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2. Can women's self‐help groups improve access to information, decision‐making, and agricultural practices? The Indian case
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Raghunathan, Kalyani (author), Kannan, Samyuktha (author), and Quisumbing, Agnes R. (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: D10822
- Journal Title:
- Agricultural Economics
- Notes:
- 14 pages., via online journal,, Effective agricultural extension is key to improving productivity, increasing farmers’ access to information, and promoting more diverse sets of crops and improved methods of cultivation. In India, however, the coverage of agricultural extension workers and the relevance of extension advice is poor. We investigate whether a women's self‐help group (SHG) platform could be an effective way of improving access to information, women's empowerment in agriculture, agricultural practices, and production diversity. We use cross‐sectional data on close to 1,000 women from five states in India and employ nearest‐neighbor matching models to match SHG and non‐SHG women along a range of observed characteristics. We find that participation in an SHG increases women's access to information and their participation in some agricultural decisions, but has limited impact on agricultural practices or outcomes, possibly due to financial constraints, social norms, and women's domestic responsibilities. SHGs need to go beyond provision of information to changing the dynamics around women's participation in agriculture to effectively translate knowledge into practice.
3. Factors influencing the information needs and information access channels of farmers: an empirical study in Guangdong, China
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Yongshan Chen (author) and Yonghe Lu (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-01-08
- Published:
- China: SAGE Journals
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 7 Document Number: D10228
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Information Science
- Notes:
- 20 pages., Via online journal., Information plays an important role in meeting the quantitative and qualitative goals of agriculture in the 21st century. As an emerging economy in a developing continent, China has already made many interventions to use information technology to support agricultural development. However, information service in some rural areas is still severely limited. The overall impact of the changing information environment on the farmers’ information needs and access channels has not been fully studied. Thus, this study systematically investigates the characteristics of the information needs and channels of farmers in Guangdong, China. We have collected 4006 questionnaire samples and used correlation analysis to explore the relationships between farmers’ information needs and access channel preferences. The results indicate that individual characteristic factors, social factors and family factors have different degrees of influence on farmers’ information needs and access channel preferences. These findings can provide a reference for information construction in the rural areas of Guangdong Province and thus promote its economic development. This study can also provide useful insights for policymakers and researchers from other developing countries to formulate implementation plans to promote agricultural development.
4. Improving agricultural productivity and markets: the role of information and communication technologies
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- McNama, Kerry (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2009-04
- Published:
- USA: World Bank
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 8 Document Number: D10320
- Journal Title:
- Agricultural and Rural Development Notes
- Journal Title Details:
- 47 :1-4
- Notes:
- 4 pages., Via online journal., Raising the productivity of smallholders is a necessary condition for increasing incomes and improving livelihoods among the rural poor in most developing countries. This increased productivity is essential to both household food security and to agriculture-based growth and poverty reduction in the larger economy. Smallholder productivity is limited by a variety of constraints including poor soils, unpredictable rainfall, and imperfect markets, as well as lack of access to productive resources, financial services, or infrastructure. Information and communication technologies (ICT) are also vitally important to commercial and large-scale agriculture, and to agriculture-related services and infrastructure such as weather monitoring and irrigation. This note focuses on the sometimes less-obvious importance of ICT in improving the information, communication, transaction, and networking elements of smallholder agriculture in developing countries.
5. Information communication technology needs of small-scale farmers in Anambra State, Nigeria
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Ajani, E. N. (author) and Agwu, A. E. (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2012
- Published:
- Taylor & Francis
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 18 Document Number: D10483
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Agricultural & Food Information
- Journal Title Details:
- 13(2): 144-156
- Notes:
- 14 pages., via online journal., This study sought to identify the information communication technology (ICT) needs of small-scale farmers in Anambra State, Nigeria. A structured interview schedule was used to collect data from a sample of 108 farmers. Results revealed that the majority used radio and television and owned mobile phones and video machines. Constraints to use included capacity, infrastructural/technical and logistical problems. The study recommends that the Nigerian government reorient its policies in order to harness the potential of ICTs to contribute to agricultural development and highlights the need to raise awareness of the agricultural uses of ICTs among the government, other national stakeholders, and rural communities.
