14pgs, The World Health Organization (WHO) has used communication methods to promote the international ban of the agricultural pesticides paraquat, glyphosate and chlorpyrifos. This ban has led to misunderstanding among farmers who still use these chemicals, which may be available under different brand names. Communication with the non-scientific community is uncertain leading to miscommunication, especially where scientific language is used. Governments have banned the use of these agricultural chemicals. The scientific arguments are not necessarily understood by famers so they may ignore the prohibition and continue using them or other similar chemicals. This study uses story-telling and qualitative research methods where a questionnaire is combined with the content analytical technique. The quantitative research method was used to collect data in the field where 351 participants took part. Participatory action research is a method where community farmers engaged in self-reflection on the impact of chemicals on their fields, their health and the health of others. Their understanding of the non-chemical usage model and good agricultural practice farmers in the vicinity, especially as they were personally involved in the creation of the media from script preparation, to acting, filming, and evaluating the final docu-dramas. The findings of the docu–drama programmes of 5 GAP farmers are presented to identify the perception of how to avoid using chemicals and their solutions for tangerine farmers through a manual that is the media output from the project and the resulting findings suggesting that the factors related to the effectiveness of scientific communication are divided into pull factors and push factors.
10 pages, Food safety is a growing concern worldwide but is especially prevalent in Nepal. Agriculture is the country's critical economic sector, and its sustainability is challenged due to the increasing use of agrochemicals. As a result, low Soil Organic Matter (SOM), reduced crop productivity, increased food safety hazards, and negative impacts on human health and the environment are reported in the agriculture sector in Nepal. In 2018, the concept of Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) was introduced in Nepal to address the issues of food safety, trade, and sustainability. As GAP is relatively new to Nepal, it is still broad and ambiguous, which makes its use and implementation difficult. For this purpose, we conducted a literature review on available global evidence to present the benefits of GAP and to identify the critical barriers to the adoption of GA. The review shows GAP's potential to increase crop yield by up to 36%, reduce agrochemicals use by 31%, increase SOM from a mean of 3.32%–3.77%, and increase farmers' income by more than 100%. However, the review has also identified barriers to wider adoption of GAP, broadly categorized into production, extension, regulation and standards, and markets and finance. The valuable outcome of this review is that it proposes five key pathways: (i) Technical capacity building, (ii) Awareness creation, (iii) Soil fertility management strategies, (iv) Extension programs, and (v) Market development for institutionalizing GAP in Nepal, based on the learning from global evidence. This review could be useful for policymakers and the government of Nepal to develop detailed implementation guidelines for GAP, including appropriate policies as well as short, medium, and long-term plans and programs for institutionalizing GAP in Nepal.
8 pages, Awareness of GLOBAL G.A.P. standards is the bedrock for the growth of export horticulture as it provides livelihoods to many small-scale farmers in developing countries. However, non-compliance with food safety requirements has evoked questions about farmers’ levels of awareness. Previous studies have overlooked the awareness-seeking behavior of smallholder farmers with diverse social characteristics. Therefore, this study was conducted in Murang’a County in Kenya to investigate the influence of social characteristics on awareness-exposure behavior among smallholder French bean farmers. The study systematically selected 115 small-scale French bean farmers. Questionnaires were administered through face-to-face interviews to elicit the data. Quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics by employing Pearson’s correlation and the Chi-square test. The study found that farmers differed in their awareness of different components that constitute GLOBAL G.A.P. Gender, farmer’s position in household, occupation, and wealth status were among the social inequalities that had a significant influence on the awareness of GLOBAL G.A.P. standards. In addition, farmer’s participation in awareness forums and affiliation with multiple sources of information on GLOBAL food safety standards had a significant influence on their level of awareness. This study recommends that proponents of farming innovations should always consider the socioeconomic status of potential adopters.
12 pages, available in Turkish online., The purpose of the study is to compare Agricultural Knowledge and Information Systems (AKIS) for adopters and non-adopters of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) in the Bafra district of Samsun, Turkey. The main materials of this study are the data obtained from a survey and interview with adopters and non-adopters of GAPs in Bafra district. The research data were collected from 77 farmers contained both adopters and non-adopters of GAPs. Statistical analysis, such as Chi-square and t-test was used. The study results presented the socio-economic characteristics of farmers. There was a significant difference between adopters and non-adopters of GAPs, according to household size, organizational membership, farm size, livestock and crop production. Meanwhile, the information sources such as a district agricultural manager/personnel, adviser of the farmers‘ union association (GAPs) and pesticide/fertilizer dealers were preferred the main sources of agricultural information for adopters of GAPs. However, it recommended that information sources like research institute, university and cooperatives needs to be improved by strengthening their way of information dissemination. In terms of usefulness of AKIS for this study, it seems that this system was insufficient to analyze this study. Even though the functions of this system are essential elements, they are insufficient for establishing a network of complex innovation-oriented institutional arrangements. In the future, this study suggests to analyze GAPs it needs to use Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) approach, because this system have many interaction networks that can facilitate the researchers to reach the innovation easily to the intended farmers.
