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2. Awareness level of use of Information Communication Technologies tools among Extension officers in the North- West Province, South Africa
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Mabe LK (author), Oladele OI (author), and Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, North –West University Mafikeng Campus, South Africa.
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2012-01
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 109 Document Number: D10986
- Journal Title:
- Life Science Journal
- Journal Title Details:
- 9(3) : 440-444
- Notes:
- 5 pages., A simple random sampling technique was used to select 169 extension officers to examine their level of awareness of information communication technologies in North West Province, South Africa. Data were collected with structured questionnaire and analysed using frequency counts, percentages and multiple regression analysis. The results show that majority of the extension officers were male (76%) with the mean age of 44.6 years, married (79%) and 82.5% were Christians. Forty one percent of the extension officers had Diploma as their educational qualification and a mean of 16.7 years as working experience. The results revealed that out of the 37 ICT tools listed, extension officers indicated high level of awareness of nine tools, which include mobile phones (1.79), computer (1.68), internet (1.77), overhead projector (1.62), fax machines (1.60), organization e mail (1.58), fixed telephone (1.52), personal email (1.52) and organization website (1.50). Significant determinants of awareness level were were religion (t = 1.91, p = 0.58); constraints to ICT use (t = 1.78, p = 0.78); importance of ICT tool (t = 1.93; p = 0.63) and 2 were significant at 0.05% which were competence on ICT use (t= 3.50; p = .001); (t= 2.0, p = .003). The study recommends that more information communication technologies should be made available to extension officers, so that they will become more aware of the use of ICT in extension work as tools that can gather and disseminate agricultural information.
3. GeoFarmer: a monitoring and feedback system for agricultural development projects
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Eitzinger, Anton (author), Cock, James (author), Atzmanstorfer, Karl (author), Binder, Claudia R. (author), Läderach, Peter (author), Bonilla-Findji, Osana (author), Bartlin, Mona (author), Mwongera, Caroline (author), Zurita, Leo (author), and Jarvis, Andy (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-03
- Published:
- Germany: Elsevier
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 7 Document Number: D10292
- Journal Title:
- Computers and Electronics in Agriculture
- Journal Title Details:
- 158 : 109-121
- Notes:
- 13 pages., Via online journal., Farmers can manage their crops and farms better if they can communicate their experiences, both positive and negative, with each other and with experts. Digital agriculture using internet communication technology (ICT) may facilitate the sharing of experiences between farmers themselves and with experts and others interested in agriculture. ICT approaches in agriculture are, however, still out of the reach of many farmers. The reasons are lack of connectivity, missing capacity building and poor usability of ICT applications. We decided to tackle this problem through cost-effective, easy to use ICT approaches, based on infrastructure and services currently available to small-scale producers in developing areas. Working through a participatory design approach, we developed and tested a novel technology. GeoFarmer provides near real-time, two-way data flows that support processes of co-innovation in agricultural development projects. It can be used as a cost-effective ICT-based platform to monitor agricultural production systems with interactive feedback between the users, within pre-defined geographical domains. We tested GeoFarmer in four geographic domains associated with ongoing agricultural development projects in East and West Africa and Latin America. We demonstrate that GeoFarmer is a cost-effective means of providing and sharing opportune indicators of on-farm performance. It is a potentially useful tool that farmers and agricultural practitioners can use to manage their crops and farms better, reduce risk, increase productivity and improve their livelihoods.
4. Social factors that influence use of ICT in agricultural extension in Southern Africa
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Tata, Joyous S. (author) and McNamara, Paul E. (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2016-04-08
- Published:
- MDPI
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 11 Document Number: D10335
- Journal Title:
- Agriculture
- Journal Title Details:
- 6(2) : 15
- Notes:
- 10 pages., Via open source journal., Farmbook is a novel information communication technology (ICT) tool for agricultural extension that is currently being field tested by the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in Southern and East Africa. Farmbook enables extension agents to assess productivity and profitability of farming enterprises in a faster and more reliable manner, so as to increase farmer incomes and achieve food security. This study looked at the relationship between challenges faced by extension agents testing the Farmbook application and select socio-economic indicators influencing their work. Specific objectives were to identify and categorize the challenges facing extension agents in the field as they used Farmbook, assess gender differences in the use of Farmbook by extension agents, understand the relationship between socio-economic status of extension agents and the challenges faced in using Farmbook. Data were collected through document reviews, administration of a structured questionnaire and focus group meetings with field agents. Descriptive statistics and multivariate techniques were used to analyze data. The results show that personal and wider socio-economic conditions do have an impact on the proficiency of extension agents using Farmbook. The study goes on to recommend measures to improve the training and ICT proficiency of extension agents adopting Farmbook
5. 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