11 pages, This study examined village extension agent’s access and use of information and communication technology in extension services delivery to farmers in Plateau State, Nigeria. The population for the study consisted of all the village extension agents (VEAs) of the Plateau Agricultural Development Program (PADP) in the central agricultural zone of the state. Multistage sampling technique was employed in selecting the respondents for the study. Primary data were collected through the administration of questionnaires and interview techniques and were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings from the study shows that majority (77%) of the sampled village extension agents (VEAs) were males with a mean age of 43 years, Majority (87%) of the respondents were married with a mean household size of 4 persons. The study also showed that majority (80%) of the VEAs had tertiary education with a mean working experience of 13 years and average monthly income of ₦64875. The result also shows that four (4) out of the seven (7) listed ICT facilities were adjudged the ICT facilities accessible to VEAs in the study area having had mean values above the discriminating index (x̅ =2.50). They included; GSM (phone) (x̅ =3.94), radio (x̅ = 2.83), television (x̅ = 2.73) and computer (x̅ = 2.68). Based on 2.50 discriminating index, only two out of seven listed conventional ICT facilities had mean values above the discriminating index (x̅ 2.50) and thus were adjudged the ICT facilities used by VEAs. The GSM (phone) had the highest mean value of 3.62 followed by radio with mean value of 2.54. The logit regression result shows that coefficients of years of working experience and monthly income were significant and positively related to ICT use, while age and complexity in use of ICT were significant and negatively related to ICT use. Major constraints to use of ICT by VEAs includes; lack of administrative support in provision of ICT (87%), lack of in-service training on ICT use (66%), Poor salary/remuneration (64%), lack of awareness of ICT importance in extension (56%) among others. The study recommends intervention, serious synergy, and proactive response on the part of the government, non-governmental organization,s and extension organizations in ICT provision and training of VEAs on ICT use as well as stepping up campaigns on the importance of ICT use in agricultural extension delivery.
20 pages., China, Information needs, access, rural communities, small farms, information channels, surveys, development, Information plays an important role in meeting the quantitative and qualitative goals of agriculture in the 21st century. As an emerging economy in a developing continent, China has already made many interventions to use information technology to support agricultural development. However, information service in some rural areas is still severely limited. The overall impact of the changing information environment on the farmers’ information needs and access channels has not been fully studied. Thus, this study systematically investigates the characteristics of the information needs and channels of farmers in Guangdong, China. We have collected 4006 questionnaire samples and used correlation analysis to explore the relationships between farmers’ information needs and access channel preferences. The results indicate that individual characteristic factors, social factors and family factors have different degrees of influence on farmers’ information needs and access channel preferences. These findings can provide a reference for information construction in the rural areas of Guangdong Province and thus promote its economic development. This study can also provide useful insights for policy-makers and researchers from other developing countries to formulate implementation plans to promote agricultural development.
The Indian Institute of Management and the World Bank organized a workshop titled "Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for Rural Development" to bring together case studies of various applications of ICT that can make a difference in the delivery of services or products in rural areas. The cases presented illustrate the opportunities and challenges in the diffusion of ICT within India and fother developing countries. ICT applications can be classified as those that provided decision support to public administrators for improving planning and monitoring of developmental programs, those that improved services to citizens and brought in transparency, and those that empowered citizens through access to information and knowledge. This paper presents successful examples of ICT rural development projects.
Solera Thomas, Laura (author), Muñoz Alvarado, Daniela (author), Angulo Araya, Carlos (author), Brenes Ramírez, José Joaquín (author), Brenes Ramírez, José Manuel (author), Brenes Víquez, Gabriel (author), Gómez Acuña, Sonia (author), and Víquez Redondo, Fausto (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2014
Published:
Costa Rica
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 153 Document Number: D06910
Grace, Margaret (author / Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Brisbane, Australia)
Format:
Paper
Publication Date:
1998-06-13
Published:
Australia
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 147 Document Number: C23536
Notes:
In "Conference Proceedings of the International Symposium on Learning Communities, Regional Sustainability and the Learning Society (June 13-20, 1998)." Edited by Ian Falk., 7 p., In Australia, as in other parts of the world, there is considerable interest in many quarters in the potential of new communication and information technologies to contribute significantly to the revitalization of regional communities. However, much remains to be understood about the social factors, which affect the success of innovative technology applications. Research conducted by the Queensland University of Technology indicates that gender significantly affects not only access and use of communication and information technologies, but also rural community development. By focusing on rural women's perspectives on communication issues, this research has revealed a need for the development of "soft" technologies to ensure that both social and economic development occurs in an integrated way in regional, rural and remote communities.
