« Previous |
1 - 50 of 4,921
|
Next »
Search Results
2. Digitalizing agriculture in rural Senegal
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (author)
- Format:
- Article
- Publication Date:
- 2023-07-20
- Published:
- Senegal: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12940
- Notes:
- 6 pages
3. Commentary: Do you really have the broadband the FCC thinks you have?
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Gonsalves, Sean (author) and Parker, Christine (author)
- Format:
- Commentary
- Publication Date:
- 2022-12-22
- Published:
- United States: Daily Yonder, The
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12878
- Journal Title:
- Daily Yonder, The
- Journal Title Details:
- Online
- Notes:
- 4pgs, Billions of dollars in funding will be administered based on the FCC’s broadband availability map. Is it right? Check your own address and see.
4. Nexus between the invisibility of agricultural extension services and rural livelihoods development: Assertions from rural farming communities
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Qwabe, Q.N. (author), Swanepoel, J.W. (author), Zwane, E.M (author), and Van Niekerk, J.A (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-11-02
- Published:
- South Africa: South African Society for Agricultural Extension
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12717
- Journal Title:
- South African Journal of Agricultural Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol.50, N.2
- Notes:
- 16 pages, Agricultural extension is one of the essential services that are offered by the South African Department of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development (DALRRD), to facilitate agricultural development in rural communities. The significance of agricultural extension is that it offers new knowledge to farmers and allows space for growth through various interventions such as agrarian transformation and improving livelihoods through the promotion of agriculture as a vehicle for ‘pro-poor’ economic growth. However, there is a concern that extension services are invisible in resource-restricted and previously marginalised rural communities. The study presented in this paper examined farmer’s experiences with extension practitioners and the impact of a lack of extension services on the development of impoverished rural communities. The researchers adopted a qualitative design wherein six focus group discussions were held to gather data from the farmers. Data were analyzed using ATLAS.ti22, a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS). Four themes of extension services that have a direct linkage to livelihood development, namely, the impact on rural livelihoods, production challenges, marketability, and economic impact, and the invisibility of extension services, were the central point of discussion.
5. Facilitators and barriers to farmers’ market use in a rural area
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Jarvandi, Soghra (author), Johnson, Kristen (author), and Franck, Karen (author)
- Format:
- Journal Article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-06-16
- Published:
- United States: Clemson University Press
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12614
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- V. 60 Iss. 2
- Notes:
- 7 pgs, Farmers’ markets may improve access to healthful foods in rural areas. Our objective was to identify facilitators and barriers to farmers’ market use in a rural county. We collected data via surveys, focus group sessions, and key informant interviews. Study participants identified the two existing farmers’ markets as community assets. Barriers to use farmers’ markets included inconvenient market hours, not accepting nutrition assistance program benefits, limited transportation, and limited variety. Interventions to improve food access should include ways to meet the needs of specific populations such as low-income residents and residents living in outlying areas without farmers’ markets.
6. How small kansas companies bring fast internet to rural places that telecom giants ignore
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Condos, David (author)
- Format:
- Article/Audio Story
- Publication Date:
- 2022-05-03
- Published:
- United States: National Public Radio
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12789
- Journal Title:
- High Plains Public Radio
- Journal Title Details:
- Online
- Notes:
- 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.
7. Where are families taking advantage of the home broadband discount?
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Eaton, Kristi (author)
- Format:
- Online Article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-03-30
- Published:
- United States: Daily Yonder
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12621
- Journal Title Details:
- Online
- Notes:
- 3 pgs, A new mapping tool shows where households have taken advantage of a federal stimulus program that defrays some of the cost of broadband for lower-income Americans.The tool, which was created through a partnership between Rural LISC and the nonpartisan nonprofit Heartland Forward, was designed to help target families that may qualify for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) but who aren’t participating.
8. Adoption as adaptation: Household decision making and changing rural livelihoods in Lombok, Indonesia
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Williams, Liana J. (author), van Wensveen, Monica (author), Grunbuhel, Clemens (author), and Pupsadi, Ketut (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-01
- Published:
- United States: Elsevier
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12575
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Rural Studies
- Journal Title Details:
- 89
- Notes:
- 9 pages, In agricultural research for development adoption of new technology tends to be cast in categories: adoption, partial adoption, dis-adoption or non-adoption. While these may serve for pragmatic classification and measures for project success or impact they fail to properly acknowledge the ongoing and independent efforts of farmers (and others) in experimentation and integration of knowledge across a range of sources. This paper explores responses to practices for cattle management introduced during a research project, at project close, and five years after the project has finished. We consider the perceptions and application of new knowledge by farmers, extension staff, and policy makers. By taking a longer-term view, we demonstrate how farming households adapt and integrate knowledge from different sources into their daily practice, influenced by local institutions and changing cultural expectations, as well as external researchers. We also consider the influence of changing government priorities and incentives in steering farm-management decisions. Results suggest that a focus on measures to build capacity and empower farmers with information to adapt and respond to change, regardless of project activities, is a much more important goal and indicator of impact than measuring adoption.
9. Rural broadband will be a game-changer
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Wareham, Jared (author)
- Format:
- Magazine article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-01-01
- Published:
- USA: Drovers CattleNetwork
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 207 Document Number: D13011
- Notes:
- 1 page, article located on page 40 of digital edition.
10. Development and validation of the international extension network advocacy capacity scale
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Lamm, Kevan W. (author), Lamm, Alexa (author), Davis, Kristin E. (author), Dobbins, Catherine (author), and Powell, Alyssa (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-12-29
- Published:
- USA: New Prairie Press
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12684
- Journal Title:
- Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 28, Iss. 5
- Notes:
- 24 pages, Extension is sometimes viewed globally as less important than academic research and innovation, even though these networks are crucial to agricultural development. Using Lewin’s (1947) organizational change theory as a conceptual background, an instrument to measure advocacy capacity within international extension networks was developed. The resulting scale was analyzed for content validity, response process validity, internal structure validity, and consequential validity. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed on the proposed scale. The underlying structure of the scale was found to load onto five factors. The five extracted factors were labelled: 1) network support of advocacy, 2) network integration of advocacy, 3) network influence in advocacy, 4) network visibility in advocacy, and 5) network advocacy performance. The overall International Extension Network Advocacy Capacity (IENAC) scale, and associated subscales were all found to have acceptable levels of validity.
