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22. Environment, development and sustainability: perspectives and cases from around the world
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Wilson, Gordon (author), Furniss, Pamela (author), and Kimbowa, Richard (author)
- Format:
- Book
- Publication Date:
- 2010
- Published:
- International: Oxford University Press, Oxford, England
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D08695
- Notes:
- 290 pages
23. Expectancy-value theory contributes to understanding consumer attitudes towards cow's milk alternatives and variants
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Kempen, Elizabeth (author), Kasambala, Josephine (author), Christie, Lorna (author), Symington, Elize (author), Jooste, Lizette (author), and Van Eeden, Tertia (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2017-01-23
- Published:
- South Africa: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 164 Document Number: D08252
- Journal Title:
- International Journal of Consumer Studies
- Journal Title Details:
- 14 (3): 245-252
24. Exploring the barriers to the adoption of climate-smart irrigation technologies for sustainable crop productivity by smallholder farmers: evidence from South Africa
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Serote, Batizi (author), Mokgehle, Salmina (author), Senyolo, Grany (author), Plooy, Christian du (author), Hlophe‐Ginindza, Samkelisiwe (author), Mpandel, Sylvester (author), Nhamo, Luxon (author), and Araya, Hintsa (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2023-01-19
- Published:
- Switzerland: MDPI
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12769
- Journal Title:
- Agriculture
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 13, Iss. 2
- Notes:
- 21 pages, Climate change continues to impact the livelihoods of smallholder farmers due to low adaptive capacity. In South Africa, the challenge is exacerbated by water scarcity and shortened crop-growing seasons. Climate-smart irrigation innovative technologies (CSIT) enhance smallholder farmers’ resilience to climate change. However, there is still a limited level of effective adoption and usage of these technologies in smallholder communities. This study investigated the barriers affecting the adoption of CSIT in rural areas of the Vhembe and Capricorn districts in Limpopo Province, South Africa. We explored the farmers’ socioeconomic factors extracted from farmers’ perceptions of CSIT-specific attributes. A multi-stage randomized sampling technique was used to select 100 smallholder farmers (SHF). Data analyzed by descriptive statistics such as percentages and frequency distribution are presented in graphs and tables. According to the findings, insufficient communication channels, a lack of financial availability, unstable land tenure systems, and insufficient training are the main obstacles to implementing CSIT. There is a need for policy and decision-makers to improve the communication channels for disseminating agro-meteorological information to the intended beneficiaries.
25. Exploring the role of agricultural extension in promoting biodiversity conservation in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Abdu-Raheem, Kamal Adekunle (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2014
- Published:
- Taylor & Francis
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 16 Document Number: D10465
- Journal Title:
- Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems
- Journal Title Details:
- 38(9): 1015-1032
- Notes:
- 19 pages., ISSN: 2168-3565 (Print) 2168-3573 (Online), Via online journal, Biodiversity conservation outside designated protected areas remains challenging in South Africa, where 80% of the biodiversity resources occur on private and communal lands. This applies to the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province, which is the focus of this study. Landholders logically choose agricultural production ahead of conservation, which they often perform using non-ecological methods. Extension is well positioned to promote ecological agriculture, but its current contribution is unknown. This study examined the role of extension in ecological agriculture in KZN by investigating extension’s promotion of ecological agriculture among smallholder farmers and the factors impacting their employment of ecologically compatible practices. Data was collected through semistructured interviews with 44 respondents, comprising 5 provincial biodiversity conservation practitioners, 1 national biodiversity conservation manager, and 1 national and 4 provincial agricultural extension managers, selected by purposive sampling; as well as 25 extension officers and 8 farmers, selected by convenience sampling. The study found that extension mainly engages in technology transfer and distribution of production inputs, which poses challenges to biodiversity conservation. Extension shows little concern for biodiversity, and effectively promotes its degradation. Four sets of factors impacting extension’s capacity to promote ecological agriculture emerged: household/community-level, governmental, extension management, and ecological factors. Key among these were inadequate involvement of youth and men in agriculture; inadequate household production resources; poor collaboration and coordination between extension and biodiversity conservation institutions; top-down extension intervention; poor extension management and delivery capacities; and irregular and inadequate rainfall, as well as droughts and flooding. The study concluded that there is a need for a clearly articulated extension and biodiversity conservation policy supporting appropriate linkages and better coordination and integration of services among extension and biodiversity agencies within the National and Provincial Departments of Agriculture and with farmers; more effective agricultural education in schools; strengthening extension support systems; and creating conducive atmospheres for effective extension.
