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2. Do agricultural extension services promote adoption of soil and water conservation practices? evidence from northern Ghana
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Danso-Abbeam, Gideon (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-09-06
- Published:
- Netherlands: Elsevier B.V.
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12801
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Agriculture and Food Research
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 10
- Notes:
- 10 pages, Agricultural environment in many developing economies has become increasingly unpredictable in recent decades as a result of climate change, increasing the risk of crop failure. Access to meaningful information is required to mitigate the negative effects of the changing environment. This study examined the impact of agricultural extension services on the adoption of soil and water conservation (SWC) practices using data obtained from farming households in Northern Ghana. A multivariate probit model was used to assess the simultaneous or/and substitution adoption of SWC practices, while endogenous switching probit (ESP) was used to estimate the impact of extension services on adoption of SWC practices to account for observed and unobserved heterogeneities. The results showed that most of the SWC practices were adopted jointly, and factors such as non-farm economic activites and farm size influence the adoption of SWC practices. Moreover, farmers who accessed agricultural extension services had a higher probability of adopting most of the SWC practices (crop rotation, contour ploughing and manure application), and those who did not benefit from extension services would have had an equally higher likelihood of adopting the SWC practices had they accessed the services. The findings of the study imply that enhancing agricultural extension services will reduce adoption gaps in SWC practices, and consequently reduce farmers’ exposure to climate-related agricultural production risks. With growing information and communication technologies, pluralistic extension service delivery that mixes governmental and private-sector-led approaches to extension operations to foster demand-driven extension delivery services are highly recommended.
3. An overview of agricultural extension in Ghana and Burkina Faso and implications for sustainable agriculture in West Africa
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Santuah, Niagia (author), Abazaami, Joseph (author), Kaunza-nu-dem Millar, Katharine (author), and Amikuzuno, Joseph (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-07-31
- Published:
- Nigeria: Academic Journals
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12740
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 14, N.3
- Notes:
- 7 pages, Agricultural extension is the medium through which external agricultural technologies have been transferred to and transplanted in Africa to improve agricultural performance. Over a period of close to a century, different agricultural extension models have been proposed but their structure and content has virtually been the same: top-down, linear, non-participatory transfer of technology with no feedback loops for reverse diffusion. This presumably explains the poor performance of Africa’s agriculture and the scale of food security challenges facing the continent. In this review paper, we trace the history of agricultural extension and examine various agricultural extension delivery models to identify their major strengths and weaknesses, using Ghana and Burkina Faso as case studies. We then review the most recent literature in the field about the philosophy, scope, content, delivery, and outcomes of agricultural extension. The conclusion that agricultural extension has consistently remained out of sync with the needs and aspirations of stallholder farmers was reached. Smallholder farmers are now calling for new agricultural extension delivery models that are truly farmer-led, indigenous knowledge-based, context-specific, culturally-relevant and environmentally-sustainable to guarantee efficient farming systems into the future.
4. Using renewable energy to meet the energy needs of smallholder farmers: are there policies to promote adoption in Ghana?
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Karbo, R. T. (author), Frewer, L. J. (author), Areal, F. (author), and Yu, E. (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-06-30
- Published:
- Ghana: Council for Scientific and Industrial Research of Ghana
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12764
- Journal Title:
- Ghana Journal of Agricultural Science
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 57, N.1
- Notes:
- 15 pages, Integrating renewable energy (RE) technologies into agriculture can contribute to attaining sustainable production. Farmers’ adoption of RE in agriculture can lead to substantial reductions in Greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions as well as providing alternative income sources for farmers, and reliable energy supplies for farms and households. Policies can facilitate, support, or encourage farmers’ adoption of RE. However, it is not clear what policies currently exist which facilitate or promote the adoption of RE technologies in Ghanaian agriculture. This paper aims to identify policies in Ghana that can facilitate the adoption of RE in agricultural production. A policy review was conducted to identify such policies, evaluate their potential impact on RE adoption, and suggest paths to enhance RE adoption by farmers. These policies are focused on two aspects: 1) promoting solar energy and 2) the conversion of agricultural waste to energy. Noting limitations including the underdevelopment of the RE sector and the lack of a central policy to promote RE utilization in Ghanaian agriculture, the review suggests that policymakers need to fully implement provisions of the Renewable Energy Act-(832) (2011) through the application of, for example, policy levers such as subsidies, tax exemptions, financing, and training potential end-users in the agricultural community.