11. Soy dairy performance metrics
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Krause, Julia (author), Cornelius M. (author), Goldsmith, P. (author), and Mzungu, M. (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-11-01
- Published:
- Kenya: Africa Scholarly Science Communications Trust (ASSCAT)
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 207 Document Number: D12993
- Journal Title:
- African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development
- Journal Title Details:
- V.21, N.10
- Notes:
- 24 pages, Soybean (Glycine max (L. Merr.) has been a crop of interest to address both poverty and malnutrition in the developing world because of its high levels of both protein and oil, and its adaptability to grow in tropical environments. Development practitioners and policymakers have long sought value added opportunities for local crops to move communities out of poverty by introducing processing or manufacturing technologies. Soy dairy production technologies sit within this development conceptual model. To the researchers’ knowledge, no research to date measures soy dairy performance, though donors and NGOs have launched hundreds of enterprises over the last 18 years. The lack of firm-level data on operations limits the ability of donors and practitioners to fund and site sustainable dairy businesses. Therefore, the research team developed and implemented a recordkeeping system and training program first, as a 14-month beta test with a network of five dairies in Ghana and Mozambique in 2016-2017. Learning from the initial research then supported a formal research rollout over 18 months with a network of six different dairies in Malawi and key collaboration from USAID’s Agricultural Diversification activity. None of the beta or rollout dairies kept records prior to the intervention. The formal rollout resulted in a unique primary dataset to address the soy dairy performance knowledge gap. The results of analysis show that the dairies, on average, achieve positive operating margins of 61%, yet cannot cover the fixed costs associated with depreciation, amortization of equipment and infrastructure, working capital, marketing and promotion, and regulatory compliance. The enterprises in our sample operate only at 9% of capacity, which limits their ability to cover the normal fixed costs associated with the business. The challenge is not the technology itself, as when operated, it produces a high-quality dairy product. The challenges involve a business that requires too much capital for normal operations relative to a nascent and small addressable market.
12. Affordability & availability: expanding broadband in the Black rural South
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Harrison, Dominique (author)
- Format:
- Report
- Publication Date:
- 2021-10-06
- Published:
- USA: Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 207 Document Number: D13114
- Notes:
- 38 pages
13. Review of agricultural extension and advisory services in sub-saharan African countries. progress with private sector involvement
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Nwafor, Christopher Ugochukwu (author), Ogundeji, Abiodun Akintunde (author), and Nwafor, Ifeoma Chinyelu (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-10-02
- Published:
- Poland: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Przyrodniczego w Poznaniu
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12675
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Agribusiness and Rural Development
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 61, N. 3
- Notes:
- 12 pages, Agricultural extension and advisory services in Africa have significant impact on food security as well as economic and social development. Recent moves towards a pluralistic delivery system, facilitated by the emergence of private-sector led initiatives in many countries are the subject of policy and academic discourse. This study used an adapted, fit-for-purpose market systems development framework to review available research in extension and advisory services in selected sub-Sahara Africa countries. Using a literature survey methodology, we report evidence of multiple actors in extension delivery, findings that point towards evolution towards mixed delivery as well as objectives. While there are significant uptake of cost-recovery approaches among commercially-oriented farmers, many smallholder farmers still depended on donor-funded services. Our review adds to existing knowledge through incorporating a market systems development framework, which extends the often-used willingness to pay approach, and highlights the need for merger of both public and private-sector objectives to achieve developmental outcomes.
14. Household socio-economic factors influencing choice of agro-advisory dissemination pathways for climate change in semi-arid areas of Kenya
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Akeyo Onyango, Debrah (author), Rasugu Mogaka, Hezron (author), Njiri Ndirangu, Samuel (author), and Kwena, Kizito (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-07-21
- Published:
- International: SAGE Journals
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12309
- Journal Title:
- Information Development
- Journal Title Details:
- Online First
- Notes:
- 12 pages, Development in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is adversely affected by climate variability and change due to the dependence of its economies and livelihoods primarily on rain-fed agriculture. Agro-advisories boost informed decision-making as well as planning of farm activities. The purpose of this study was to characterize the pathways through which farmers receive usable location-specific agro-advisories as well as to evaluate the effect of the socio-economic environment in the access to such information. Data was collected from 400 randomly selected households in lower eastern Kenya in a cross-sectional survey. Multivariate probit regression was used to determine the factors influencing the choice of pathways used in accessing climate change adaptation information. Household socio-economic characteristics that were found to be significant in explaining access to disseminated agro-advisories include phone and radio ownership, level of education, marital status, and farm size among others. Based on these findings a conclusion is made that the socio-economic environment within which information is disseminated is vital in determining those who access information and probably act on it. Additionally, pathways found to be complementary or substitutable give information providers new insights on the channels to use in information dissemination. The study recommends that these factors be considered in efforts geared towards promoting agro-advisory preparation and dissemination to improve adaptation to climate variability and change in dryland areas.
15. Biden's infrastructure plan includes $100 billion for rural broadband
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Format:
- Article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-04-05
- Published:
- USA: Hoosier Ag Today Radio Network
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 207 Document Number: D13044
- Notes:
- 1 page, Accessed online via AgriMarketing update.
16. Information Needs and Seeking Behavior of Agricultural Community of Attabira area of Bargarh District, Odisha: A Survey
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Panda, Abinash (author), Rani Dash, Lipsa (author), and Panda, Debasmita (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-03
- Published:
- United States: University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12355
- Journal Title:
- Library Philosophy and Practice
- Notes:
- 27 pages., The study on the information-seeking behavior of the agricultural community was undertaken in the attabira area of bargarh district of Odisha with objectives to study the different areas in which they require information frequently and determine the sources through which they rely on. It was found that most of the people are dependent upon agriculture in the attabira area. They started working at the age of 18. Most of the farmers (85.6%) of farmers opted for pooja seeds for cultivation. The study shows 7.36% of the respondents are facing difficulties in irrigation facilities. About 78.9% of the people are talking about MSP (Minimum support price). About 7.3% of farmers gathered information from social media, TV, Call centers, etc. It is observed that the highest numbers of people are talking from a nationalized bank. The farmers were getting information from various sources like TV media, print media, etc. The library plays a crucial role in the dissemination of knowledge. The farmer knowledge center was established where they could get their query solved. The knowledge centers need to provide the right information at the right time in a personal way. The result reveals that a large number of people of the attabira district are influenced by socio-economic variables.
