8 pages, gender, women, extension systems, acces, cell phones, farmers, Nepal (Southern Asia), India (Southern Asia), COVID-19 induced lockdowns have had far reaching impacts on the rural sector, particularly on women farmers. These impacts have been exacerbated by lack of access to reliable and timely agriculture information. Using panel phone survey data from India and Nepal, we study how women's access to agricultural extension was impacted by the lockdowns and its effect on agricultural productivity. We find that women's already low access to formal extension was reduced further, leading to an increased reliance on informal social networks. In both countries, nearly 50% farmers reported negative impacts on productivity due to inaccessibility of information during the lockdown. In India, we find that access to formal extension is mediated by crop type, geographic location and caste identity. We discuss ways in which extension systems in India and Nepal can be made more inclusive and resilient to future crisis, including by adapting group and community-based approaches to post-pandemic best practices.
14 pages., CONTEXT
The U.S. has the world's largest organic food market. However, low domestic production and a low adoption rate of organic grain farming limit the overall development of this sector. Multiple organic stakeholders have called for a better understanding of cognitive and motivational aspects of farmers' decision-making processes to help policymakers, agricultural scientists, and extension practitioners to work more effectively with farmers to explore and adopt organic grain production.
OBJECTIVE
This paper assesses farmers' adoption motivations, long-term goals, and perceived benefits to examine the congruence between initial motivations, long-term goals, and current perceived benefits.
METHODS
We employed a sequential mixed-method approach that first interviewed organic farmers in Iowa, U.S. Then developed and administered a statewide survey for the organic farmers. Survey data were analyzed with confirmatory factor analysis, paired-samples t-tests, and heteroskedasticity-robust regression models.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
We identified five highly-rated motivations for farmers to adopt organic grain: 1) profitability, 2) personal safety, 3) natural resources stewardship, 4) consumers and public health, and 5) honor and tradition. We found organic farmers' long-term goals are strongly orientated to both productivism and stewardship but less strongly oriented to civic-mindedness. This research assessed five areas of benefits associated with organic grain farming: 1) economic benefit, 2) addressed health concerns, 3) environmental natural resources, 4) values and beliefs validation, and 5) social benefit. This study found the benefits farmers experienced by adopting organic grain farming aligned with most of their original adoption motivations and long-term goals, except for serving the motivation of consumer and public health concerns.
Huysveld, Sophie (author), Van Meensel, Jef (author), Van linden, Veerle (author), De Meester, Steven (author), Peiren, Nico (author), Muylle, Hilde (author), Dewulf, Jo (author), and Lauwers, Ludwig (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2017-01
Published:
Belgium: Elsevier
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 161 Document Number: D07798
Janssen, Sander (author), Porter, Cheryl H. (author), Moore, Andrew D. (author), Athanasiadis, Ioannis N. (author), Foster, Ian (author), Jones, James W. (author), and Antle, John M. (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2016-11-10
Published:
International: Elsevier
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 160 Document Number: D07790
Rose, David C. (author), Sutherland, William J. (author), Parker, Caroline (author), Lobley, Matt (author), Winter, Michael (author), Morris, Carol (author), Twining, Susan (author), foulkes, Charles F. (author), Amano, Tatsuya (author), and Dicks, Lynn V. (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2016-11
Published:
United Kingdom
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 159 Document Number: D07672
Nidumolu, U.B. (author), Lubbers, M. (author), Kanellopoulos, A. (author), van Ittersum, M.K. (author), Kadiyala, D.M. (author), and Sreenivas, G. (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2016-11
Published:
India
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 159 Document Number: D07676
Joffre, Olivier M. (author), Bosma, Roel H. (author), Ligtenberg, Arend (author), Tri, Van Pham Dang (author), Ha, Tran Thi Phung (author), and Bregt, Arnold K. (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2015-12
Published:
Vietnam: Elsevier
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 160 Document Number: D07800
Busse, M. (author), Schwerdtner, W. (author), Siebert, R. (author), Doemberg, A. (author), Kuntosch, A. (author), König, B. (author), and Bokelmann, W. (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2015-09
Published:
Germany: Elsevier
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 161 Document Number: D07796
Prokopy, Linda S. (author), Hart, Chad E. (author), Massey, Raymond (author), Widhalm, Melissa (author), Klink, Jenna (author), Andresen, Jeffery (author), Angel, James (author), Blewett, Thomas (author), Doering, Otto C. (author), Elmore, Roger (author), Gramig, Benjamin M. (author), Guinan, Patrick (author), Hall, Beth L. (author), Jain, Atul (author), Knutson, Cody L. (author), Lemos, Maria Carmen (author), Morton, Lois Wright (author), Niyogi, Dev (author), Power, Rebecca (author), Shulski, Martha D. (author), Song, Carol X. (author), Takle, Eugene S. (author), and Todey, Dennis (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2015-09
Published:
USA: Elsevier
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 160 Document Number: D07789
12 pages, via online journal, Since the rice crisis of 2007, the government of Benin has initiated many programmes for rice intensification. Comparison of three rice production areas shows that local rice production has indeed been increased by the facilities provided by the government programmes. Although broadly the same facilities (market outlet, credit, input, etc.) were provided to rice farmers in the three study areas, which are located close to one another, there are not only similar, but also some different outcomes with regard to farmers' practices. There were also some unexpected changes, like the shift from limited collective canal cleaning to individual canal cleaning in Koussin-Lélé and the use of pumps in upland areas in Bamè. The study explores the interplay between these external interventions of government programmes and local actions of farmers to explain the outcomes. Using an actor-oriented perspective, the study concludes that farmers' agency played a critical role in the success of interventions; the changes occurred because of local actions of the farmers and intermediaries interacting with the external interventions at diverse junctures. Differences in strategies for resolving livelihood problems, in production options and biophysical conditions influence farmers' local actions and contribute to the explanation of the diversity of outcomes. The main lesson drawn from this research is that evaluation studies should not consider external interventions as the only or primary source of change. The dynamic interplay between local agency, intermediation and external interventions makes room for change.
