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2. Development and validation of the international extension network advocacy capacity scale
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Lamm, Kevan W. (author), Lamm, Alexa (author), Davis, Kristin E. (author), Dobbins, Catherine (author), and Powell, Alyssa (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-12-29
- Published:
- USA: New Prairie Press
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12684
- Journal Title:
- Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 28, Iss. 5
- Notes:
- 24 pages, Extension is sometimes viewed globally as less important than academic research and innovation, even though these networks are crucial to agricultural development. Using Lewin’s (1947) organizational change theory as a conceptual background, an instrument to measure advocacy capacity within international extension networks was developed. The resulting scale was analyzed for content validity, response process validity, internal structure validity, and consequential validity. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed on the proposed scale. The underlying structure of the scale was found to load onto five factors. The five extracted factors were labelled: 1) network support of advocacy, 2) network integration of advocacy, 3) network influence in advocacy, 4) network visibility in advocacy, and 5) network advocacy performance. The overall International Extension Network Advocacy Capacity (IENAC) scale, and associated subscales were all found to have acceptable levels of validity.
3. Project to fill rural information gap
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Korsching, Peter (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 1988
- Published:
- USA
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 96 Document Number: C07560
- Journal Title:
- Rural Development News
- Journal Title Details:
- 12 (3) : 15
- Notes:
- James F. Evans Collection, NAL Quick Bibliography Series 92-18
4. Rural Farmers' Problems Accessing Agricultural Information: A Case Study of Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Obidike, Nnenna (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2011-11-01
- Published:
- United States: University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12353
- Journal Title:
- Library Philosophy and Practice
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 660
- Notes:
- 12 pages, Rural farmers account for the greater part of the population of any developing country such as Nigeria. Governments of developing countries have a major responsibility of ensuring that there is adequate rural development in their various communities and local governments which would lead to effective and efficient agricultural systems that will not only supply food and animal protein but also foster the utilization of natural resources in a sustainable manner (CGIAR, 1995). When the rural farmers lack access to knowledge and information that would help them achieve maximum agricultural yield, they are not only grope in the dark but are driven to the urban centres in search of formal employment, as the only option for survival (Munyua, 2000). Blait (1996) pointed out that the least expensive input for improved rural agricultural development is adequate access to knowledge and information in areas of new agricultural technologies, early warning systems (drought, pests, diseases etc), improved seedlings, fertilizer, credit, market prices etc. There have been short-comings of traditional print and library based methods (Van and Fortier, 2000) of providing such agricultural information to rural farmers who are generally illiterate and relatively remote from formal sources of information (e.g. extension stations, libraries). Aina (2007) also, was of the opinion that farmers would benefit from global information, if information centres, are cited in rural areas complete with all information and communication gadgets. Rural farmers in Nsukka local government area of Enugu state are not noted to produce enough food, probably due to some constraints that lead to lack of access to timely and up-to-date information which would have enabled them to achieve optimal yield from their farmlands. Such information is highly desired by these farmers and can only be made available to them via extension workers, community libraries, state and local government agricultural agencies (ADP, ENADEP etc), e-mail or the World Wide Web (WWW) in a telecentre (Telecommons Development Group, 2000). In this modern day of information technology, telecentres provide the rural farmers with prompt and reliable information about what is happening in areas of improved seedlings, better methods of cultivation and fertilizer application, pest and weed control/eradication, new advances in livestock production and disease control etc. Where rural farmers are not faced with constraints in accessing agricultural information, traditional media such as rural radio, has been used in delivering agricultural messages to rural farmers (Munyua, 2000). Other ways of delivering these messages or information to the rural farmers include print, video, television, films, slides, pictures, drama, dance, folklore, group discussions, meetings, exhibitions and demonstrations (Munyua, 2000). The lack of access to basic agricultural knowledge and information by rural farmers in Nsukka local government area of Enugu State which may be as a result of certain constraints has made these farmers to stick to their old traditional methods of farming system and animal husbandry practice, hence resulting in poor crop and livestock productivity. Information and knowledge are very vital in agricultural development of any community and where they are poorly disseminated as a result of certain constraints, the community’s agricultural development becomes highly impeded. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the constraints of the rural farmers in Nsukka local government area of Enugu State in accessing agricultural information.
5. Sharing seed and knowledge: farmer to farmer dissemination of agroforestry technologies in western Kenya
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Richards, Paul (author), Kiptot, Evelyne (author), Franzel, Steven (author), and Hebinck, Paul (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2006-11
- Published:
- USA: Springer
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C27156
- Journal Title:
- Agroforestry Systems
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 68, Issue 3, pp. 167-179
6. Use of information and communication technologies by Vietnamese smallholders: Implications for extension strategies
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Hoang, Hung Gia (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-02-18
- Published:
- International: SAGE Journals
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12212
- Journal Title:
- Information Development
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol.37(2)
- Notes:
- 9 pages., In order to facilitate the adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for accessing agricultural information by smallholders, it is critical to understand their perspectives on the use of ICT. However, few empirical studies have considered how smallholders utilise ICT in Central Vietnam. This research investigates the Central Vietnamese smallholders’ views on the extent of use of ICT for accessing agricultural information. A sample size of 250 smallholders was randomly selected from a total of 687 smallholders in Trieu Phong district, Central Vietnam. A two-section questionnaire was used to gather data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The smallholders used mobile phones, TV and radio networks/broadcasts as the common ICT tools, and these were also effective ICT tools for accessing agricultural information. Lack of knowledge and skills for using applications on mobile phones were the main challenge to the smallholders’ use of ICT. A statistically significant relationship, existing between the extent of mobile phone use and the smallholders’ age (χ = 10.04, p = 0.040), gender (χ = 5.99, p = 0.014) and the type of households (χ = 6.84, p = 0.033), was found. Similarly, there was a statistically significant relationship existing between the extent of radio network/broadcast use and the smallholders’ age (χ = 9.58, p = 0.048) and gender (χ = 4.83, p = 0.028).
7. Utilisation of mobile phones in accessing agricultural information by smallholder farmers in Dzindi Irrigation Scheme in South Africa
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Holmner, Marlene (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021
- Published:
- International: African Journals Online
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D12100
- Journal Title:
- African Journal of Library, Archives and Information Science
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 29 No. 1
- Notes:
- 21 pgs., CTs (Communications technologies) have revolutionized agricultural information services at every level in the agricultural sector, thus impacting rural development and catalysing poverty alleviation strategies. This has largely been the case with small-scale farmers in rural areas in developing countries where mobile technologies have penetrated more than most other ICT tools. However, in some of the farming environments, mobile phone use is largely driven by agricultural extension workers. This paper seeks to examine the way mobile phones are used for information access in situations where agricultural extension workers are a critical intermediary in the agricultural information services. Interviews were conducted with 10 randomly selected farmers who were part of the Dzindi irrigation scheme. The findings were that from the variety of information available to the farmers the most important source was the extension officer. The extension officer and the radio were indicated to be the most reliable independent sources of information. The other sources, such as the radio, family members, and friends, suppliers of chemicals, books and magazines, were only considered reliable if the information could be verified or vouched for by the extension officer. Increasing the information handling skills of extension officers, training of farmers to use smart features of their phones and promoting the usual face-to-face communication use of conventional methods, which is what usually gives rise to the mediation of mobile phones, were recommended.