17. Stakeholders’ views on sustaining honey bee health and beekeeping: the roles of ecological and social system drivers
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Fedoriak, Mariia (author), Kulmanov, Oleksandr (author), Zhuk, Alina (author), Shkrobanets, Oleksandr (author), Tymchuk, Kateryna (author), Moskalyk, Galyna (author), Olendr, Tetiana (author), Yamelynets, Taras (author), and Angelstam, Per (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-03
- Published:
- United States: Springer
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12236
- Journal Title:
- Landscape Journal
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 36 Issue 3
- Notes:
- 21 pages, Context: Honey bees provide multiple ecosystem services. Comparisons of coupled social-ecological systems (SES) can improve the understanding of the factors affecting honey bees and beekeeping. Objectives: Stressing the need for SES analyses, we explore beekeepers' perceived factors affecting bees and beekeeping, test the hypothesis that honey bee colony losses are associated to agricultural land use intensity, and discuss the role of beekeeping for rural development. Methods: We used as a case study the steep gradient in SES in Ukraine's Chernivtsi region with three strata: (i) traditional villages, (ii) intermediate and (iii) intensive agriculture. In each stratum, we analysed the social system using five open-ended focus groups. Regarding the ecological system, we analysed data about winter loss rate of honey bee colonies, number of colonies per beekeeper, the average amount of supplemental feeding, and proportion of beekeepers treating against Varroa mite. Results: Thirty-three themes were extracted, of which 73% concerned the social system at multiple levels of governance. The number of themes increased from the traditional stratum with higher winter colony losses to the intensive agriculture stratum with lower losses. This does not support the hypothesis that the intensive agriculture per se affect honey bees negatively. Conclusions: Social system factors dominate over ecological factors, and interact across scales. This requires systems analyses of honey bees and beekeeping. We see beekeeping as a social innovation enhancing stakeholders' navigation in social systems, thus supporting rural development in countries in transition like Ukraine.
18. Use of information and communication technologies by Vietnamese smallholders: Implications for extension strategies
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Hoang, Hung Gia (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-02-18
- Published:
- International: SAGE Journals
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12212
- Journal Title:
- Information Development
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol.37(2)
- Notes:
- 9 pages., In order to facilitate the adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for accessing agricultural information by smallholders, it is critical to understand their perspectives on the use of ICT. However, few empirical studies have considered how smallholders utilise ICT in Central Vietnam. This research investigates the Central Vietnamese smallholders’ views on the extent of use of ICT for accessing agricultural information. A sample size of 250 smallholders was randomly selected from a total of 687 smallholders in Trieu Phong district, Central Vietnam. A two-section questionnaire was used to gather data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The smallholders used mobile phones, TV and radio networks/broadcasts as the common ICT tools, and these were also effective ICT tools for accessing agricultural information. Lack of knowledge and skills for using applications on mobile phones were the main challenge to the smallholders’ use of ICT. A statistically significant relationship, existing between the extent of mobile phone use and the smallholders’ age (χ = 10.04, p = 0.040), gender (χ = 5.99, p = 0.014) and the type of households (χ = 6.84, p = 0.033), was found. Similarly, there was a statistically significant relationship existing between the extent of radio network/broadcast use and the smallholders’ age (χ = 9.58, p = 0.048) and gender (χ = 4.83, p = 0.028).
19. Exploring the feasibility of rural broadband cooperatives in the United States: the new new deal?
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Schmit, Todd M. (author) and Severson, Roberta M. (author)
- Format:
- Journal Article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-02-13
- Published:
- Netherlands: Elsevier
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12778
- Journal Title:
- Telecommunications Policy
- Journal Title Details:
- Volume 45, Issue 4
- Notes:
- 13pgs, Sufficient access to and utilization of broadband is an ongoing concern for rural economic development. Using a rural region in Northern New York (USA), we consider the investment and operational costs of a broadband cooperative and determine service prices for which it is financially viable. Service prices need to increase 75%–131%, depending on grant restrictions, relative to existing market prices for a new broadband cooperative to become financially feasible. Put differently, the cooperative would not cash flow at market prices unless there was at least 14 potential subscribers per mile at a 62% take rate. For a cooperative, the grant restriction that providers offer a minimum level of speed at a maximum price results in a high level of subsidization by high-speed to low-speed members to support the business. Given grant funding and member equity investments, financial infeasibility has little to do with construction costs, than with annual operational and maintenance costs required to sustain the system long term. More reasonable feasibility scenarios occur for existing utility cooperatives expanding services into broadband, particularly areas with a high proportion of high-speed, year-round users and strong take rates. Consideration of public benefits of broadband arguably needs to be added to the equation, particularly surrounding access to healthcare and educational purposes, and as a prerequisite to supporting taxpayer-funded public-private partnerships to expand broadband services. Policy levers to eliminate or subsidize property taxes and pole rental costs reduce cash flow prices considerably; however, feasibility is highly sensitive to assumed take rates.
20. Utilisation of mobile phones in accessing agricultural information by smallholder farmers in Dzindi Irrigation Scheme in South Africa
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Holmner, Marlene (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021
- Published:
- International: African Journals Online
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D12100
- Journal Title:
- African Journal of Library, Archives and Information Science
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 29 No. 1
- Notes:
- 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.
