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2. Learning from experts and peer farmers about rice production: experimental evidence from Cote d’Ivoire
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Takahashi, Kazushi (author), Mano, Yukichi (author), and Otsuka, Keijiro (author)
- Format:
- Journal article abstract
- Publication Date:
- 2019
- Published:
- Elsevier
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 18 Document Number: D10534
- Journal Title:
- World Development
- Journal Title Details:
- 122: 157-169
- Notes:
- Abstract via online journal. 2 pages., Technological innovation is vital to economic growth and food security in sub-Saharan Africa where agricultural productivity has been stagnant for a long time. Extension services and learning from peer farmers are two common approaches to facilitate the diffusion of new technologies, but little is known about their relative effectiveness. Selection bias, whereby well-motivated training participants would perform better even without extension services, as well as knowledge spillovers, where non-participants can indirectly benefit from extension services, are among the major threats to causal inference. Using a unique sequential randomized experiment on agricultural training, this study attempts to meet the dual objectives of executing rigorous impact evaluation of extension services and subsequent spillovers on rice production in Cote d’Ivoire. Specifically, to reduce selection bias, we randomly assigned eligibility for training participation; and to satisfy the stable unit treatment value assumption, control-group farmers were initially restricted from exchanging information with treated-group farmers who had received rice management training. Once some positive impacts were confirmed, information exchange between the treated and control farmers was encouraged. We found that the initial performance gaps created by the randomized assignment disappeared over time, due presumably to social learning from peer farmers. A detailed analysis concerning the information network and peer effects provided suggestive evidence that there were information and technology spillovers from treated to control farmers after removing the information exchange restriction. Overall, our study demonstrates that information dissemination by farmers can be as effective in improving practices as the initial training provided by extension services.
3. Smallholders farmers' attitudes and determinants of adaptation to climate risks in East Africa
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Shikuku, Kelvin M. (author), Winowiecki, Leigh (author), Twyman, Jennifer (author), Eitzinger, Anton (author), Perez, Juan G. (author), Mwongera, Caroline (author), and Läderach, Peter (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2017-03-08
- Published:
- Africa
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 169 Document Number: D08757
- Journal Title:
- Climate Risk Management
- Journal Title Details:
- 16 : 234-245
4. Using radio and interactive ICTs to improve food security among smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Heather E. Hudson (author), Mark Leclair (author), Bernard Pelletier (author), and Recent publications: (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2017-08
- Published:
- USA: Elsevier
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 149 Document Number: D10116
- Journal Title:
- Telecommunications Policy
- Journal Title Details:
- 41(7/8) : 670-684
- Notes:
- 15 pages., via online journal, Radio is the most widely used medium for disseminating information to rural audiences across Africa. Even in very poor communities, radio penetration is vast; it is estimated there are over 800 million radios in Sub-Saharan Africa. The paper summarizes evidence on food insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa and strategies to provide information on innovative agricultural practices to smallholder farmers. The research in this paper is then discussed within the context of research on information and communication technologies (ICTS) for development. Next, the paper presents the ICT-enhanced participatory radio campaign approach and ICT innovations introduced by Farm Radio International, a Canadian nongovernmental organization. The paper analyzes two participatory radio campaigns that use both listening groups and ICTs to engage African farmers. Research on these radio campaigns in six African countries is reported to examine how the participatory approach impacted listenership, knowledge and initial adoption of agricultural techniques and practices presented in the radio campaigns. The authors conclude that the findings of research on these projects could be highly relevant for increasing awareness and adoption of agricultural practices in Sub-Saharan Africa. They also appear promising for other development sectors and for other developing regions