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2. Assessing the status of social media familiarity among smallholder farmers: a case study of Thika, Kiambu Kenya
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Kimani, Anne W. (author), Nyang’anga, Hillary T. (author), and Mburu, John I. (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019
- Published:
- Pakistan: eSci Journals Publishing
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 122 Document Number: D11153
- Journal Title:
- International Journal of Agricultural Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- 7(1):13-20
- Notes:
- 8 pages., via online journal., Social media provides huge opportunities and incentives that could ease promotion of agricultural extension, facilitate real-time service delivery and enable wider farmer coverage. Ineffective dissemination approaches, expanding farmer population, low staffing, and aging agricultural extension agents continue to negatively affect the provision of agricultural extension services in Kenya. Despite the social media potential in agricultural communication, lack of awareness and low usage in the rural areas of developing countries have been documented. This study sought to establish the level of social media familiarity among smallholder rural farmers with the aim of exploring the possibility of usage in agricultural extension. The study was undertaken in Thika Sub-County of Kiambu County on 140 farmers through a researcher administered semi-structured questionnaire. Probability-proportional-to-size sampling method was employed to derive the sample size from existing extension farmer groups. Simple random sampling technique was further used to identify the actual respondents from each group. A low level of social media familiarity was established among the farmers with education, age and gender having significant influence. The study recommends awareness creation initiatives to promote social media familiarity with a particular focus on women who form the bulk of the farmers but with the lowest level of social media knowledge.
3. Blending digital and physical tools to deliver CSA information
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Ndirangu, Stella (author)
- Format:
- Opinion
- Publication Date:
- 2019
- Published:
- International: Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, ACP-EU, Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 153 Document Number: D11614
- Notes:
- 3 pages., Online from publisher., Author addresses "large gap between African extension services ... and the number of farmers being reached." ... "Africa's existing mobile network (currently the second biggest mobile market in the world) could be better utilised to bridge this gap and provide mobile-based agricultural information, advice and support to smallholder farmers."
4. Decoding agricultural digitalisation in Africa
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Boloh, Yanne (author) and Cartmell-Thorp, Susanna (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019
- Published:
- International: Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, ACP-EU Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 153 Document Number: D11615
- Journal Title:
- Spore
- Journal Title Details:
- 194 : 4-7
- Notes:
- 4 pages., Online from publisher., "For the first time, a landmark report on digitalisation for agriculture (D4Ag) in Africa compiles and highlights data on digital solutions that are enabling the transformation of African agriculture."
5. Information needs and barriers of rural smallholder farmers in developing countries: A case study of rural smallholder farmers in Malawi
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Phiri, Austine (author), Chipeta, George T. (author), and Chawinga, Winner D. (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019
- Published:
- SAGE Journals
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 114 Document Number: D11003
- Journal Title:
- Information Development
- Journal Title Details:
- 35(3): 421–434
- Notes:
- 14 pages., via online journal., The purpose of the study was to investigate the information needs and barriers of rural smallholder farmers in Mzimba North in Malawi. A mixed methods approach was adopted for the study and the Wilson’s Model of Information Behaviour (1996) guided the study. A questionnaire and focus group discussion guide were used to collect data from 202 rural smallholder farmers. The study found that the major information need of rural smallholder farmers was crop husbandry as revealed by the majority of rural smallholder farmers 149 (77.6). The study found that majority of rural smallholder farmers 180 (94.8%) were aware of information sources. The study also found that the predominant information sources consulted by rural smallholder farmers were personal experiences as indicated by the majority of rural smallholder farmers 185 (96%). The major challenge faced by rural smallholder farmers was lack of mobility as revealed by the majority of rural smallholder farmers 147 (76.6). The study recommends that the Department of Agriculture Extension Services (DAES) should empower the social structures such as families in rural settings with agricultural information.