5. Effects of information on smallholder irrigation farmers’ willingness to pay for groundwater protection
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Alhassan, Mustapha (author), Gustafson, Christopher R. (author), and Schoengold, Karina (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-01-14
- Published:
- United States: Wiley Online
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12445
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Agricultural Economics
- Notes:
- 13 pages, In Ghana, groundwater, accessed through wells and boreholes, is generally unregulated and may be contaminated with pollutants including excess nitrates from agricultural chemical fertilizers. Yet, studies estimating how clean groundwater is valued are not available in Ghana. In addition, some research suggests that the pre-experiment information provided to survey respondents affects their valuation of an identical outcome. This paper estimates smallholder farmers’ preferences for groundwater protection using pre-experiment information focused on one of two outcomes: environment or health. The double-bounded contingent valuation (DBCV) approach is used to estimate willingness to pay (WTP) to protect groundwater quality. The estimation accounts for shift and anchoring effects, which are common issues with the DBCV method. The mean WTP from the health (environmental) information subsample is about US$19 (US$17) per acre, and the values are significantly different between the information conditions. The findings shed light on the importance of using precise information in eliciting WTP in a developing country setting.
6. The adoption problem is a matter of ft: tracing the travel of pruning practices from research to farm in Ghana’s cocoa sector
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Adomaa, Faustina Obeng (author), Vellema, Sietze (author), Slingerland, Maja (author), and Asare, Richard (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-01-11
- Published:
- USA: Springer
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12650
- Journal Title:
- Agriculture and Human Values
- Journal Title Details:
- Iss. 39
- Notes:
- 15 pages, Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) are central to sustainability standards and certifcation programmes in the global cocoa chain. Pruning is one of the practices promoted in extension services associated with these sustainability efforts. Yet concerns exist about the low adoption rate of these GAPs by smallholder cocoa farmers in Ghana. A common approach to addressing this challenge is based on creating enabling conditions and offering appropriate incentives. We use the concepts of inscription and afordance to trace the vertically coordinated travel of recommended pruning from research to extension and farming sites, and to describe how pruning is carried out diferently at each site. Our analysis suggests that enactments of pruning at the extension site reduce the number of options and space for interactions, and this constrains making the practice meaningful to farmers’ repertoires. The conventions guiding and legitimising actions at this site, reinforced by sustainability standards, certifcation schemes and associated inspections and audits, favour standardised recommendations and consequently narrow room for context-specifc diagnostics and adaptions. Therefore, we reframe the adoption problem as a matter of fitbetween different sites in the ‘agricultural research value chain’ embedded in the operational cocoa chain. Our contribution problematises the dominant framing of low adoption and highlights that the movement of pruning and the sequential enactment at different sites constrain the affordances available for rendering the practice meaningful to farmers’ repertoires. Consequently, addressing the low uptake of GAPs requires institutional work towards conventions that can construct a fit between sites along the agricultural research value chain
7. Edu-Communication Strategies of Cashew Production in a Rural Ghanaian Community
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Anyarayor, B.K (author), Amadu, M.F. (author), and Alhassan, A. (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-10-03
- Published:
- Ghana: Extension Education Society
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12337
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Extension Education
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 32 No. 3
- Notes:
- 10 pages., This study examined the edu-communication strategies that agriculture extension service agencies use in the dissemination and promotion of innovation adoption among cashew farmers in the Kpandai district agricultural zones in Northern Ghana. A total of 140 cashew farmers were sampled using simple random sampling technique. Three District Agricultural Officers (DAO) and twenty-one satellite Agriculture Extension Officers (AEO) were also drawn into the sample. The results of the study show that, face to face interaction, field demonstration, entertainment- education through community radio broadcasting and Farmer Group Discussions (FGDs) were extensively and efficiently used by the AEOs to promote adoption of improved production technologies among cashew farmers. The study discovered that EduCom strategies contribute to higher rates of adoption and partly accounts for increased cashew yields in the study area. The indigenisation of agriculture extension services approaches using local language in the design and dissemination of adoption process is, highly recommended as a core tenet of technology dissemination if higher adoption rates are expected.
