Kasperson, Roger E. (author), Renn, Ortwin (author), Slovic, Paul (author), Brown, Halina S. (author), Emel, Jacque (author), Goble, Robert (author), Kasperson, Jeanne X. (author), and Ratick, Samuel (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1988
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 140 Document Number: D05966
Spurk, Christoph (author), Asule, Pamellah (author), Ofori-Baah, Rebecca (author), Chikopela, Louis (author), Diarra, Boubacar (author), Koch, Carmen (author), and Wageningen University
Format:
Online journal article
Publication Date:
2019-08-21
Published:
Netherlands: Taylor & Francis
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 108 Document Number: D10944
22 pages, via online journal article, Purpose: Soil fertility is decreasing in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. To mitigate this trend, various agricultural technologies are available, but their uptake by farmers has been low. Perception of the problem, information exposure, and knowledge play a major role in adoption of technologies. This study assessed empirically the levels of perception, knowledge and information exposure among African farmers as an indicator for potential adoption of soil fertility technologies.
Design/Methodology/approach: The study used survey data of more than 2,400 small-scale farmers selected through random sampling from Ghana, Kenya, Mali and Zambia. The survey investigated socio-economic factors, exposure to media, perception and knowledge of soil fertility and other information.
Findings: Many farmers did not perceive soil fertility as a major challenge, except in Mali; farmers were hardly receiving information on soil fertility from professional agricultural sources, and they often lacked accurate knowledge about soil fertility technologies. Radio was by far the most used information source for farmers.
Practical implications: The study has exposed the need for interventions to increase awareness, information exposure, and knowledge about soil fertility among farmers to strengthen the adoption of soil fertility technologies. It also calls for innovative ways of strengthening extension services through links with radio.
Theoretical implications: The role of communication in the uptake of agricultural innovations is still under-researched, and hence this study exposes the need to investigate in-depth knowledge, perception levels, and quality and frequency of information exposure on various channels of soil fertility management.
Originality: This is one of the few studies empirically measuring perception, information frequency on various channels, and knowledge of soil fertility among small-scale farmers in African countries.
Sonka, Steve (author / Professor of Agricultural Management, University of Illinois)
Format:
Conference paper
Publication Date:
1994
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 98 Document Number: C08057
Notes:
James F. Evans Collection, In: The Information Age: what it means for extension and its constituents. Columbia, MO: Cooperative Extension Service, University of Missouri, 1994. (Proceedings of a North Central Region Extension workshop for marketing and management specialists, May 24-26, 1994, St. Louis, MO.) p. 251-256.
Bosserman, Steve (author), Leonard, Ron (author), and Bosserman: Bosserman and Associates, Chicago, IL; Leonard: John Deere Product Engineering Center, Waterloo, IA
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1993
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 96 Document Number: C07575
Wilde, W. David (author / Swinburne University of Technology) and Swatman, Paul A. (author / Swinburne University of Technology)
Format:
Paper
Publication Date:
1997
Published:
Australia
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 147 Document Number: C23538
Notes:
19 p., The farming community, in many parts of Australia, is widely dispersed and heavily dependent upon communication both within the community and outside. In this preliminary paper, we explore the information needs and information flows of the rural sector and consider the farm as the potential focus of a virtual community. A virtual community may form a basis both for electronic commerce, in the traditional sense, and for rich telecommunications-mediated social activity. We describe factors apparently inhibiting the implementation of rural virtual communities in Australia and finally, we introduce a research project that will evaluate a model of inhibiting factors for the development of virtual communities within a real-world rural setting.