6. Management information sources and communication strategies for commercially oriented smallholder beef cattle producers in Limpopo province, South Africa
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Mapiye, Obvious (author), Makombe, Godswill (author), Mapiye, Cletos (author), and Dzama, Kennedy (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-06-19
- Published:
- International: SAGE Journals
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12172
- Journal Title:
- Outlook on Agriculture
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol 49, Issue 1, 2020
- Notes:
- 7 pages., A survey was conducted to identify management information sources and communication channels used by commercially oriented smallholder beef cattle producers (n = 62) in Limpopo province, South Africa. A total of 62 commercially oriented smallholder farmers under the Limpopo Industrial Development Corporation-Nguni cattle project were interviewed using a structured questionnaire to collect data. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse data on farmers’ demographic and farm characteristics, sources of information and communication channels used. A multinomial logistic regression model was used to evaluate factors that influenced farmers’ choices of information sources and communications channels used. Findings show that government extension (53% of the respondents) and other farmers (30%) were the major sources of management information for the farmers. Based on the logistic regression results, the decision to choose government extension as the main source of information was mainly influenced by respondents’ gender (p = 0.001) and access to training (p = 0.023). Communication was mainly through farm-to-farm visits (56%) and the use of mobile phones (30%). Based on the current findings, the infusion of modern information communication technologies such as mobile phone-based innovations with the existing government extension service could further strengthen the capacity of farmers to share information among themselves as well as providing feedback to extension agents. Furthermore, it is essential to take cognizance of farmers’ socio-economic factors when identifying and characterizing their management information sources and communication strategies.
7. The Dynamics of Climate Change Adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Climate-Smart Agriculture among Small-Scale Farmers
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Abegunde, Victor (author), Sibanda, Melusi (author), and Obi, Aburuchukwu (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-03-01
- Published:
- United States of America: MDPI
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12470
- Journal Title:
- Climate
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 7 Issue 11
- Notes:
- Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) as a credible alternative to tackle food insecurity under the changing climate is gaining wide acceptance. However, many developing countries have realized that concepts that have been recommended as solutions to existing problems are not suitable in their contexts. This paper synthesizes a subset of literature on CSA in the context of small-scale agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa as it relates to the need for CSA, factors influencing CSA adoption, and the challenges involved in understanding and scaling up CSA. Findings from the literature reveal that age, farm size, the nature of farming, and access to extension services influence CSA adoption. Many investments in climate adaptation projects have found little success because of the sole focus on the technology-oriented approach whereby innovations are transferred to farmers whose understanding of the local farming circumstances are limited. Climate-smart agriculture faces the additional challenge of a questionable conceptual understanding among policymakers as well as financing bottlenecks. This paper argues that the prospects of CSA in small-scale agriculture rest on a thorough socio-economic analysis that recognizes the heterogeneity of the small farmer environment and the identification and harnessing of the capacities of farming households for its adoption and implementation
8. Unearthing the potential of participatory, and information and communication technologies’ led extension and learning approaches in agricultural and environmental education in Uganda
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Karubanga, Gabriel (author) and Agea, Jacob Geofrey (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-08
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 122 Document Number: D11143
- Journal Title:
- African Journal of Rural Development
- Journal Title Details:
- 3(2):29-737.
- Notes:
- 9 pages., ISSN 2415-2838, via online journal., Uganda’s public agricultural extension system has experienced several reforms since colonial times. However, available literature indicates that a large number of smallholder farmers remain unreached by the extension systems. To address the above problem, there has been a call to unearth the role of participatory and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)-led extension and learning approaches for agricultural and environmental education, and development in the country. As such, a review study was conducted on the context and the potential of participatory, and ICT-led extension and learning approaches to agricultural and environmental education. The reviews involved thematic and content analysis of variables of interest. The review findings presented a critical review of the historical and current state of agricultural extension reforms in Uganda. It also highlighted the challenges and lessons on the status, context, and potential of participatory, and ICT-led extension and learning in agricultural and environmental education in Uganda. It elaborated on recurring extension issues and described the experiences on the role of ICTs to extension and emerging practices that are enhancing the delivery of timely information that suits the needs of farmers. Policy recommendations were henceforth made to tap the potential of participatory, and ICT-led extension and learning approaches in order to enhance the performance of agricultural extension systems in Uganda.