14 pages., via online journal,, Effective agricultural extension is key to improving productivity, increasing farmers’ access to information, and promoting more diverse sets of crops and improved methods of cultivation. In India, however, the coverage of agricultural extension workers and the relevance of extension advice is poor. We investigate whether a women's self‐help group (SHG) platform could be an effective way of improving access to information, women's empowerment in agriculture, agricultural practices, and production diversity. We use cross‐sectional data on close to 1,000 women from five states in India and employ nearest‐neighbor matching models to match SHG and non‐SHG women along a range of observed characteristics. We find that participation in an SHG increases women's access to information and their participation in some agricultural decisions, but has limited impact on agricultural practices or outcomes, possibly due to financial constraints, social norms, and women's domestic responsibilities. SHGs need to go beyond provision of information to changing the dynamics around women's participation in agriculture to effectively translate knowledge into practice.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 113 Document Number: C11181
Journal Title Details:
4 pages
Notes:
Conference: Partnerships & Participation in Telecommunications for Rural Development at the beautiful campus of the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, October 26 & 27, 1998.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 113 Document Number: C11191
Journal Title Details:
4 pages
Notes:
Conference: Partnerships & Participation in Telecommunications for Rural Development at the beautiful campus of the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, October 26 & 27, 1998.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C11199
Journal Title Details:
9 pages
Notes:
Posted on: <a href="http://www.snowden.org/conference/paperfirstnations.htm">http://www.snowden.org/conference/paperfirstnations.htm</a>, Conference: Partnerships & Participation in Telecommunications for Rural Development-- Online Pre-Conference
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D00581
Notes:
Pages 81-90 in Arnold Pichot and Josef Lorenz (eds.) ICT for the next five billion people: information and communication for sustainable development. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. 122 pages.
