paper recommends intensifying the use of the electronic extension (E-extension) system. The mobile and computer/web-based platforms should be significantly harnessed (where applicable), while concurrently promoting the intense use of print media, radio, television, agricultural documentaries and instructional videos.
11. The Influence of budget allocation to implement the policy of extension and advisory services in South Africa
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Lukhalo, T. (author) and Zwane, E.M. (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-10-20
- Published:
- South Africa: South African Society for Agricultural Extension
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12723
- Journal Title:
- South African Journal of Agricultural Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 50, N.1
- Notes:
- 19 pages, Extension support is viewed as an enabler of food security. However, the literature reveals that extension within the public sector in South Africa is not yet geared to satisfy the needs of resource-poor smallholder producers to break away from poverty and food insecurity. This paper is aimed at reviewing budget allocation and public expenditure on agricultural extension support services to provide evidence-based recommendations to inform the implementation of the national policy on extension and advisory services. The study was conducted using budget allocation and expenditure data collected through a survey questionnaire directed at nine provincial departments of agriculture. The problem investigated was to establish whether the budget allocated to provincial extension services would be sufficient to implement the extension policy. Data analysis employed descriptive statistics including t-tests of differences in means. The study has delivered several findings: a). The budget execution rates were high for both the extension practitioners and the farmer programmes, with budget execution for farmer programmes being better than that for extension practitioners. b). The budget trends indicate an efficient system of budget execution for the benefit of the farmers. c). There were statistically significant differences between mean budget allocation for extension practitioners and farmer programmes. d). It was further found that the differences between the mean expenditure on extension practitioners and mean expenditure on farmer programmes were statistically significant. e). Consistent with budget allocation, mean expenditure on farmer programmes was higher than mean expenditure on extension practitioners leading to the conclusion that farmer programmes spent significantly higher than extension practitioners in the five financial years. f). On the other hand, it was found that the cost of implementing the newly developed national policy on extension and advisory services was found to be greater than the current budget allocation. The paper concluded that the budget allocation was insufficient, yet farmers received value for money.
12. Impact of agricultural extension services on cereal production among rural farmers in Bhutan
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Shangshon, Bhakta (author), Polthanee, Anan (author), Wongsamun, Chaicharn (author), and Suriya, Patcharee (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2023-01-21
- Published:
- Nigeria: Agricultural Extension Society of Nigeria
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12796
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Agricultural Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 27, N.1
- Notes:
- 14 pages, This study explored impact of agricultural extension services on cereal production. Data were collected through a semi-structured questionnaire from a random sample of 262 farmers from four regions (east, west, north, and south) in Bhutan. Farmers assessed the impact of extension services on five aspects of cereal production (cereal seed, social, environmental, production, and marketing aspects). Percentages and an ordered logistic model were used to analyze the data. The study found a low level of farmers’ participation in extension services. The social aspect of cereal production was the most impacted by the extension programmes, while the marketing aspect was the least impacted. The farmers’ cultivated dry land (Coeff. = 0.21) and wetland (Coeff. = 0.72), their participation in extension services (Coeff. = 0.61), and the extra labour (Coeff. = 0.24) significantly contributed to cereal production. The provision of effective and high-quality extension programs by extension agents is critical for smallholder farmers to enhance their agricultural production.
13. Good agriculture practices for safe food and sustainable agriculture in Nepal: a review
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Kharel, Menila (author), Dahal, Bed Mani (author), and Raut, Nani (author)
- Format:
- journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-11-18
- Published:
- Netherlands: Elsevier B.V.
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12806
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Agriculture and Food Research
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 10
- Notes:
- 10 pages, Food safety is a growing concern worldwide but is especially prevalent in Nepal. Agriculture is the country's critical economic sector, and its sustainability is challenged due to the increasing use of agrochemicals. As a result, low Soil Organic Matter (SOM), reduced crop productivity, increased food safety hazards, and negative impacts on human health and the environment are reported in the agriculture sector in Nepal. In 2018, the concept of Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) was introduced in Nepal to address the issues of food safety, trade, and sustainability. As GAP is relatively new to Nepal, it is still broad and ambiguous, which makes its use and implementation difficult. For this purpose, we conducted a literature review on available global evidence to present the benefits of GAP and to identify the critical barriers to the adoption of GA. The review shows GAP's potential to increase crop yield by up to 36%, reduce agrochemicals use by 31%, increase SOM from a mean of 3.32%–3.77%, and increase farmers' income by more than 100%. However, the review has also identified barriers to wider adoption of GAP, broadly categorized into production, extension, regulation and standards, and markets and finance. The valuable outcome of this review is that it proposes five key pathways: (i) Technical capacity building, (ii) Awareness creation, (iii) Soil fertility management strategies, (iv) Extension programs, and (v) Market development for institutionalizing GAP in Nepal, based on the learning from global evidence. This review could be useful for policymakers and the government of Nepal to develop detailed implementation guidelines for GAP, including appropriate policies as well as short, medium, and long-term plans and programs for institutionalizing GAP in Nepal.
14. 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.
15. Where do smallholder farmers get their information? an exploration of the sources of agricultural information in northwest Cambodia
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Nickens, Presley (author), Ader, David (author), Enriquez, Jean Pierre (author), Bates, Ricky (author), Gill, Tom (author), Huot, Sovanneary (author), Hok, Lyda (author), and Pao, Srean (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2023-08-29
- Published:
- USA: New Prairie Press
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12943
- Journal Title:
- Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education
- Journal Title Details:
- V.30, Iss.2
- Notes:
- 15 pages, A significant emphasis on scaling up food security efforts is needed to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) by 2030. Scaling up sustainable intensification efforts for Cambodian smallholder farmers is key since they face greater exposure to the uncertainties of climate change, globalizing markets, and rural-to-urban migration. One way to increase the effectiveness of efforts and the scaling up of sustainable intensification technologies is through improving access to information about production and marketing technologies. This study aimed to identify sources of information about sustainable technologies available to smallholders and barriers that may be preventing adoption. Information was gathered from a household survey to document the sources of agricultural information for smallholders in Northwest Cambodia. This research suggests Cambodian smallholders are receiving agricultural extension services, however, the overall quality and effectiveness of these messages are unknown, since NGOs with competing foci are the primary provider of extension information. Smallholders face significant barriers that prevent the adoption of sustainable technologies and participation in markets, such as low price for goods, poor product quality, lack of time, and concerns for safety. Future endeavors to strengthen the price of goods and alleviate market-related challenges would likely result in increased smallholder income and food availability.