13 pages, The sustainability of milpa agriculture, a traditional Mayan farming system in southern Belize, is uncertain. For centuries, the milpa has been a sustainable agriculture system. The slash-and-burn aspect of milpa farming, however, has become less reliable and less sustainable over the last 50 years due to several factors, including forest loss, climate change, population growth, and other factors. The traditional milpa practices of slash-and-mulch and soil nutrient enrichment (nutrient cycling) are agroecological practices that produce food in a more sustainable way. Agriculture extension, a government service in Belize, can promote additional agroecological practices to address food and livelihood insecurities in milpa communities. This study examines perceptions of these practices from milpa farmers and agricultural extension officers in Belize using a socio-ecological systems (SES) framework. SES considers multidisciplinary linkages, including social, economic, environmental, cultural, and other factors in the agroecological system. The study finds several of these SES linkages between agroecological practices--specifically slash-andmulch and soil nutrient enrichment--and the sustainability of the milpa farming system in southern Belize. Milpa communities are part of the broader SES and therefore are affected by changes to it. Milpa communities can also be enabled and participate in solution-finding. The findings imply that increasing the use of agroecology practices in milpa communities is needed and that government involvement and action, particularly from agriculture extension services, can facilitate a more sustainable milpa farming system and therefore more food and livelihood security in milpa communities in Belize.
21 pages, The Malaysian palm oil industry faces many challenges, especially in agricultural technology at the plantation level because smallholders have trouble getting detailed information and the latest data on the palm oil industry issues. More
efficient extension services are needed in meeting the need to increase knowledge. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is the best method to accelerate agricultural technology transfer from research institutions to smallholders. Growing concerns about the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on health have prompted development agents to change the course and landscape of their delivery to social media application as a new norm socialisation agent. The study aims to examine the role of information and communication technology as a tool for developing new norms in conveying information and empowering smallholders’ knowledge. This study uses a qualitative approach through content analysis on several reports from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). The study found that the use of social media platforms among Malaysians is high, thus the level of application of technology and palm oil information needs to be improved through social media applications. The government needs to develop social media applications that are friendly, easily accessible and the information presented is easy to understand. The implication of this study is that the use of information and communication technology will change the pattern of expansion of the palm oil sector in Malaysia in the future.