21. Definitions of “rural” and “urban” and understandings of economic transformation: Evidence from Tanzania
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Wineman, Ayala (author), Yélognissè Alia, Didier (author), and Anderson, C. Leigh (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-10-01
- Published:
- International: Elsevier
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 201 Document Number: D11859
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Rural Studies
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 79
- Notes:
- 14 pages, via online journal, Designing effective policies for economic development often entails categorizing populations by their rural or urban status. Yet there exists no universal definition of what constitutes an “urban” area, and countries alternately apply criteria related to settlement size, population density, or economic advancement. In this study, we explore the implications of applying different urban definitions, focusing on Tanzania for illustrative purposes. Toward this end, we refer to nationally representative household survey data from Tanzania, collected in 2008 and 2014, and categorize households as urban or rural using seven distinct definitions. These are based on official administrative categorizations, population densities, daytime and nighttime satellite imagery, local economic characteristics, and subjective assessments of Google Earth images. These definitions are then applied in some common analyses of demographic and economic change. We find that these urban definitions produce different levels of urbanization. Thus, Tanzania's urban population share based on administrative designations was 28% in 2014, though this varies from 12% to 39% with alternative urban definitions. Some indicators of economic development, such as the level of rural poverty or the rate of rural electrification, also shift markedly when measured with different urban definitions. The periodic (official) recategorization of places as rural or urban, as occurs with the decennial census, results in a slower rate of rural poverty decline than would be measured with time-constant boundaries delimiting rural Tanzania. Because the outcomes of analysis are sensitive to the urban definitions used, policy makers should give attention to the definitions that underpin any statistics used in their decision making.
22. Karl Robert Kern
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Format:
- Obituary
- Publication Date:
- 2020-09-05
- Published:
- International
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D12020
- Notes:
- Obituary online from the Ames Tribune via legacy.com. 4 pages., Described the career and life of this 31-year communications faculty member at Iowa State University.
23. Property, access, exclusion: Agribusiness venture agreements in the Philippines
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Rosete, Alfredo R.M. (author)
- Format:
- journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-08-21
- Published:
- USA: Elsevier
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 201 Document Number: D11879
- Journal Title:
- Journal of rural studies
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 79
- Notes:
- 9 pages, via online journal, Economists have touted partnerships between smallholders and agribusiness firms that cultivate high-valued export crops as a means of raising smallholder incomes and achieving rural development. However, some case studies show that such partnerships can deny smallholders the ability to benefit from their lands. This essay examines how this dynamic occurs by comparing the experiences of agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in the Davao Region of the Philippines. The paper finds that contracts which deny ARBs the benefit of their holdings are those that deprive them of key abilities such as determining who can use land and withdraw it from a partnership. Such contracts arise when ARB groups lack attributes that enhance their capacity for collective action, information gathering, and legal advocacy.
24. Broad coalition formed to push for rural broadband
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Format:
- News article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-07-10
- Published:
- USA
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 201 Document Number: D11768
- Notes:
- Report from Agri-Pulse received online via AgriMarketing Weekly. 6 pages., Report of a letter to Capitol Hill and the White House from a new American Connection Project Broadband Coalition calling for a "robust federal investment in broadband internet connectivity." Letter (attached) signed by 40 ag, tech, and healthcare groups.
25. Participation in agricultural extension and labor productivity: a case study of smallholder farmers in Ghana
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Anang, Benjamin Tetteh (author) and Ayambila, Sylvester Nsobire (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-07
- Published:
- Germany: CENTMA Research
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12697
- Journal Title:
- International Journal on Food System Dynamics
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 11, N. 3
- Notes:
- 10 pages, Low agricultural productivity remains one of the main factors influencing poverty and food insecurity among smallholder farmers in many developing countries. Among the key interventions assumed to influence agricultural productivity of smallholders is the provision of agricultural extension services to farmers. Access to agricultural extension however remains low in most developing countries thus slowing down agricultural productivity growth. This study therefore sought to determine the labor productivity effects of agricultural extension in northern Ghana using data from a cross-section of 300 smallholder farm households. The results of a binary probit model indicated that participation in agricultural extension increased with farming experience, farm size, access to irrigation and group membership but decreased with years of formal education and household size. Regression estimates of a labor productivity model revealed a positive and statistically significant relationship between agricultural extension and labor productivity. Also, labor productivity increased with farming experience, household income, access to irrigation, degree of specialization in production and the level of conventional inputs used per man-day of labor but decreased with participation in off-farm work. The authors recommend an increase in agricultural extension coverage to ensure that more farmers are reached with information on modern technologies to enhance their labor productivity. Furthermore, farmers need access to inputs such as seed and fertilizer to improve the productivity of labor.
26. The intertemporal evolution of agriculture and labor over a rapid structural transformation: Lessons from Vietnam
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Liu, Yanyan (author), Barrett, Christopher B. (author), Pham, Trinh (author), and Violette, William (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-07-01
- Published:
- USA: Elsevier
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 201 Document Number: D11867
- Journal Title:
- Food Policy
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 94
- Notes:
- 14 pages, via online journal, We combine nationally representative household and labor force survey data from 1992 to 2016 to provide a detailed description of rural labor market evolution and how it relates to the structural transformation of rural Vietnam, especially within the agricultural sector. Our study adds to the emerging literature on structural transformation in low-income countries using micro-level data and helps to answer several policy-related questions. We find limited employment creation potential of agriculture, especially for youth. Rural-urban real wage convergence has gone hand-in-hand with increased diversification of the rural economy into the non-farm sector nationwide and rapid advances in educational attainment in all sectors’ and regions’ workforce. Minimum wage laws seem to have played no significant role in increasing agricultural wages. This enhanced integration also manifests in steady attenuation of the longstanding inverse farm size-yield relationship. Farming has remained securely household-based and the family farmland distribution has remained largely unchanged. Small farm sizes have not obstructed mechanization nor the uptake of labor-saving pesticides, consistent with factor substitution induced by rising real wage rates. As rural households rely more heavily on the labor market, human capital accumulation (rather than land endowments) have become the key correlate of improvements in rural household well-being.