6. Intraorganizational communication: a study of communication/interaction among core subprograms of the Enugu State Agricultural Development Program, Enugu State, Nigeria
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Iwuchukwu, J. C. (author) and Agwu, A. E. (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2012
- Published:
- Taylor & Francis
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 18 Document Number: D10478
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Agricultural & Food Information
- Journal Title Details:
- 13(3): 240-249
- Notes:
- 11 pages., via online journal., In recognition of the importance of communication in extension work and agriculture, this study assessed communication methods used among core sub-programs of the Enugu State Agricultural Development Program (ENADEP). Sixty-three staff were randomly selected to participate in the study. Statistical tools such as percentage, mean score, and factor analysis were used in data analysis. Findings show that a downward (top-down) communication flow was most common, with posters and workshops as primary communication tools. Technology review meetings and training were major situations in which communication occurred, while achievement of ENADEP objectives was the most important motive for communication. Communicator knowledge about subject matter was the top-rated factor that enhanced communication; security/credibility- and human/autocracy-related problems were major constraints to effective communication. The study recommends a de-emphasis on top-down communication approaches and encourages use of digital/information communication technology (ICT) tools to minimize the gap between generation and dissemination of information and its application.
7. Mobile based information communication interactions among major agriculture stakeholders: Sri Lankan experience
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Dissanayeke, Uvasara (author) and Wanigasundera, W.A.D.P. (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2014-01
- Published:
- Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 78 Document Number: D10817
- Journal Title:
- The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries
- Journal Title Details:
- 60(1): 1-12
- Notes:
- 12 pages., via online journal., This study explores the status of mobile usage among the agriculture community in the North‐Central province of Sri Lanka in relation to interactions with major agriculture stakeholders. The objectives of the study were to study the factors affecting the mobile use by farmers, farmers' willingness to receive agricultural information through mobile communication technology, and awareness on mobile based agriculture information systems. Primary data were collected at two stages using two structured interview schedules (N=390, n=65). According to the findings the access to mobile phone was considerable higher among the study group while age and education had an effect on using a mobile phone. Only a few farmers have yet started using them efficiently for agriculture and other commercial purposes. A considerable number of farmers used the mobile phones to contact input suppliers, buyers, agriculture extension officers and other farmers in the area, mostly those who represent community based organizations.
8. The formation of agricultural e‐commerce clusters: a case from China
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Zeng, Yiwu (author), Hongdong, Guo (author), Yao, Yanfei (author), and Huang, Lu (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: D10821
- Journal Title:
- Growth and Change
- Notes:
- 19 pages., via online journal., Agricultural e‐commerce clusters are new phenomena that have emerged in rural China. In examining the case of Shuyang County in Jiangsu Province, this paper puts forward an integrated model revealing the formation mechanism of agricultural e‐commerce clusters. The paper shows that the formation of agricultural e‐commerce clusters involves four processes of technology introduction, technology diffusion, quality crisis, and industrial agglomeration based on elements such as industry bases, e‐commerce platforms, network facilities, logistics services, entrepreneurial talent, local government, and market demand. Rural social networks and imitation behaviors promote technology diffusion by reducing the cost of technology introduction, and industrial agglomeration is found in the economies showing a deepening of labor divisions and geographic agglomeration. Throughout the formation process, a quality crisis may occur due to a race to the bottom and the opportunistic behaviors of local farmers. This work suggests that regional e‐commerce development is a systematic project. Governments of developing countries should not only realize the positive impacts of e‐commerce for the development of the agricultural industry but also recognize the premise and logic of how e‐commerce can play a prominent role.