16 pages., via online journal., This study was conducted in Ethiopia to determine the use of mobile phones in agriculture. The study included 320 household heads who owned mobile phones. Data were collected using an interview schedule. The results revealed that the majority (90.6%) of household heads made phone calls for agricultural purposes. Over three quarters (85.9%) of the household heads received phone calls related to agriculture. Short message service (SMS) was poorly used. It is concluded that mobile phones are playing an important role as an informational medium. Therefore, the Ministry of Agriculture in Ethiopia needs to develop a mobile-based agricultural information dissemination system to enhance information delivery to rural farming households.
Online from UI Library subscription., Reports a case study of efforts to control an infestation of water hyacinth in Lake Tana, largest lake in Ethiopia. Findings revealed that participatory communication was equated to a public relations activity of organizing campaigns with the local people urged to participate by providing labour contribution of harvesting and collecting the weed from the lake. The communication approach was found to be a one-way, top-down approach which does not facilitate a horizontal dialogue among stakeholders.
9 pages, Poverty is an important issue for third world Sub-Saharan African countries such as Ethiopia. To assist with poverty alleviation, a great number of nongovernmental organizations have moved resources into the region, but the problem has not significantly improved. This paper studies the Jerusalem Children and Community Development Organization (JeCCDO), an NGO that has engaged in poverty alleviation programs in Ethiopia for more than 35 years. The study examines communication practices used by JeCCDO as part of its poverty alleviation programs in Negede Woito community (Bahir Dar, Ethiopia). We use a qualitative research methodology to assess the organization’s communication practices, as well as the challenges it and the Negede Woito community face. Poverty is perceived as lack of resources by JeCCDO, but the community also prioritizes other forms of poverty such as psychological and cultural. Our findings reveal that JeCCDO is renowned for using a social enterprise development model and a participatory communication approach. However, in practice we find these are not used. In the models, endogenous knowledge and grassroots communication were vital to community development, but JeCCDO did not implement them during planning, implementing, and evaluating community-based programs. Community workers who coordinated the organization and the community were Negede Woito community members. Besides grassroots communication, knowing the context and living situation of the community is mandatory for development agents. JeCCDO did not contextualize development efforts, such as sheep fattening and poultry for people who did not have shelter. In conclusion, we propose that nongovernmental organizations and development workers should reconsider their communication contexts and practices while launching new poverty alleviation programs.
10 pages, Online via UI Library electronic subscription. Open access., "This paper re-affirms that women make essential contributions to agriculture and rural enterprises across the developing world. But there is much diversity in women's roles and over-generalization undermines policy relevance and planning."
22 pages, Smallholder farmers in developing countries encounter multiple barriers in access to inputs and technology, which prevent them from reaping the benefits from market participation. Women farmers face additional constraints due to gender norms that further limit their engagement in productive activities. While collective action has been shown to improve access to markets and economic outcomes for farmers overall, the evidence on the effects of cooperative membership for women smallholders remains limited. We investigate empirically the economic benefits of collective action for women farmers in the honey sector in Ethiopia. Relying on a rich data set on women honey producers, both cooperative members and non-members, we evaluate the effects of belonging to a cooperative on three outcome variables through coarsened exact matching and regression analysis. Our results indicate that cooperative membership significantly increases the market price and the production quantity and, while the average effect on the share of product marketed is statistically insignificant, significant differences emerge for women with given characteristics. These results are shown to be robust to a number of tests that address biases from selection on observables and unobservables. An analysis of the heterogeneous effects of household membership in multiple groups finds that membership of self-help groups or farmer associations amplifies the positive outcomes from belonging to a formal cooperative. Finally, qualitative findings derived from the same communities indicate self-reported improvements in agency and self-esteem among women members, thus reinforcing the importance of the quantitative findings.
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
5 pages., September-November issue via online., Digitalisation is improving the agricultural extension system by providing services at the right time, and facilitating adoption of new agronomic practices, resulting in yield improvements and higher incomes for farming households.