8. Intermediation Capabilities of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Ghana’s Agricultural Extension System
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Munthali, Nyamwaya (author), Lie, Rico (author), Van Lammeren, Ron (author), Van Paassen, Annemarie (author), Leeuwis, Cees (author), and Asare, Richard (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-06-12
- Published:
- South Africa: University of Witwatersrand
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12435
- Journal Title:
- African Journal of Information and Communication
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 28 (2021)
- Notes:
- 37 pages., Information and communication technologies (ICTs), specifically those that are digital and interactive, present opportunities for enhanced intermediation between actors in Ghana’s agricultural extension system. To understand these opportunities, this study investigates the capabilities of ICTs in support of seven forms of intermediation in the context of agricultural extension: disseminating (information), retrieving (information), harvesting (information), matching (actors to services), networking (among actors), coordinating (actors), and co-creating (among actors). The study identifies the types of ICTs currently functioning in Ghana’s agricultural system, and applies a Delphi-inspired research design to determine the consensus and dissensus of researchers, scientists, and practitioners about the potential of these ICTs to support each of the seven intermediation capabilities. The findings reveal that experts reached consensus that interactive voice response (IVR) technologies currently have the highest potential to support disseminating, retrieving, harvesting, and matching. Meanwhile, social media messaging (SMM) technologies are currently seen as highly capable of supporting coordinating and, to a lesser extent, co-creating, but no consensus is reached on the potential of any of the technologies to support networking.
9. Adoption and intensity of use of mobile money among smallholder farmers in rural Ghana
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Kofi Asravor, Richard (author), Boakye, Afia Nyarko (author), and Essuman, John (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-04-21
- Published:
- International: SAGE Journals
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12310
- Journal Title:
- Information Development
- Journal Title Details:
- Online First
- Notes:
- 10 pages., he impact of mobile money services in sub-Saharan Africa have been largely recognised. However, empirical studies are principally lacking on the factors influencing the decision to own a mobile phone (first hurdle), register with mobile money (second hurdle) and the intensity of use of mobile money services (third hurdle). This study examined the determinants of the mobile phone ownership, drivers of registration (participation) of mobile money services, and the intensity of use of mobile money services in rural Ghana by employing the triple hurdle approach. The first and second hurdle were analysed using the logit model while quasi-poisson regression was used to analyse the third hurdle. The analysis from the cross-sectional data showed that the decision to own a mobile phone was driven by household size, marital status, the farm size, access to electricity, income status and the type of occupation engaged, whereas the decision to register with mobile money was influenced by the age, educational status, marital status, household size, farm size and the type of occupation engaged in by the household head. The intensity of usage of mobile money services was influenced by the age of the household head, higher educational level, marital status of the household head, household and farm size as well as the distance of the household heads from the mobile money agent which directly influences the intensity of use of mobile money services by household heads. The study recommends that strategies that promote access to electricity and occupation in the formal sector or both farming and trading in the rural communities should be promoted. Furthermore, policy attention should focus on location, farmers and farm characteristics.
10. Farmers’ perception on soil erosion in Ghana: Implication for developing sustainable soil management strategy
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Tesfahunegn, Gebreyesus Brhane (author), Ayuk, Elias T. (author), and Adiku, S. G. K. (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-03-02
- Published:
- International: PLOS
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12477
- Journal Title:
- PLoS One
- Journal Title Details:
- 16 (3)
- Notes:
- 26 pages, Farmers’ perception on soil erosion has not adequately reported in the conditions of Ghana though its causes and effects are time and site-specific. The objective of this study was to assess farmers’ perception on soil erosion and implication for developing soil management strategy in the Eastern and Northern Regions of Ghana. A total of 130 household head farmers were interviewed and complemented with field observation and group. Data was analyzed using descriptive, chi-square test, T-test and binary logistic regression. The results show that there was significant variation in socioeconomic, farm and institutional attributes among the farmers`in the study regions. In the Eastern and Northern Regions, significantly higher proportions of the farmers (95.7% and 86.7%, respectively) perceived soil erosion as serious problem. Significantly higher proportions of the respondents (80%) perceived severe erosion problem at homestead land in the Eastern Region whereas severe erosion in the Northern Region was more noticed at distance farmlands (85.0%). In the two regions, the major causes of severe erosion as perceived by most farmers were over-cultivation, deforestation and heavy rainfall events. In the Eastern and Northern Regions, 58.6% and 75.0% of the farmers perceived, respectively, that soil erosion severity has been increased since the past 10-years. Perceptions of most frequently noted indicators of soil erosion were declined productivity, shallow soil depth, presence of rills, sheet erosion, soil loss from farmland, and change in soil color. Results of the binary logistic regression indicate that there is heterogeneity in the factors accounting for the perception of soil fertility. In developing promising soil management strategy in the study area, attention must be given to key socioeconomic, biophysical, farm and institutional factors.
