Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C19683
Notes:
Pages 291-311 in Steven Wolf and David Zilberman (eds.), Knowledge generation and technical change: institutional innovation in agriculture. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, Massachusetts. 371 pages.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 95 Document Number: C07436
Notes:
INTERPAKS; copy in ACDC files, In: M. Drosdoff, ed. World food issues, 2nd ed. Ithaca, NY: Center for the Analysis of World Food Issues, Cornell University, 1984. p. 73-78., Discusses two competing communication strategies. One is a descendent of traditional extension philosophy, which emerged in the US and was developed in the first half of the 20th century. The second is related to the emergence in recent years of the concepts of "integration" and "participation" in rural development. Describes and analyzes each of these strategies and the issues they pose.
15 pages., In the National Development Plan, cooperatives and agriculture development are identified as possible solutions for addressing rural poverty and unemployment, especially among the youth. However, according to most research/literature, agricultural cooperatives fail for many reasons, including but not limited to lack of capital, incompetent management and organizational deficiencies. This study applied a qualitative analysis to the qualitative data using a case study of Zanokhanyo Food Security Cooperative (ZFSC) in Ndabakazi, Butterworth. Interviews with the project members, ex-members, extension officers and youth were conducted through a semi-structured questionnaire administered in IsiXhosa. According to the results, lack of intensive production resulting in very low incomes is one of the reasons why projects such as ZFSC fail to attract young people and provide employment for rural people. Agricultural extension advisory services play a very limited role because of their generalist approach; they lack depth of knowledge about diverse agricultural subject areas. This study recommends that agricultural extension and the farmers’ support system be improved by employing or outsourcing specialists to cater to the needs of agricultural cooperatives in order to improve the productivity and income of agricultural cooperatives.
8 pages, gender, women, extension systems, acces, cell phones, farmers, Nepal (Southern Asia), India (Southern Asia), COVID-19 induced lockdowns have had far reaching impacts on the rural sector, particularly on women farmers. These impacts have been exacerbated by lack of access to reliable and timely agriculture information. Using panel phone survey data from India and Nepal, we study how women's access to agricultural extension was impacted by the lockdowns and its effect on agricultural productivity. We find that women's already low access to formal extension was reduced further, leading to an increased reliance on informal social networks. In both countries, nearly 50% farmers reported negative impacts on productivity due to inaccessibility of information during the lockdown. In India, we find that access to formal extension is mediated by crop type, geographic location and caste identity. We discuss ways in which extension systems in India and Nepal can be made more inclusive and resilient to future crisis, including by adapting group and community-based approaches to post-pandemic best practices.
Nepal: UNDP Asia and Pacific programme for Development Training and Communication Planning
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 130 Document Number: C19473
Notes:
Burton Swanson Collection, Prepared by James H. French; Conducted in cooperation with the Agricultural Extension and Research Project Parwanipur, Nepal
This issue is in a chronological file entitled "INTERPAKS Newsletter" from the International Programs records of the Agricultural Communications Program, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign., Summary of the first Global Consultation on Agricultural Extension held at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Rome, Italy, December 4-8, 1989. Focused on seven major problem areas or issues addressed in the report.