26. Extension Agents’ Perception on Suitability of Climate Change Information Disseminated to Smallholder Farmers
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Mbali Zikhali, Zafezeka (author), Mafongoya, Paramu (author), Mudhara, Maxwell (author), Jiri, Obert (author), and Mudaniso, Blessing (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-04-16
- Published:
- United States: SAGE Journals
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12527
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Asian and African Studies
- Journal Title Details:
- 56 (8)
- Notes:
- 18 pages, This study examined gaps in climate information within public agricultural extension in Limpopo Province, South Africa. It assessed extension officers’ climate change perceptions, knowledge and climate education. Lastly, the study examined the extension approaches for overall suitability of climate information disseminated to rural smallholder farmers. The results indicated that participants were predominately male, with tertiary education. Education levels had an influence on exposure to climate education and extension approaches in disseminating agricultural information to farmers. There is a need to retool extension officers in climate change extension work, integrating indigenous knowledge to increase suitability and acceptability of information by smallholder farmers.
27. Extension support for cassava (Manihot esculenta) production and processing in Nigeria: Effects on farm practice adoption
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Otubo, Oluchi L. (author) and Molnar, Joseph J. (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-10-31
- Published:
- International: Academic Journals
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12372
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 13 (4)
- Notes:
- 9 pages., Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is an important regional food source, providing food and income to over 30 million farmers, processors, and traders in Nigeria. Extension programs support awareness and interest in new technologies; they facilitate the adoption and adaptation of new approaches to crop production, post-harvest processing, and marketing. Extension can be understood as an intermediary or catalyst in the dissemination of information to rural farmers. This study analyzed the effect of cassava farmers’ exposure to extension on a broad measure of cassava technology adoption, while considering the influence of some individual and farm characteristics as control variables. Data were obtained from personal interviews with sample of 952 households conducted in southern Nigeria. Results show a relationship between extension exposure and technology adoption. Farmer-to-farmer interaction played the greatest role in diffusion of the technologies. Interactions with extension agents were low, suggesting that adoption of improved technologies could be enhanced by improved regular contact with extension information. The results underscore the importance of farmer-to-farmer interaction processes that often overshadow extension assistance in supporting and guiding the use of production technology. The conclusions consider some implications for 21st century extension.
28. Farmers' perceptions of climate variability, their adaptation strategies and agricultural productivity: a case of Limpopo province, South Africa
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Aful, D. B. (author) and Ayisi, K. (author)
- Format:
- Journal Article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-12
- Published:
- South Africa: SciELO
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D12093
- Journal Title:
- South African Journal of Agricultural Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 48 No.2, 2020
- Notes:
- 14 pgs., The provision of farm management decision support and advisory services to insure climate resilient agricultural production systems, especially for subsistence farmers, depends on data on such producers. The main objective of the paper was to generate such data by comparing the status quo regarding dryland, subsistence grain farmers’ perceptions of climate variability, their adaptation strategies and crop productivity. Using a survey questionnaire, the comparison was made across time (2014 and 2017) in selected municipalities of Limpopo province. The findings across time and aggregated for all the different local municipalities investigated were similar regarding respondents’ perceptions of climate variability, adaptation strategies used and crop productivity. The perceptions revealed that respondents were aware of the reality of climate variability and its negative effects on their crop and livestock production, Agricultural productivity amongst extension and non-extension recipients was low, with minimal differences. These findings auger well for the development of common strategies to improve the effectiveness of the support for farm management including climate variability that is provided by the public agricultural extension service to the group of producers in this study to reduce the negative effects of climate variability on their crop productivity. This will eventually help to improve their food security.
29. Food fraud for centuries: alcoholic beverages from Neolithic Age to present
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Leitner, Erich (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-03
- Published:
- International
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 201 Document Number: D11743
- Journal Title:
- Food Lab International
- Journal Title Details:
- 1 : 18-20
- Notes:
- Via UI online subscription., This article discusses food fraud as not a phenomenon of modern times. The author notes that illegal manipulations occurred as soon as humankind started to trade with food. Examples feature various kinds of manipulations by ancient Greeks and Romans.
30. Frames, stories, and images: the advantages of a multimodal approach in comparative media content research on climate change
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Wozniak, Antal (author), Lück, Julia (author), and Wessler, Hartmut (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2014-12-06
- Published:
- International: Taylor & Francis Group Ltd., 2 Park Square Oxford OX14 4RN United Kingdom
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 165 Document Number: D08435
- Journal Title:
- Environmental Communication
- Journal Title Details:
- 9 (4): 469-490