27. Social and economic impacts of digital connection in remote communities: Central Western Queensland
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Format:
- Research paper
- Publication Date:
- 2020-06-01
- Published:
- Australia: Rural Economies Centre of Excellence
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 208 Document Number: D13197
- Notes:
- 6 pages
28. The use and abuse of the ‘model farmer’ approach in agricultural extension in Ethiopia
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Hailemichael, Salem (author) and Haug, Ruth (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-05-06
- Published:
- United States: Taylor & Francis
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D12054
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol 26, 2020 Issue 5
- Notes:
- 21 Pages, Purpose: The article examines the implementation and effects of the model farmer-based approach of farmer-to-farmer extension delivery that is in use in Ethiopia. Methodology: The study used mixed methods, combining focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and a household survey. Findings: The model farmer approach has increased extension coverage, improved the possibility for information and technology dissemination, and enabled the inclusion of virtually all farming households in extension and advisory networks. Simultaneously, the approach has become a mechanism for the top-down control of farmers, for the identification and favouritism of better-off farmers, and those with political commitments. Practical implications: The findings show that there is a need to critically reflect on who model farmers are, how they are selected, what their historical and current roles and impact have been, as well as follower farmers’ feedback on the approach in order to avoid perpetuating the misuse of the approach. Theoretical implications: The article argues that the Ethiopian context that rewards rapid increase in production and productivity, modernisation of agriculture, competitive commercialisation, and a context that allows the continued entanglement of extension delivery with politics have enabled such misuse of the approach to proliferate. The article questions the extent of applicability of the core farmer-to-farmer extension principles that relate to social ties, reciprocity, collaboration, and minimal social hierarchies in such a context. Originality/value: The study generates important insights about the effects of model farmer-based extension approach, its political dimensions, and the importance of context for successful farmer-to-farmer extension.
29. Remembering Burt Swanson, a passionate and influential advocate for smallholder farmers around the world
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Myrick, Leslie (author)
- Format:
- Obituary
- Publication Date:
- 2020-05-05
- Published:
- USA: College of ACES, University of Illinois Urbana-Illinois
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 207 Document Number: D13071
- Notes:
- 5 pages, includes Burt Swanson's obituary.
30. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reports broadband unavailable to 21.3 million Americans, BroadbandNow study indicates 42 million do not have access
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Busby, John (author) and Tanberk, Julia (author)
- Format:
- Research summary
- Publication Date:
- 2020-02-03
- Published:
- USA
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 201 Document Number: D11769
- Notes:
- Online from BroadbandNow, a registered trademark of Centerfield BBN LLC. 3 pages., Whereas the FCC reports that broadband is unavailable to 21.3 million Americans, BroadbandNow Research analyzed FCC Form 477 data and estimated that 42 million Americans do not have the ability to purchase broadband internet. This is an additional 6.5 percent of Americans beyond FCC estimates.
31. Organic farming as a rural development factor in Poland- the role of good governance and local policies
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Śpiewak, Ruta (author) and Jasiński, Jakub (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-02
- Published:
- Germany: CENTMA Research
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12696
- Journal Title:
- International Journal on Food System Dynamics
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 11, N. 1
- Notes:
- 20 pages, The main goal of this article is to assess the conditions under which market-oriented and formally organised organic farming might become a factor for local development. The main question is: to what degree is the impact of this factor (organic farming) due to local policies and the quality of local governance? Based on research carried out in 2013 and in 2016 in various parts of Poland, the authors demonstrate when and under what conditions and circumstances organic farming may improve farmers’ social and economic conditions as well as the overall development of areas with a significant organic agricultural sector (proportionally to the local scale). The preliminary findings underline that local authorities in rural areas are an institution that can significantly contribute to the maintenance and development of organic farming in Poland.
32. Gendered constraints for adopting climate-smart agriculture amongst smallholder Ethiopian women farmers
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Tsige, Meseret (author), Synnevag, Gry (author), and Aune, Jens B. (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2020
- Published:
- Ethiopia
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 133 Document Number: D11375
- Journal Title:
- Scientific African
- Journal Title Details:
- 7, e00250
- Notes:
- 12 pages., Online via Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)., Findings showed that women smallholders' uptake was affected by limited access to credit, extension, restricted membership in cooperatives and water user associations, lack of access or user rights to land, skill training, information, and restricted mobility. Authors suggested that expanding off-farm diversification and rural employment opportunities through changing the land tenure system, which is currently state-owned, are essential to enhance women smallholders' access to land and other agricultural inputs.
33. The digital divide: Implications for agribusiness and entrepreneurship. Lessons from Wales
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Bowen, Robert (author) and Morris, Wyn (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-12
- Published:
- Elsevier
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 148 Document Number: D11591
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Rural Studies
- Journal Title Details:
- 72:75-84
- Notes:
- 10 pages., via online journal., This paper investigates the impact of broadband access on agribusiness in rural Wales and the resulting implications on entrepreneurial activity. Despite attempts by Government and telecommunications providers to develop widespread broadband coverage in Wales, concerns remain in relation to an increasing digital divide between urban and rural locations. Broadband is a key enabling technology therefore connectivity is significant, not only in communication, but also in the ability for businesses to innovate and grow. Wales is a predominantly rural country with 84% of the total land area in Wales being used for agriculture (Welsh Government, 2013). The food and farming sector represents a significant part of the Welsh economy, and is dominated by small businesses. Connectivity and increased use of technology are vital for these businesses to overcome location constraints and various industrial challenges, notably Brexit. The research uses survey data from 738 farmers and 107 food SMEs in Wales, with 19 follow-up semi-structured interviews. The survey results highlight issues of technology adoption, with 19% of farmers in the survey having no access to broadband internet, with others reporting the speed of connection being a limiting factor. The consequences of poor connectivity point to limited computer skills and low levels of soft technology adoption, a lack of engagement with social media, limited scope for innovation and restricted business growth, with 55.1% of food respondents identifying poor broadband access as a barrier to internationalisation. This has led to agrifood businesses adopting a passive approach to growth opportunities. The findings suggest that rural areas remain at a disadvantage due to poor connectivity, an issue that must be tackled by the Welsh Government to readdress the balance in the economy and limit a brain drain of skilled people moving to urban areas, often outside Wales. Support for such businesses is vital, particularly given the pressures and uncertainty in the industry, as broadband access represents an important enabler for future innovation and entrepreneurial activity
34. Vulnerability of british farms to post-Brexit subsidy removal, and implications for intensification, extensification and land sparing
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Arnott, David (author), Chadwick, David R. (author), Wynne-Jones, Sophie (author), and Jones, David L. (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-10-18
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12810
- Notes:
- 8pgs, On the 23rd June 2016, the UK referendum on European Union (EU) membership resulted in a vote to leave the EU. This departure, should it occur, would see the implementation of a new agricultural policy within the UK which will most likely see the removal of direct financial support to farmers. In this study, we use combined agricultural survey and rural payments data to evaluate the extent of reliance upon Pillar 1 payments, based on a sample of 24,492 (i.e. 70%) of farm holdings in Wales. This approach eliminates some of the variation found in the Farm Business Survey through the delivery of a more comprehensive picture on the numbers and types of farm holding potentially facing economic hardship and the quantities of land and livestock associated with those holdings. We estimate ˜34% of our sampled Welsh farm holdings face serious financial difficulties and show ˜44% of agricultural land on sampled farm holdings in Wales being vulnerable to land use change or abandonment. Based on our results, we consider the potential social and ecological impacts that the removal of direct payments may have on land use in Wales. We also discuss the use of a more balanced approach to land management that could support governmental visions to keep farmers on the land, improve productivity and deliver high quality ‘Public Goods’.
