17 pages., Agriculture can serve as an important engine for economic growth in developing countries, yet yields in these countries have lagged far behind those in developed countries for decades. One potential mechanism for increasing yields is the use of improved agricultural technologies, such
as fertilizers, seeds, and cropping techniques. Public sector programs have attempted to overcome information-related barriers to technological adoption by providing agricultural extension services. While such programs have been widely criticized for their limited scale, sustainability, and impact, the rapid spread of mobile phone coverage in developing countries provides a unique opportunity to facilitate technological adoption via information and communication technology (ICT)-based extension programs. This article outlines the potential mechanisms through which ICT
could facilitate agricultural adoption and the provision of extension services in developing countries. It then reviews existing programs using ICT for agriculture, categorized by the mechanism (voice, text, internet, and mobile money transfers) and the type of services provided. Finally, we identify potential constraints to such programs in terms of design and implementation, and conclude with some recommendations for implementing field-based research on the impact of these programs on farmers’ knowledge, technological adoption, and welfare.
Barbosa, Mariza (author), Junior, Raimundo Gomes (author), Strauss, John (author), Teixeira, Sonia (author), Thomas, Duncan (author), and Rand Corporation, Santa Monica, CA; EMBRAPA-SEP, Brasilia, Brazil; EMBRAPA Centro Nacional de Pesquisa de Arroz e Fejao (CNPAF), Goiania, Brazil; Yale University, New Haven, CT; EMBRAPA-SEP, Brasilia, Brazil
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1992-08
Published:
Netherlands
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 87 Document Number: C05924
This paper explores reduced form determinants of the adoption of certain technologies by upland rice and soybean farmers in the Center-West region of Brazil. We merge community level data on the availability and quality of publicly provided infrastructure, principally extension, to the farm level data containing information on farmer human capital as well as land quantity and quality. By using community level measures of availability and quality of extension, we avoid problems of endogeneity of farm level measures of extension use. We find positive impacts of farmer education on the diffusion process, in accordance with other studies. We also isolate effects of the quality in regional extension investment as measured by the average experience of technical extension staff. These results indicate that investments in human capital of extension workers does have a payoff in terms of farmer adoption of improved cultivation practices.
14 pages., his paper evaluates the effect of the Rural Capacity Building Project (RCBP),
which aimed at promoting growth by strengthening the agricultural service systems
in Ethiopia, and by making them more responsive to smallholders’ needs, in particular women farmers. We examine the gender-differentiated impact of the RCBP
using panel data on 1,485 geographically dispersed households in project and control
kebeles. We find that women farmers’ access and satisfaction with extension services
increased significantly immediately after the start of the project, but that effect did
not last into the medium term. The project led to an increase in the adoption of high-
value crop farming, area of land cultivated, and economic participation of household
members, benefiting male- and female-headed households equally. Results point to
the positive impact of incorporating women’s needs and constraints in the design of
the agricultural extension system. However, the project was not able to reduce the
preexisting gender gap in agricultural outcomes.
search through journal, This paper provides quantitative evidence on the impact of the Training and Visit (T&V) extension system in the irrigated Punjab of Pakistan. Three models are analyzed using limited dependent variable regression: the impact of T&V on the number of extension contacts with farmers: the effect of extension contact on farmers' knowledge of wheat technology; and the impact of T&V on the adoption of improved wheat technology. The first model analyzes the impact of T&V on the quantity of extension contact and the latter two models analyze the effect on the quantity and quality of extension contact. It is concluded that T&V has increased the quantity but not the quality of extension contact and this, in turn, has increased farmers' knowledge and adoption of technology. However, the overall impacts have been small relative to those observed in a similar area in India. (original)
Coffin, H. Garth (author), Gunjal, Kissan (author), Kebede, Yohannes (author), and Department of Agricultural Economics, McGill University, Quebec, Canada
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1990-04
Published:
Netherlands
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 94 Document Number: C07290