11. Adoption Determinants of Agricultural Extension Communication Channels in Emergency and Non-emergency Situations in Ghana
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Bawa, Kambersua (author), Abukari, Abdul-Basit Tampuli (author), Awuni, Joseph Agebase (author), and Yildiz, Fatih (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-01-21
- Published:
- International: Taylor & Francis
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12426
- Journal Title:
- Cogent Food & Agriculture
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 7 Issue 1
- Notes:
- 15 pages., The determinants of agricultural extension communication channel usage depend on several factors but have not been explored in the context of emergency (Fall Armyworm outbreak) and non-emergency situations. A multistage purposive sampling technique was used to select 318 farmers, focusing on the districts and the communities with the highest reported cases of fall armyworm infestation. Descriptive statistics and a multivariate probit analysis were used in the analysis of the data. The results showed an increase in the intensity of channels’ usage in the emergency situation. It was also found that fertilizer and improved seeds were the most common extension need. Channels are found to be more complementary in the emergency case. In both situations, some factors explaining the choices of these channels varied, while others agreed. The study recommends multiple channels are made available and that time-consuming channels irrespective of their effectiveness should be avoided by extensionists in emergency situations.
12. Mobile Telephony and Agriculture Information Communication in Ghana: the Ho West District under Review
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Atiso, Kodjo (author), Yao Folitse, Benjamin (author), and Awuku Manteaw, Seth (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-01-01
- Published:
- United States: University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12354
- Journal Title:
- Library Philosophy and Practice
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 4711
- Notes:
- 29 pages., The use of mobile phones among stakeholders in Ghana in communication agricultural-related information is gaining ground. The findings show that farmers in the Ho West District of Ghana are beginning to adhere to the dictates of technology to enhance information delivery for their farming activities. The study shows factors such as level of education, income levels have a direct correlation to the use of the technology. Despite these, it is still the case that mobile penetration into agricultural communication is receiving attention from farmers.
13. Participation in agricultural extension and labor productivity: a case study of smallholder farmers in Ghana
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Anang, Benjamin Tetteh (author) and Ayambila, Sylvester Nsobire (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-07
- Published:
- Germany: CENTMA Research
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12697
- Journal Title:
- International Journal on Food System Dynamics
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 11, N. 3
- Notes:
- 10 pages, Low agricultural productivity remains one of the main factors influencing poverty and food insecurity among smallholder farmers in many developing countries. Among the key interventions assumed to influence agricultural productivity of smallholders is the provision of agricultural extension services to farmers. Access to agricultural extension however remains low in most developing countries thus slowing down agricultural productivity growth. This study therefore sought to determine the labor productivity effects of agricultural extension in northern Ghana using data from a cross-section of 300 smallholder farm households. The results of a binary probit model indicated that participation in agricultural extension increased with farming experience, farm size, access to irrigation and group membership but decreased with years of formal education and household size. Regression estimates of a labor productivity model revealed a positive and statistically significant relationship between agricultural extension and labor productivity. Also, labor productivity increased with farming experience, household income, access to irrigation, degree of specialization in production and the level of conventional inputs used per man-day of labor but decreased with participation in off-farm work. The authors recommend an increase in agricultural extension coverage to ensure that more farmers are reached with information on modern technologies to enhance their labor productivity. Furthermore, farmers need access to inputs such as seed and fertilizer to improve the productivity of labor.
14. Imported Versus Domestic Chicken Consumption in Ghana: Do Attitudes and Perceptions Matter?
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Asante-Addo, Collins (author / Weible, Daniele)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-04-20
- Published:
- International: Taylor & Francis
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D12027
- Journal Title:
- Journal of International Food and Agribusiness Marketing
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 32, 2020 - Issue 5
- Notes:
- 25 pages, Growth in the worldwide consumption of poultry meat, especially in developing countries, has resulted in increasing trade, raising concerns and criticisms about imports. Such concerns and criticisms include the potential to collapse the domestic industry and lead to job losses. This paper, therefore, analyzes the role of personal factors in driving the frequency of chicken meat consumption in general and, in particular, domestic and imported chicken. Results from a survey of 500 urban consumers in Ghana show that attitudes and perceptions are key factors influencing chicken meat consumption. Specifically, concerns about food safety, price, and the lack of convenience reduce regular domestic chicken consumption, while perceived quality and ethnocentrism increase regular consumption. Regarding imported chicken, price, convenience, and availability influence frequent consumption. Promotional activities that highlight the quality aspects in terms of taste and freshness of domestic chicken meat can give domestic actors a competitive advantage.