35. Agriculture–nutrition linkages in farmers’ communication networks
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Jäckering, Lisa (author), Gödecke, Theda (author), and Wollni, Meike (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-08
- Published:
- Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 78 Document Number: D10824
- Journal Title:
- Agricultural Economics
- Notes:
- 16 pages., via online journal., To date, little is known about how information flows within farmer groups and how extension interventions could be designed to deliver combined information on agriculture and nutrition. This study uses unique network data from 815 farm households in Kenya to investigate the structure and characteristics of agricultural and nutrition information networks within farmer groups. Dyadic regressions are used to analyze the factors influencing link formation for the exchange of agricultural and nutrition information. In addition, we apply fixed‐effects models to identify the characteristics of central persons driving information exchange in the two networks, as well as potentially isolated persons, who are excluded from information networks within their farmer groups. Our results show that nutrition information is exchanged within farmer groups, although to a limited extent, and mostly flows through the existing agricultural information links. Thus, diffusing nutrition information through agricultural extension systems may be a viable approach. Our findings further suggest that group leaders and persons living in central locations are important drivers in the diffusion of information in both networks and may thus serve as suitable entry points for nutrition‐sensitive extension programs. However, we also identify important heterogeneities in network characteristics. In particular, nutrition information is less often exchanged between men and women, and some group members are completely isolated from nutrition information exchange within their farmer groups. We derive recommendations on taking these differences in network structure and characteristics into account when designing nutrition‐sensitive extension programs.
36. Can women's self‐help groups improve access to information, decision‐making, and agricultural practices? The Indian case
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Raghunathan, Kalyani (author), Kannan, Samyuktha (author), and Quisumbing, Agnes R. (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-08
- Published:
- Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 78 Document Number: D10822
- Journal Title:
- Agricultural Economics
- Notes:
- 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.
37. The formation of agricultural e‐commerce clusters: a case from China
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Zeng, Yiwu (author), Hongdong, Guo (author), Yao, Yanfei (author), and Huang, Lu (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-08
- Published:
- Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 78 Document Number: D10821
- Journal Title:
- Growth and Change
- Notes:
- 19 pages., via online journal., Agricultural e‐commerce clusters are new phenomena that have emerged in rural China. In examining the case of Shuyang County in Jiangsu Province, this paper puts forward an integrated model revealing the formation mechanism of agricultural e‐commerce clusters. The paper shows that the formation of agricultural e‐commerce clusters involves four processes of technology introduction, technology diffusion, quality crisis, and industrial agglomeration based on elements such as industry bases, e‐commerce platforms, network facilities, logistics services, entrepreneurial talent, local government, and market demand. Rural social networks and imitation behaviors promote technology diffusion by reducing the cost of technology introduction, and industrial agglomeration is found in the economies showing a deepening of labor divisions and geographic agglomeration. Throughout the formation process, a quality crisis may occur due to a race to the bottom and the opportunistic behaviors of local farmers. This work suggests that regional e‐commerce development is a systematic project. Governments of developing countries should not only realize the positive impacts of e‐commerce for the development of the agricultural industry but also recognize the premise and logic of how e‐commerce can play a prominent role.
38. Construction and validation of a psychometric scale to assess extension agents’ beliefs about extension and innovation
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Landini, Fernando (author), Beramendi, Maite (author), and University of La Cuenca del Plata Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) School of Psychology, University of Buenos Aires
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-07-24
- Published:
- Argentina: Taylor and Francis
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 101 Document Number: D10880
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- 25(5) : 318-399
- Notes:
- 18 pages, online journal article, Purpose This article aims at designing and validating a psychometric scale to assess extensionists’ and advisors’ beliefs about extension and innovation. Design/Methodology/approach The scale was developed by drawing upon results from a previous empirical research as well as insights from a literature review on extension and innovation approaches. The theoretical framework used to write the items was validated by 12 international experts from 11 countries. 608 Argentine extension workers completed the questionnaire. Replies were analysed using Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Findings The scale has a good fit and satisfactory level of internal consistency. Five factors were identified: Dialogue and horizontal coordination; Transfer of technology; Blame on farmers; Participatory, farmer-led extension; and Self-critical attitude. Practical implications The scale has multiple and different uses, including research, theory development, institutional practice, diagnosis, and teaching. Theoretical implications Results show that a horizontal, facilitative extension approach shares a common epistemology, as well as underlying values and assumptions, with territorial development and with an innovation systems perspective, and that both contrast with a traditional transfer of technology approach. Nonetheless, practitioners would not tend to see these two contrasting perspectives as contradictory but as complementary. Originality/Value The scale is the first validated psychometric instrument, based on an ample theoretical framework, that allows for a quantitative assessment of beliefs about extension and innovation.