Meul, Marijke (author), Van Middelaar, Corina E. (author), de Boer, Imke J.M. (author), Van Passel, Steven (author), Fremaut, Dirk (author), and Haesaert, Geert (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2014-11
Published:
Belgium: Elsevier
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 161 Document Number: D07816
Van Winsen, Frankwin (author), de May, Yann (author), Lauwers, Ludwig (author), Van Passel, Steven (author), Vancauteren, Mark (author), and Wauters, Erwin (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2013-11
Published:
Belgium: Elsevier
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 160 Document Number: D07802
Machila, Noreen (author), Emongor, Rosemary (author), Shaw, Alexandra P. (author), Welburn, Susan C. (author), McDermott, John (author), Maudlin, Ian (author), and Eisler, Mark C. (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2007-05
Published:
Kenya: Elsevier
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 161 Document Number: D07794
Jagtap, S.S. (author), Jones, J.W. (author), Hildebrand, P. (author), Letson, D. (author), O'Brien, J.J. (author), Podestá, G. (author), Zierden, D. (author), and Zazueta, F. (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2002-12
Published:
USA: Elsevier
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 161 Document Number: D07811
Kristjanson, P (author), Place, F (author), Franzel, F (author), Thornton, P.K. (author), and International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya
International Centre for Research on Agroforestry, Nairobi, Kenya
Format:
Online journal article
Publication Date:
2002-02-23
Published:
Kenya: Science Direct
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 109 Document Number: D10958
20 pages, via online journal, In this paper we provide evidence to show that farmers' perspectives on poverty processes and outcomes are critical in the early stages of evaluating impact of agricultural research on poverty. We summarize lessons learned from farmer impact assessment workshops held in five African locations, covering three agro-ecological zones and five different agroforestry and livestock technologies arising from collaborative national–international agricultural research. Poverty alleviation is a process that needs to be understood before impact can be measured. Workshops such as those we describe can help researchers to identify farmers' different ways of managing and using a technology and likely effects, unanticipated impacts, major impacts to pursue in more quantitative studies, the primary links between agricultural technology and poverty, and key conditioning factors affecting adoption and impact that can be used to stratify samples in more formal analyses. Farmer workshops inform other qualitative and quantitative impact assessment methods. We discuss the linkage of farmer-derived information with GIS-based approaches that allow more complete specification of recommendation domains and broader-scale measurement of impact.
22 pages, via online journal, Past explanations of why rural people respond as they do to external development interventions have emphasized the role of key limiting factors or critical characteristics (wealth, education, land tenure, etc.) which are thought to influence peoples' behavior in predictable ways. Efforts to promote tree planting and soil conservation in eight neighboring villages in the Philippines revealed that variation in participation did not reflect clear patterns based on existing household or village characteristics. Instead, specific responses to interventions reflected a complex, but interpretable interaction between existing socio-economic factors and historic trends or events. Characteristics like the degree of local knowledge, security of land tenure and community cohesion affected peoples' participation, in general, but their specific influence was neither predictable nor consistent between, and even within, individual villages. An appreciation of the specific historic context was often sufficient to explain these variations. The following historic trends and events were found to have important consequences for peoples' participation: migration and settlement history; family and group lineages; history of socio-political organization and conflict; history of physical isolation; labor history; economic–ecological history; environmental history; and past exposure to development agents. The paper concludes with a preliminary checklist of questions intended to assist researchers and development agents to discover relevant and interesting historical information about rural villages.