15. To diversify or not to diversify, that is the question. Pursuing agricultural development for smallholder farmers in marginal areas of Ghana
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Bellon, Mauricio R. (author), Kotu, Bekele Hundie (author), Azzarri, Carlo (author), and Caracciolo, Francesco (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-09-18
- Published:
- Science Direct
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 121 Document Number: D11076
- Journal Title:
- World Development
- Journal Title Details:
- 125
- Notes:
- 10 pages., Via online resource., Many smallholder farmers in developing countries grow multiple crop species on their farms, maintaining de facto crop diversity. Rarely do agricultural development strategies consider this crop diversity as an entry point for fostering agricultural innovation. This paper presents a case study, from an agricultural research-for-development project in northern Ghana, which examines the relationship between crop diversity and self-consumption of food crops, and cash income from crops sold by smallholder farmers in the target areas. By testing the presence and direction of these relationships, it is possible to assess whether smallholder farmers may benefit more from a diversification or a specialization agricultural development strategy for improving their livelihoods. Based on a household survey of 637 randomly selected households, we calculated crop diversity as well as its contribution to self-consumption (measured as imputed monetary value) and to cash income for each household. With these data we estimated a system of three simultaneous equations. Results show that households maintained high levels of crop diversity: up to eight crops grown, with an-average of 3.2 per household, and with less than 5% having a null or very low level of crop diversity. The value of crop species used for self-consumption was on average 55% higher than that of crop sales. Regression results show that crop diversity is positively associated with self-consumption of food crops, and cash income from crops sold. This finding suggests that increasing crop diversity opens market opportunities for households, while still contributing to self-consumption. Given these findings, crop diversification seems to be more beneficial to these farmers than specialization. For these diversified farmers, or others in similar contexts, interventions that assess and build on their de facto crop diversity are probably more likely to be successful.
16. The status of perception, information exposure and knowledge of soil fertility among small-scale farmers in Ghana, Kenya, Mali and Zambia
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Spurk, Christoph (author), Asule, Pamellah (author), Ofori-Baah, Rebecca (author), Chikopela, Louis (author), Diarra, Boubacar (author), Koch, Carmen (author), and Wageningen University
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-08-21
- Published:
- Netherlands: Taylor & Francis
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 108 Document Number: D10944
- Journal Title:
- The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension
- Notes:
- 22 pages, via online journal article, Purpose: Soil fertility is decreasing in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. To mitigate this trend, various agricultural technologies are available, but their uptake by farmers has been low. Perception of the problem, information exposure, and knowledge play a major role in adoption of technologies. This study assessed empirically the levels of perception, knowledge and information exposure among African farmers as an indicator for potential adoption of soil fertility technologies. Design/Methodology/approach: The study used survey data of more than 2,400 small-scale farmers selected through random sampling from Ghana, Kenya, Mali and Zambia. The survey investigated socio-economic factors, exposure to media, perception and knowledge of soil fertility and other information. Findings: Many farmers did not perceive soil fertility as a major challenge, except in Mali; farmers were hardly receiving information on soil fertility from professional agricultural sources, and they often lacked accurate knowledge about soil fertility technologies. Radio was by far the most used information source for farmers. Practical implications: The study has exposed the need for interventions to increase awareness, information exposure, and knowledge about soil fertility among farmers to strengthen the adoption of soil fertility technologies. It also calls for innovative ways of strengthening extension services through links with radio. Theoretical implications: The role of communication in the uptake of agricultural innovations is still under-researched, and hence this study exposes the need to investigate in-depth knowledge, perception levels, and quality and frequency of information exposure on various channels of soil fertility management. Originality: This is one of the few studies empirically measuring perception, information frequency on various channels, and knowledge of soil fertility among small-scale farmers in African countries.
