23 pages, Increasing doctoral degree holders in Sub-Saharan Africa may significantly impact the quality and quantity of undergraduate and graduate programs. Research capacity is crucial to successfully completing a thesis or dissertation and obtaining a graduate degree. Unfortunately, in Sub-Saharan Africa, many students abandon or delay their degrees at this stage due to limited research and writing skills. This study aimed to identify the most critical thesis and dissertation (TD) research needs of masters and PhD students from Sub-Saharan Africa. Thirty-eight skills were identified from the literature and presented to agricultural education and extension/leadership students. Borich (1980) and Witkin (1984) needs assessment models were used to ascertain the perceived importance and extent of students' knowledge of TD topic areas. The top identified needs were extracting a manuscript from a thesis, writing a journal article, choosing inferential statistics, deciding the descriptive statics, and what to review in the literature. A total of 15 items were identified as critical needs using the Witkin model. The findings identified challenges and opportunities for improving Sub-Saharan African graduate students' research knowledge and TD performance, implying that combining the two models to identify training needs may produce more comprehensive results than using only one methodology.
7 pgs, Extension is uniquely positioned to deliver data-driven solutions to complex community issues with University applied research, particularly through crises like COVID-19. Applying the Policy, Systems and Environmental (PSE) framework to community development is an effective, innovative approach in guiding Extension leaders to create, document, and share long-term transformative change on challenging issues with stakeholders. Beyond the public health sector, applying a PSE approach to community development provides leverage points for population-level benefits across sectors. This article describes current public health approaches, methodologies, and how the PSE framework translates to other programs with four examples of high-impact, systems level Extension projects.
21 pages, One of the most complex agricultural and natural resources challenges of our time is reconciling sustainable global food security and biodiversity conservation. Providing undergraduate students effective, learning experiences to develop technical and cultural competency prepares them to address this challenge and become global leaders in their disciplines. A three-year experiential research and extension project brought together 14 students and 10 faculty mentors to investigate smallholder farmers practicing conservation-compatible adjacent to the Vaca Forest Reserve in Belize. We used an agroecological approach to foster systems-level thinking and develop transdisciplinary skills of undergraduate students. Students completed applied individual research projects that explored the challenge of food security and biodiversity conservation in the tropics, and worked collaboratively with local stakeholders, design and implement extension projects based on research results. Student and faculty teams assessed cropping and soil management practices; social and economic systems; and wildlife, forestry, and ecosystem services. We assessed student learning outcomes with a tool commonly used for evaluating undergraduate research. Students reported learning gains in attitudes and behaviors toward research, mindset towards research, ability to think and work like a scientist, and research skills. Students also reported positive working relationships with mentors and peers, and a high level of publication and presentation outputs. Students reported that their Belize experience helped develop their agroecological and cross-cultural knowledge and skills, and prepared them for their next career steps. We conclude with recommendations for higher education institutions wishing to develop meaningful global undergraduate research experiences that can build the next generation of leaders.
20 pages., Agricultural extension and advisory services in information and technology dissemination and delivery are critical in a
developing country’s food security and sustainability. Without extension service provision, the productivity and
production smallholder farmers are experiencing would have been much lower, and current global hunger and
malnutrition worse. This paper assesses the effects of COVID-19 on the sustainability of agricultural extension
models/approaches for smallholder farmers in developing countries. Over 60 papers were reviewed covering 2019-2021,
commencing with the disease outbreak in China. Based on characteristics and usage, the findings indicate most reviewed
extension models were disrupted. No single model was entirely disbanded as the impact of COVID-19 was being felt.
However, each model incorporated a digital means of communication to keep farmers and service providers in touch.
There is considerable criticism around the inadequacy of these extension techniques in advancing the agenda for
smallholder farming’s long-term viability that needs to be addressed
5pgs, Strong communication skills are important in an individual’s personal and professional life; however, research regarding what influences youth’s public speaking self-efficacy is limited. To address this gap, we surveyed youth who participated in a statewide presentation event about their self-efficacy and sources of that self-efficacy. Results show mastery experiences have the greatest relationship to youth’s public speaking confidence. Extension can strengthen youth’s public speaking self-efficacy by increasing the number of presentation opportunities and by removing barriers from participating in existing presentation opportunities.
