17 pages, This article draws upon research exploring a project that combines edutainment and participatory communication strategies as an approach to social change in Malawi. Throughout the research, I take a critical stance that seeks to uplift voices of an audience attending a radio listening club (RLC) and therefore utilize participatory methods to co-create the body of knowledge with study participants. In this article, I query RLC audience’s thoughts of the project’s relevance and influence in their daily lives. Oriented by Hall’s concepts of encoding and decoding, I analyse my data focusing on the dynamics between the objectives of the producers and the lived reality of the participants. Findings reveal that audience’s motivation for continued attendance of the RLC is different to that intended in the encoding process; rather audiences negotiate the relevance of messages to their own needs, those of their children and utilize the space to extend their social capital.
Installing fiber-optic internet in sparsely populated places like western Kansas is extremely expensive, even with government subsidies. But some smaller, local broadband providers are finding ways to make it work where the big national companies have not.
Online from the publisher, Findings of a recent national telephone survey by the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) indicated that most farmer respondents (71 percent) are listening to radio, and during an average of 4.7 days a week. The findings indicated that 65 percent listen to AM radio, 53 percent to FM radio, and less than 20 percent to satellite radio. Most radio listening takes place while driving or operating farm equipment, 82 percent while driving a pickup and 64 percent while operating farm equipment.
United States: Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, Virginia.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12519
Notes:
4 pages., Sasakawa Africa Association shares their approach to strengthening the resilience of food systems in Africa through innovative approaches using information and communication technologies.
he Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) was established in 1986 by Ryoichi Sasakawa, the first chairman of the Nippon Foundation; Dr. Norman Borlaug, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and father of the Green Revolution; and former US President, Jimmy Carter; in response to the famine in the Horn of Africa in the 1980s.
Since then, SAA has strengthened agricultural extension services in 16 countries in Africa. Currently, we have offices in Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria and Uganda, where we focus on field activities and human resource development at universities and other educational institutions. We also implement human resource development projects in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania.
Online from publication. 1 page., Radio Station KRVN, Lexington, Nebraska - "The rural voice of Nebraska" - observed its 70th anniversary on February 1 with a special all-day celebration that featured fond memories shared by listeners and guest appearances from former KRVN legends.
USA: National Association of Farm Broadcasting, Platte City, Missouri.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D12078
Notes:
2 pgs., Online from the publisher. 2 pages., Obituary involving a former farm broadcaster who served as NAFB president in 1984 and as NAFB Historian for nine years.
9 pages, This study investigates how communication channels to exchange agricultural information were chosen. Specifically, it identifies the communication channels used by farmers in Tanzania and determines the factors influencing the choice of communication channels for exchanging agricultural information. The study employs a meta-analysis review methodology in identifying, evaluating and interpreting studies relevant to the topic of interest. The results indicate that radio, mobile phones, television, fellow farmers, agricultural extension agents and newspapers were the commonly used communication channels for transferring agricultural information. Moreover, the channels’ influence, availability, affordability, communication network coverage, and the resources and facilities needed to use a particular communication channel were found to influence the choice of channels. It is concluded that understanding the audience, the characteristics surrounding messages and choosing appropriate communication channels are important for enhancing access to agricultural information. It is recommended that agricultural information providers should understand the factors surrounding communication channels before disseminating agricultural information
Online from publication. 3 pages., Article features experiences and perspectives of crime novel writer Jeff Gould, a former reporter for the Linder Farm Network in Minnesota.
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.
Perdue, Sonny (author / Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture)
Format:
Proclamation
Publication Date:
2020-12
Published:
USA: U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D12034
Notes:
Via online. 1 page., A proclamation by USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue honoring agricultural broadcaster Orion Samuelson at the occasion of his retirement after a 60-year career at WGN Radio applying journalistic integrity, persistence, and support for American farmers.
Online from publication. 2 pages., Features agricultural broadcaster Gale Cunningham, president-elect of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB), and his wife Beth at the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D11964
Notes:
Online via AgriMarketing Weekly. 3 pages., Report of Orion Samuelson's decision to retire December 31 from WGN, Chicago, Illinois, with some 60 years of farm reporting experience and leadership.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D11967
Notes:
Online via AgriMarketing Weekly. 2 pages., Announcement of the passing of NAFB Hall of Fame farm broadcaster Evan Slack, with highlights of his career, including service as president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting.
