McLaughlin, Martin M. (author / Senior Fellow, Overseas Development Council, Washington, D.C.) and Senior Fellow, Overseas Development Council, Washington, D.C.
Format:
Conference paper
Publication Date:
1978
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 34 Document Number: B03652
Notes:
James F. Evans Collection; Burton Swanson Collection, In: Proceedings of Special International Conference on Agricultural Technology for Developing Nations : farm mechanization alternatives for 1-10 hectare farms; 1978 may 23-24; University of Illinois, Urbana, IL. 1978.
7 pages, via online journal, Despite large investments in research to modernize African agriculture, enabling it to fulfil its potential, traditional agriculture still predominates. To many, the lack of adoption of knowledge generated through agricultural research is due either to the inexplicable functioning of the farmer's decision-making process or to a set of issues so complex that it is not clear how they could ever be overcome. This paper reviews a project in Sub-Saharan Africa in which bean pest management became a tool through which communities were empowered to address a wide range of development issues. This paper suggests that what needs to be altered substantially is the way scientists view and interact with the poor.
Francis, Paul (author) and Amuyunzu-Nyamongo, Mary (author)
Format:
Book chapter
Publication Date:
2006
Published:
Kenya
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C37119
Notes:
See C37118 for original, Pages 219-244 in Ian Bannon and Maria C.Correia (eds.), The other half of gender: men's issues in development. World Bank, Washington, D.C. 311 pages.
9 pages., via online journal., Natural Resource Management (NRM) can be looked upon from different perspectives: (1) the bio‐physical science perspective, (2) the economic perspective and (3) the social actor perspective. After briefly contrasting the three complementary perspectives, the article focuses on the third, which is the least developed. The social actor perspective requires that one distinguish between (1) the natural resource (be it a farm, a water catchment, underground water resources, etc.) and (2) the social actors who hold a stake in, and/or affect it. These stakeholders ideally form a platform for integral decision making about the natural resource. The platform/resource combination highlights communication processes of interest in sustainable NRM: creating a rich picture of intentions and realities; (land use) negotiation and accommodation; making things visible; raising the level of social aggregation at which platforms operate; and information systems for platform decision support. Such and other platform processes need active facilitation. The article outlines the implications for communication support, and explores professional contributions.