39. The potential for developing educational farms: a SWOT analysis from a case study
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Forleo, Maria Bonaventura (author), Palmieri, Nadia (author), and University of Molise
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-07-22
- Published:
- Italy: Taylor & Francis
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 109 Document Number: D10975
- Journal Title:
- The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- 25(5) : 431-442
- Notes:
- 11 pages, via online journal, Purpose: Educational farms (EFs) serve a number of social and economic functions and are part of the debate about new learning environments, multifunctional agriculture and firm diversification. Through the analysis of a case study, this paper aims to identify strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of EFs and key factors for setting a development strategy. Design/Methodology/Approach: A direct survey to EFs in Molise region (IT) was implemented during April-May 2017 and results were assessed following a SWOT approach. Findings: Strong motivation and connection with agritourism activities are strengths of EFs in the region; small size, unskilled staff, lack of structured educational pathways, and limited profitability are the main weaknesses. Farms opportunities come from a territory rich in rural landscapes, environmental resources, and typical food products, and from a growing demand for educational tourism. Obstacles are in the institutional sphere and due to the absence of regional networks. Based on SWOT findings, key factors for EFs development are discussed. Practical implications: EFs development requires innovative educational and managerial tools, a more concerted and proactive role for multiple stakeholders, and the implementation of a network approach. Study findings solicit actions from public institutions and advisory services to improve farmers’ skills. Theoretical implications: The paper contributes to the theoretical debate about the need for a multidisciplinary approach in dealing with the analysis of EFs. Originality/Value: The analysis underlines the importance of internal and external drivers in stimulating farms and institutions to support diversification strategies, rural development and transformation processes in inner areas.
40. Knowledge management best practices among rice farmers in selected areas of Tanzania
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Mtega, Wulystan Pius (author) and Ngoepe, Mpho (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-07-19
- Published:
- South Africa: SAGE Journals
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D12389
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Librarianship and Information Science
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 52 (2)
- Notes:
- 14 pages., For improved rice production, farmers need access to timely and relevant knowledge at each stage of the rice-cropping calendar. To understand how farmers involve themselves in acquiring and sharing agricultural knowledge, this study investigates how knowledge management best practices can be enhanced among rice farmers in selected rural areas of Tanzania. Data were collected from 226 rice farmers in three districts (Kilombero, Kilosa and Mvomero) of the Morogoro region in Tanzania. Findings from structured questionnaires and focused group discussion indicate that rice farmers accessed, shared and used agricultural knowledge. It was found that individual, institutional and knowledge factors influence the performance of agricultural knowledge management activities. For enhancing effective agricultural knowledge management, it is important to take into consideration the knowledge management best practices, which include developing effective knowledge infrastructure, involving different stakeholders and using appropriate information and communications technology tools in enhancing access to knowledge. It is concluded that effective knowledge management activities increase the level of adoption of agricultural innovations. It is recommended that the proposed agricultural knowledge management best practices be adapted for improving rice production.
41. Plight of New York dairy farmers detailed in articles that won awards in National Newspaper Association contests
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Reader, Bill (author / Ohio University)
- Format:
- Article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-06-21
- Published:
- USA
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 102 Document Number: D10892
- Notes:
- Online from the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, Lexington, Kentucky, Rural Blog. 3 pages., Describes the editorial approach of two award-winning local newspapers in focusing on the human toll of changing market forces in the dairy industry.
42. How social media can foster social innovation in disadvantaged rural communities
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Onitsuka, Kenichiro (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-05
- Published:
- MDPI
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 114 Document Number: D11040
- Journal Title:
- Sustainability
- Journal Title Details:
- 11(9)
- Notes:
- 24 pages., via online journal., Social innovation has received widespread attention in the rural development field, especially its contribution to future rural sustainability. Social innovation revolves around social networks. Rural areas, however, can be relatively disadvantaged by their geographical peripherality. Social media, therefore, has strong potential to foster social innovation by enabling remote communication, but in rural areas, social media use may be low because of an aging and decreasing population. This study examined community-level adoption and use of social media in rural areas in Japan, with a focus on Facebook, for the purpose of sharing community information and facilitating networking with a variety of actors to promote rural social innovation. The study involved a comprehensive search and case studies targeting 139,063 rural communities and 10,922 rural joint-communities, all of which are legally designated agricultural communities throughout Japan. The search found that disadvantaged rural communities’ adoption of Facebook was scarce, and most of the communities that had adopted Facebook did not expand their social networks. Furthermore, investigation into the communities that had adopted social networking to a larger extent revealed that external supporters or migrants had essential roles in successful networking. Based on the obtained findings, this study has provided insights for future policy design.
43. The reluctant regulator: the rural utilities service and American broadband policy
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Ali, Christopher (author) and Duemmel, Mark (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-05
- Published:
- Elsevier
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 18 Document Number: D10500
- Journal Title:
- Telecommunications Policy
- Journal Title Details:
- 43(4): 380-392
- Notes:
- 13 pages., via online journal., Drawing on the increasing body of literature on policy stakeholders and the ever-growing acknowledgement that communication policy is crafted by more than just parliamentarians and formal communication regulators this paper examines the role that another set of regulators plays in communication policy: agriculture regulators. Based on a study of the United States Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS), this paper explores alternative agents of communication policy. More specifically, through document analysis we examine the way in which the Rural Utilities Service has shaped rural broadband policy in the United States over the last three decades. The implications for this research are wide, as it brings another policy actor into the policy making melee, and pushes communication policy scholars to consider the role that non-traditional communication regulators play in the communication policy making process.
44. Agricultural information on air: analyzing farm radio through contemporary models of science communication. A comparison of three cases in rural Kenya
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Oswald, Fabian (author) and Kalsruhe Institute of Technology
- Format:
- Dissertation
- Publication Date:
- 2019-04-02
- Published:
- Germany: Kalsruhe Institute of Technology
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 121 Document Number: D11122
- Notes:
- 196 pages., via institutional depository., Fabin's work is based on Kilimo Media’s work. He sought to investigate how information flow through agricultural radio programs in local languages is structured and whether contemporary theories of science communication are observable in the practice of farm radio through a cross-case study approach. Fabian held qualitative interviews with local actors and group discussions with farmers in Kajiado, Marsabit and Kitui counties and three radio stations Bus radio, Radio Jangwani and Syokimau FM.
45. Assessing the social media use and needs of small rural retailers: implications for extension program support
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Son, Jihyeong (author), Niehm, Linda S. (author), Russell, Daniel W. (author), and Lee, Juyoung (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-04
- Published:
- USA: Extension Journal, Inc.
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 12 Document Number: D10424
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- 57(2)
- Notes:
- 7 pages., Article # 2RIB2, Via online journal., To assess small rural retailers' use of social media and the role of social media in their business sustainability, we conducted focus group interviews with small business owners/managers from rural communities in a midwestern state. Participants revealed strong interest in social media, especially for use in sales and marketing. However, their engagement in social media was limited due to lack of knowledge and resources (i.e., time, human resources, financial resources, effectiveness measurement) related to developing and updating content. On the basis of these findings, we examine implications for Extension professionals and outreach educators regarding social media needs and programming for small rural businesses.