UI Library subscription., Update on agricultural/rural broadcasting in the U.S., including recent survey results about listenership and about the News Service of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting.
11 pages., In 2016, a study was conducted in Tanzania to assess the impact of radio and SMS in scaling-up smallholder participation in legume-based sustainable agricultural intensification (SAI) practices and technologies. The study aimed to answer the following research questions: (i) does participation in the campaign enhance farmers’ knowledge of legume-based sustainable agricultural intensification practices and technologies? (ii) what is the impact of the campaign on the adoption of legume-based sustainable agricultural intensification practices and technologies?; (iii) does exposure to multiple ICT-enabled channels result in larger gains (in terms of knowledge and adoption) than exposure to only one channel? (iv) is it more cost-effective to use radio or SMS alone or use them in combination? The results show that both awareness and adoption are boosted if SMS supports radio campaigns. However, radio alone is the most cost-effective approach. Each dollar spent on the radio campaign results in 2.1 farmers that have adopted at least one new practice, compared with 0.5 farmers for SMS and 0.4 farmers for radio and SMS combined. Other factors were also important in facilitating uptake of legume-based SAI practices, such as gender, age, education and land size, but were not statistically significant when rated against the communication channels used.
National Association of Farm Broadcasting (author)
Format:
Directory
Publication Date:
2020
Published:
USA: National Association of Farm Broadcasting, Platte City, Missouri.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D12128
Notes:
Printed directory via Jim Evans subscription. 100 pages., Annual membership directory. Contents include Broadcast Council of NAFB, Allied Industry Council, Non-Commercial Broadcast Council, Management and Sales Council, National Industry Sales Rep Firms, Students, Past Presidents, NAFB Hall of Farm, Farm Broadcaster of the Year, Emeritus, Honorary, and other sections.
2 pages., Posted online February 12, 2020., Brief news item announces that during December farm broadcaster Orion Samuelson (WGN Radio, Chicago, IL, and "This Week in Agri-Business" television program) marked his 45th year of doing a live year-end TV-radio interview with the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. It was conducted, as traditionally, in the office of the USDA Secretary in Washington, D.C.
2 pages., Via online from publisher., Farm broadcaster and general manager describes information challenges and how he is adjusting farm reporting activities during restrictions caused by the current COVID-19 pandemic.
3 pages., Describes how he and his associates at Radio Oklahoma Network are adjusting their farm reporting activities during restrictions caused by the current COVID-19 pandemic.
3 pages., Online from publisher., Farm broadcaster describes how he and his associate are adjusting farm reporting activities during restrictions caused by the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Print copy from publisher by subscription. 154 pages., Annual directory and guide including sections: companies, marketing services, agencies, agricultural publications, broadcast, e-business associations, telephone directory, National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) directory, and Canadian Agri-Marketing Association (CAMA) directory.
3 pages., Online via publisher., Describes how she and her associates are adjusting their farm reporting activities to report remotely during restrictions caused by the current COVID-19 pandemic. Cites challenges of reporting on economic and social impacts with which farm families are dealing.
Author emphasizes the value of farm broadcasters in sharing information about the numerous initiatives supported by the agricultural organizations such as the American Soybean Association.
USA: National Association of Farm Broadcasting, Platte City, Missouri
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 166 Document Number: D11678
Notes:
2 pages., Online from publisher., Brief summary of responses to a non-probability email survey among U.S. farmers and ranchers regarding COVID-19 and its ramifications on their livelihoods and farm-radio listening habits. Findings indicated that respondents "are listening to farm radio during the pandemic for timely, accurate news. Responses averaged 8.7-8.8 (scale of 1 [poor] to 10 [excellent] in terms of timeliness, accuracy and credibility of farm broadcaster delivering farm news, weather, markets and ag information.
President of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting provides a current focus on agricultural and rural broadcasting in support of American agriculture.
National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) staff summarizes findings of 2019 listenership research and unique capabilities of audio media in providing farmers with timely, "hands free" information.
Online via UI Library Catalog search. 10 pages., Findings of a survey among a sample of 100 farmers in District Sargodha revealed 99% used agricultural radio/TV/FM, 96% used mobile phones, 66% used magazines/newspapers/periodicals, and 61% used social media. Respondents placed highest value on enhancing their productivity.