7 pgs, Farmers’ markets may improve access to healthful foods in rural areas. Our objective was to identify facilitators and barriers to farmers’ market use in a rural county. We collected data via surveys, focus group sessions, and key informant interviews. Study participants identified the two existing farmers’ markets as community assets. Barriers to use farmers’ markets included inconvenient market hours, not accepting nutrition assistance program benefits, limited transportation, and limited variety. Interventions to improve food access should include ways to meet the needs of specific populations such as low-income residents and residents living in outlying areas without farmers’ markets.
20 pages., Given the multi-benefits, enset cultivation has been continuously underutilized in Ethiopia. We assess best practices, processing technologies, environmental maintenance, multi-benefits of enset and its potency in hunger reduction in Ethiopia by reviewing evidence on good farm practices, improved technologies, sustainability, hunger reduction, inputs cost, and yields advantage of enset. The review results identify those best practices that optimize enset yield, technologies that facilitate extension services, processing and food qualities of enset. Moreover, we find that enset is a first-rated climate-smart crop, superior hunger solution because of its apparent capability to endure long periods (more than 5 years) of drought, highest yield, energy food supply, and costs advantages. In contrast, its long-period maturity, cultural perceptions, and little development policy attention given to enset limit its expansion. Therefore, exploring and creating universal access mechanism of early maturing and high-yielding varieties, processing technologies and mobile-based advices, involving best practices of enset in regular agricultural extension services, changing social perceptions optimize enset yield and production thereby it contributes environmental sustainability and cuts hunger challenges.
12pgs, COVID 19 has exacerbated and underscored structural inequalities and endemic vulnerabilities in food, economic, and social systems, compounding concerns about environmental sustainability and racial and economic justice. Convergent crises have amplified a growing chorus of voices and movements calling for new thinking and new practices to adapt to these shifts, mitigate their impact, and address their root causes through far reaching changes in social and economic life and values, including breaking with the free market paradigm. In the face of a historic choice between transition or multiple systems collapse that deepen injustice and threaten planetary survival, I make the case for expanding on liberatory tendencies in Extension programs to build capacities for response-ability to transition toward more just and sustainable futures.
Rizkiansyah, M. (author), Ariestyani, A. (author), and Yunus, U. (author)
Format:
Conference paper with abstract
Publication Date:
2022-03-01
Published:
Netherlands: IOP Publishing
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12513
Journal Title Details:
2022 Iop Sci. Conference
Notes:
9 pages, Data from the Indonesian Seed and Farmers Technology Association data shows that 22 percent of Indonesian farmers have used smartphones to obtain agricultural information. But many farmers still struggle to get information especially in the pandemic era. This research is to find out how the comparison of information delivery patterns between traditional media and cyber media on farmers in Bangil. Indonesia. This research theory uses the theory of cyber extensions. This research method by, observe online media, interviewing several farmers in Bangil and supported by survey data to 85 farmers in Bangil. The results showed that although cyber media began to enter as one of the sources of information for farmers, only a few were dependent on online, while the rest still relied on information from extension methods. Counselling still needed as a connection between farmers and Internet.
12 pages, Smallholder farms are complex systems, constantly adapting to context and rely on local, place-based knowledges. The vital role of local knowledge in smallholder farming systems has seen attempts throughout low- and middle-income countries to entwine local knowledge with scientific knowledge to improve outcomes from agricultural extension. Using a systematic review and exploratory meta-synthesis of selected literature, this research explored the use of local knowledge in agricultural extension. The synthesis found local knowledge plays a vital role in the adoption of new technologies or practices because as the dominant form of knowledge in communities they give learners confidence and they provide a context upon which new information can be introduced. However, effective use of local knowledge requires a realistic perspective which recognises that some combination of local and scientific knowledge, developed in a participatory process, will likely result in extension delivering greater outcomes to farmers.
