Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 148 Document Number: C23735
Notes:
PREMnotes (Poverty Reducation and Economic Management Network), Number 70. 4 pages., Information and communications technology can improve poor people's lives - but only if policies and projects are designed to exploit its potentials.
21 pgs., CTs (Communications technologies) have revolutionized agricultural information services at every level in the agricultural sector, thus impacting rural development and catalysing poverty alleviation strategies. This has largely been the case with small-scale farmers in rural areas in developing countries where mobile technologies have penetrated more than most other ICT tools. However, in some of the farming environments, mobile phone use is largely driven by agricultural extension workers. This paper seeks to examine the way mobile phones are used for information access in situations where agricultural extension workers are a critical intermediary in the agricultural information services. Interviews were conducted with 10 randomly selected farmers who were part of the Dzindi irrigation scheme. The findings were that from the variety of information available to the farmers the most important source was the extension officer. The extension officer and the radio were indicated to be the most reliable independent sources of information. The other sources, such as the radio, family members, and friends, suppliers of chemicals, books and magazines, were only considered reliable if the information could be verified or vouched for by the extension officer. Increasing the information handling skills of extension officers, training of farmers to use smart features of their phones and promoting the usual face-to-face communication use of conventional methods, which is what usually gives rise to the mediation of mobile phones, were recommended.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C25555
Notes:
Pages 165-177 in I. Guijt and M.K. Shaw (eds.), The myth of community: gender issues in participatory development. Intermediate Technology Publications, London. 288 pages.