Park, J. (author), Seaton, R.A.F. (author), and Department of Agriculture,University of Reading, Earley Gate, Whiteknights, PO Box 236, Reading RG6 2AT, UK; International Ecotechnology Research Centre, Granfield University, Granfield, Bedfordshire MK43 OAL, UK
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1996
Published:
UK
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 101 Document Number: C08612
13 pages, via online journal, In recent years there has been a great deal of interest in farming systems research (FSR) as a means of getting formal research and extension systems to work with and respond to the needs of resource-poor farmers. However, the results of many FSR programmes have been disappointing. This paper reviews a number of ‘successful’ FSR activities and argues that the development and use of research approaches and methods cannot be separated from the political, economic and institutional context in which they were developed and used. A closer examination of some of the new FSR methods shows that an understanding of the specific context in which these activities were developed and used is essential to understanding the potential relevance of the methods/approaches to other circumstances. A lack of an historical perspective concerning the source and advocacy of new FSR approaches and methods is one of the reasons why many FSR programmes in the past have given rise to disappointing results.
Defoer, T. (author), Hussain, Sajidin (author), van Nieuwkoop, M. (author), and CIMMYT Economics Programme, Mexico; PATA Integrated Agricultural Development Project, Pakistan; PATA Integrated Agricultural Development Project, Pakistan
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1994
Published:
UK: Elsevier Science, London
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 96 Document Number: C07722
Hochman, Z. (author), Litchfield, R.W. (author), Pearson, C.J. (author), and NSW Agriculture, Wollongbar Agricultural Institute, Wollongbar, Australia; School of Crop Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; School of Crop Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1994
Published:
UK: Elsevier Science, London
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 96 Document Number: C07723
Crouch, Bruce R. (author), Hossain, M. Alamgir (author), and Hossain: Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh; Crouch: Rural Development Consultant, Australia
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1992
Published:
UK: Essex, UK : Elsevier Applied Science Publishers
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 92 Document Number: C06793
Nagy, Joseph G. (author), Sanders, John H. (author), and Nagy: International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA), Quetta, Pakistan; Sanders: Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1990
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 81 Document Number: C04791
Bertelsen, Michael K. (author), Grafton, R. Quentin (author), Walters, Edward B. (author), and Grafton: Department of Economics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Walters: MAF/HAVA/CARE, Fort Lauderdale, FL; Bertelsen: USAID/Rabat, American Embassy, New York, NY
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1990
Published:
UK
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 82 Document Number: C04876
Gilbert, E. (author), Posner, J. (author), Sumberg, J. (author), and Gilbert: Departments of Agricultural Research and Livestock Services, and The Gambian Agricultural Research and Diversification Project, Banjul, The Gambia; Posner: Department of Agronomy, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI; Sumberg: CARE International, Niamey, Niger
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1990
Published:
UK
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 82 Document Number: C04878
Crittenden, Robert (author), Lea, David A.M. (author), and Department of Geography and Planning, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia; Department of Geography and Planning, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1990
Published:
UK
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 82 Document Number: C04877
Andrews, Keith L. (author), Goodell, Grace (author), Lopez, Julio I. (author), and Goodell: Program on Social Change and Development, The Johns Hopkins University, School for Advanced International Studies, Washington, D.C.; Andrews: Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL; Lopez: Department of Plant Protection, Panamerican Agricultural School, El Zamorano, Honduras
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1990
Published:
UK
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 80 Document Number: C04601
Baillie, B. (author), Britton, I. (author), Macadam, R. (author), Potts, W. (author), Russell, D. (author), Shaw, A. (author), and University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury, Richmond, New South Wales, Australia; University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury, Richmond, New South Wales, Australia; University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury, Richmond, New South Wales, Australia; University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury, Richmond, New South Wales, Australia; New South Wales Department of Agriculture, Gunnedah, New South Wales, Australia; New South Wales Department of Agriculture, Gunnedah, New South Wales, Australia
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1990
Published:
UK
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 80 Document Number: C04684
Abalu, G.O.I. (author), Abdullahi, Y. (author), Fisher, N.M. (author), and Institute for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1987
Published:
UK
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 84 Document Number: C05337
Holt, J.E. (author), Schoorl, D. (author), and Holt: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia; Schoorl: Redlands Horticultural Research Station, Ormiston, Queensland, Australia
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1986
Published:
UK
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 83 Document Number: C05110
Okuneye, P.A. (author / Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), Ibadan, Nigeria) and Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), Ibadan, Nigeria
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1985
Published:
UK
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 84 Document Number: C05311
Holt, J.E. (author), Schoorl, D. (author), and Holt: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia; Schoorl: Redlands Horticultural Research Station, Ormiston, Queensland, Australia
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1985
Published:
UK
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 84 Document Number: C05310
INTERPAKS, Suggests the development of a farming systems approach for use by on-farm advisors in the developing world. Outlines procedures which could form the basis of a low-cost method of improving the effectiveness of farm-level advice in isolated areas with little recourse to institutional farming systems research organizations.