17. Between science and local knowledge: improving thecommunication of climate change to rural agriculturistsin the Bolgatanga Municipality, Ghana
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Anaafo, David (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-04
- Published:
- International: Taylor & Francis
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 201 Document Number: D12099
- Journal Title:
- Local Environment
- Journal Title Details:
- VOL. 24, NO. 3, 201–215
- Notes:
- 14 pgs., There is an overwhelming scientific consensus that global climate is changing with associated devastating, yet differential impacts on different world regions. This, therefore, calls for efforts to improve our understanding of the phenomenon as a way of enhancing mitigation and adaptation measures.Although a lot has been done in this respect, the present study examines the extent to which misnomers associated with the calendar months and local climate events can be employed to convey the phenomenon of climate change to rural agriculturists in the Bolgatanga municipality. The study establishes that the names of the calendar months, which serve asgoalposts for local agricultural practices no longer portray their true meaning due to climate change. The study, therefore, recommends the use of nuanced ways of communicating climate change to local agriculturists,using scientific research, lived experiences as well as socially and culturally embedded tools such as misnomers associated with local climate events.
18. Innovation intermediation in a digital age: comparing public and private new-ICT platforms for agricultural extension in Ghana
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Munthali, Nyamwaya (author), Leeuwis, Cees (author), Van Paassen, Annemarie (author), Lie, Rico (author), Asare, Richard (author), Van Lammeren, Ron (author), and Schut, Marc (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2018-11
- Published:
- Science Direct
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 12 Document Number: D10421
- Journal Title:
- NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences
- Journal Title Details:
- (86-87) : 64-76
- Notes:
- 13 pages., Via online journal., Agricultural extension in sub-Saharan Africa has often been criticised for its focus on linear knowledge transfer, and limited attention to systemic approaches to service delivery. Currently, the region is experiencing a new-ICT revolution and there are high expectations of new-ICTs to enhance interaction and information exchange in extension service delivery. Using an innovation systems perspective, we distinguish the roles demand-articulation, matching demand and supply, and innovation process management for innovation-intermediaries. The study explores literature on how new-ICT may support these roles, with specific interest in the possibilities of environmental monitoring and new forms of organisation enabled by enhanced connectivity. In order to contribute to the understanding of this area, the paper reports on a comparative study of two new-ICT platforms embedded in Ghanaian public and private extension organisations respectively. We assess the roles that these platforms (aim to) support, and document achievements and constraints based on interviews with extension staff and farmers. The findings indicate that while both platforms aim to support innovation-intermediation roles the focus areas and level of detail differ due to diverging organisational rationales to service delivery. In addition, we see that new-ICTs' potential to support innovation-intermediation roles is far from realised. This is not due to (new) ICTs lacking the capacity to link people in new ways and make information accessible, but due to the wider social, organisational and institutional factors that define the realisation of their potential. Therefore, more conventional modes of interaction around production advice and also credit provision continue to be dominant and better adapted to the situation. However, beyond the two platforms that were developed specifically by and for the extension organisations, there were indications that more informal and self-organised new-ICT initiatives can transform and enhance interaction patterns in innovations systems to achieve collective goals through standard virtual platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram.
19. Farmers' perception about quality of planted seed yam and their preferences for certified seed yam in Ghana
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Boadu, Paul (author), Aidoo, Robert (author), Ohene-Yankyera, Kwasi (author), Kleigh, Ulrich (author), Abdoulaye, Tahirou (author), Maroya, Norbert (author), Orchard, John (author), and Bekoe, Stephen (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2018
- Published:
- Ghana
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 165 Document Number: D11664
- Journal Title:
- International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics
- Journal Title Details:
- 06(3) : 71-83
- Notes:
- 14 pages., Online via AgEconSearch., Results of surveying among 380 yam farmers indicated that farmers generally agree that use use of certified seed yam would help to improve yield because of minimum to no disease/pest infestation. Farmer educational level, experiences, access to extension services and household incomes were factors influencing farmers' perception about quality of seed yam cultivated. Authors recommended promotion of farmer education through increased access to extension services.
20. Paying for digital information: assessing farmers' willingness to pay for a digital agriculture and nutrition service in Ghana
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Palloni, G. (author), Aker, J. (author), Gilligan, D. (author), Hidrobo, M. (author), and Ledlie, N. (author)
- Format:
- Paper
- Publication Date:
- 2018
- Published:
- Ghana
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 165 Document Number: D11668
- Notes:
- 26 pages., Paper presented at the 2018 conference of the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE), July 28-August 2, 2018, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada., Researchers assessed farmers' willingness to pay for a newly introduced digital nutrition-sensitive agricultural information service in Ghana, called Vodafone Farmers' Club (VFC). Findings suggested that farmers' willingness to pay for VFC service was high at low prices, then decreased rapidly as the price increased. Women had statistically lower willingness to pay than men, whether for agricultural information only or information involving both agriculture and nutrition.
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