46. Identifying gender-responsive approaches in rural advisory services that contribute to the institutionalisation of gender in Pakistan
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Lamontagne-Godwin, J. (author), Cardey, S. (author), Williams, F. E. (author), Dorward, P. T. (author), Aslam, N. (author), and Almas, M. (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-04
- Published:
- Taylor & Francis
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 32 Document Number: D10639
- Journal Title:
- The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension
- Journal Title Details:
- 25(3): 267-288
- Notes:
- 23 pages., via online journal., Unequal reach and access to information is an issue that affects women involved in agricultural activities around the world. Recent initiatives to address gender unequal access to agricultural information have been clumsy, overlooking participatory approaches that focus on transformative change. This study uses Pakistani rural advisory services to compare farmers' and extension workers’ perceptions of access to agricultural information, to identify culturally acceptable gender-responsive schemes.
47. Between words: a generational discussion about farming knowledge sources
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Wójcik, Marcin (author), Jeziorska-Biel, Pamela (author), and Czapiewski, Konrad (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-03-09
- Published:
- Poland: Science Direct
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 7 Document Number: D10245
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Rural Studies
- Journal Title Details:
- 67: 130-141
- Notes:
- 12 pages., Via online journal., This article is concerned with the shaping of agricultural knowledge among farmers, in the context of the rapid changes Polish agriculture has been subject to since the time of the country's EU accession. The theoretical underpinnings of this work have been described in terms of the significant notional categories, i.e. knowledge, knowledge-cultures and sources of knowledge. The research made use of the joint interviews method. Interviews were run with representatives of different generations in 10 farming families in central Poland. The main research objective was to determine sources of farming knowledge among farmers. The use of joint interviews allowed for the identification of sources of knowledge of different kinds. These reflect a division into farmers' closer and more distant surroundings, i.e. to the family and neighbours on the one hand, and to institutions and media on the other. Knowledge acquisition among farmers is in fact found to be a complex process, reflecting socialisation in a multi-generation environment of family and neighbours, on the one hand, and the impact of the institutional and legal system, on the other. In a general sense, this corresponds to the well-known division of sources of knowledge into the tacit and the explicit, with the acquisition of tacit (i.e. informal) knowledge not meeting with any more major obstacles thanks to proximity in a sense that may be cultural (i.e. the agriculture itself), family-related (and in fact multi-generation) and spatial (physical proximity in a given locality). Microsocial conditioning thus plays a major role in the shaping of this source of knowledge. However, the most important factor distinguishing contemporary cultures as regards knowledge on farming is the capacity to adapt to conditions set by the institutions supporting the latter's development. Formal knowledge flowing into farming families from their institutional surroundings requires growing adaptability and preparation if a succession of innovations are to be taken on board. The multi-source nature of knowledge and the achievement of some kind of balance in this respect actually poses a major challenge for the future functioning of family farms as cultural microsystems.
48. Automated pastures and the digital divide: How agricultural technologies are shaping labour and rural communities
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Rotz, Sarah (author), Gravely, Evan (author), Mosby, Ian (author), Duncan, Emily (author), Finnis, Elizabeth (author), Horgan, Mervyn (author), LeBlanc, Joseph (author), Martin, Ralph (author), Tait Neufeld, Hannah (author), Nixon, Andrew (author), Pant, Laxmi (author), Shalla, Vivian (author), and Fraser, Evan (author)
- Format:
- Online article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-02-13
- Published:
- Canada: Science Direct
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 7 Document Number: D10251
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Rural Studies
- Notes:
- 11 pages., Via online article, A “digital revolution” in agriculture is underway. Advanced technologies like sensors, artificial intelligence, and robotics are increasingly being promoted as a means to increase food production efficiency while minimizing resource use. In the process, agricultural digitalization raises critical social questions about the implications for diverse agricultural labourers and rural spaces as digitalization evolves. In this paper, we use literature and field data to outline some key trends being observed at the nexus of agricultural production, technology, and labour in North America, with a particular focus on the Canadian context. Using the data, we highlight three key tensions observed: rising land costs and automation; the development of a high-skill/low-skilled bifurcated labour market; and issues around the control of digital data. With these tensions in mind, we use a social justice lens to consider the potential implications of digital agricultural technologies for farm labour and rural communities, which directs our attention to racial exploitation in agricultural labour specifically. In exploring these tensions, we argue that policy and research must further examine how to shift the trajectory of digitalization in ways that support food production as well as marginalized agricultural labourers, while pointing to key areas for future research—which is lacking to date. We emphasize that the current enthusiasm for digital agriculture should not blind us to the specific ways that new technologies intensify exploitation and deepen both labour and spatial marginalization.
49. The state of the USDA: a quiet dismantling
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Lilliston, Ben (author)
- Format:
- Commentary
- Publication Date:
- 2019-02-04
- Published:
- USA: Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 30 Document Number: D10568
- Notes:
- via website, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy., 4 pages.
50. ‘Communication sovereignty’ as resistance: strategies adopted by women farmers amid the agrarian crisis in India
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Dutta, Mohan J. (author) and Thaker, Jagadish (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-02-04
- Published:
- India: Taylor & Francis
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 12 Document Number: D10354
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Applied Communication Research
- Journal Title Details:
- 47(1) : 24-46
- Notes:
- 23 pages., Via online journal., This study draws on a culturally centered collaboration with a community of dalit women farmers in South India who were organized in a cooperative in their collective resistance against the corporatization of agriculture. Situated in the backdrop of the epidemic of farmer suicides in the region, this manuscript examines how those at the margins of global neoliberal transformations symbolically and materially make sense of and resist these transformations. The voices of the women farmers disrupt the underlying neoliberal assumptions that undergird the importation of cash crop agriculture into a subsistence and community-centered farming culture. They depict the ways in which Western cash crop agriculture disrupts community, food security, local health care systems, and the unique gender relations. Moreover, the communication advocacy work carried out by the women seeks to transform agricultural policy through material interventions as alternative practices of agriculture that challenge the hegemony of cash-based individualized agriculture.