15 pages, Background
In traditional food systems, especially those of rural populations around the world, wild food plants remain crucial. These resources need to be urgently documented to lay the foundations for sustainable livelihoods and food security.
Methods
In the present field study, we gathered information about wild food plants and mushrooms consumed by four ethnic groups (Turis, Khushis, Hazaras, and Christians) living in Kurram District, NW Pakistan, by conducting semi-structured interviews and holding group discussions.
Results
A total of 57 wild edible plants and mushrooms were reported, with the documented taxa belonging to 50 genera and 34 families. Turis reported the highest number of wild food plants (41), followed by Hazaras (37), Khushis (35), and then Christians, who reported only 11 plants. The most dominant families were Rosaceae, followed by Polygonaceae, Brassicaceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae, Moraceae, and Plantaginaceae. The comparative analysis we conducted with the pre-existing Pakistani ethnobotanical studies revealed that 23 wild edible plants have not been previously reported as food items in the area under study, which included Fragaria nubicola, Lepidium draba, Pinus wallichiana, Podophyllum emodi, Prunus jacquemontii, Sambucus nigra, Sideroxylon mascatense, and Thymus linearis. Four wild edible mushrooms are also reported for the area for the first time: Calvatia gigantea, Morchella esculenta, Pisolithus albus, and Tulostoma squamosum. The cross-cultural analysis of wild edible plants and their uses revealed remarkable similarity between Khushis and Hazaras. The overlapping pattern of wild edible plant use among these two groups, as well as Turis, confirms the existence of cross-cultural interactions among these communities, which have shared the same environmental and socio-cultural space for several decades. Food heritage and some unique dishes are linked to wild edible plants in the area, such as Zamda, prepared by Turis, and Saba, famous among Khushis and Hazaras.
Conclusion
This study suggests that some wild edible plants could be cultivated to protect a few threatened species from overexploitation, while the overall wild food plant heritage should be promoted and revitalized; for example, within educational platforms aimed at improving the wellbeing of local communities and the global ecological transition we must deal with.
Pollard, Kelvin (author), Jacobsen, Linda A. (author), and Population Reference Bureau (author)
Format:
Book chapter
Publication Date:
2021-06
Published:
United States: Appalachian Regional Commission
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12620
Journal Title Details:
Online
Notes:
Includes a series of charts and tables detailing personal computer and cellular ownership statistics for each county in Appalachia., 26 pgs, The data contained in this Chartbook describe how residents in the Appalachian Region were faring before the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. As such, these numbers do not measure the social and economic impact of the outbreak. The Chartbook data do, however, provide a benchmark: As data from the pandemic and post pandemic period are released in the coming years, these figures can serve as a point of comparison that ultimately can enable data users to better measure the pandemic’s effect on Appalachia’s social and economic dynamics.
12 pages., The study reported on in this paper investigated smallholder farmers’ access to extension services. The study sought to distinguish the varying degrees of access to services of smallholder farmers engaged in different production systems, that is, home gardening, field cropping, and livestock production. The study was conducted in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape, specifically in two communities, namely Ngcabasa and Phathikhala villages. Research activities included a survey of 100 farmers as well as focus group discussions. Employing logistic regression analysis, the study aimed to understand what influences whether or not a smallholder farmer accesses extension. The study also used various types of comparative statistics (T-test) to assess the implications of access to extension support, for instance for production and farm income. The main findings of the study were that 68% of the farming households interviewed in Ngcabasa and 71% of those in Phathikhala had access to extension services. Farmers who had access to extension had more farm income in both enterprises compared to those who had no access to extension services. From the regression analysis, farmers who were more likely to receive extension support appeared to be those who were older, those with less education, and those farming with livestock.
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.
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.
17 pages., Via open source journal., The rural farmers in western Rajasthan State are uneducated and most of the applications of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) are demonstrated and run in the English Language. The majority of these rural farmers who are illiterates with a very low level of understanding of the English Language find it difficult to take advantage of the availability of ICT to facilitate their access to information for their farm businesses. This study examined the role of ICT in enhancing the farmers’ access to production and marketing information in western Rajasthan State in India. Primary data was collected from 133 farmers consisting of 71 ICT users and 62 Non-ICT users through questionnaire administration. The results of the Analysis of Variance test regarding the farmers’ access to different types of production and marketing information revealed that the user type (i.e., ICT versus Non-ICT user) significantly explains the differences in farmers’ access to the different types of marketing and production information. These results are consistent with the empirical results of the student’s t-test that farmers’ access to different types of production and marketing information from ICT sources is significantly higher than from Non-ICT sources. Consistently, the empirical results of the multiple regressions revealed that the percentage of production and marketing information obtained from ICT sources had positive significant influence on the farmers’ access to marketing and production information; and that the percentage of marketing and production information obtained from Non-ICT sources had negative significant influence on the farmers’ access to marketing and production information. These results suggest that ICT sources of marketing and production information play a crucial role in the farmers’ access to this information for their business operations. The implication is that proper education and training of farmers (especially the female farmers) about the utilization of ICT sources to accelerate access to information is crucial
6 pages., via online journal., History and value of newsreels as information sources for theater goers, including those in rural areas. Author identifies the Moving Image Research Collections located at the University of South Carolina. They were contributed by 20th Century Fox in the early 1980s.
9 pages., via online journal, Since 2014, the Chinese government has initiated new-type urbanization under the guidance of ‘the National New-type Urbanization Plan (2014–2020)’, which embarks on a significant transformation of the model of urbanization in post-reform China. To understand the origin and outputs of this policy, this article demonstrates the context of China’s new-type urbanization. The paper proposes a conceptual framework of new-type urbanization, which mainly includes four aspects: humanism, people-oriented urbanization; inclusivism, benefits sharing for urban and rural; sustainability, development without sacrifice of resources and environment; and harmonism, coordination. This is followed by an examination of the case of Anhui province, as a pilot province of China’s new-type urbanization. Anhui has performed a lot of related work to promote citizenization of peasant workers and has made great progress on the reform of the household registration system. The study found that despite a special emphasis on people-oriented urbanization, the pressures and costs of citizenization of peasant workers are growing fast, accompanied by rising housing prices in cities. This insight suggests there are benefits and costs of promoting China’s new-type urbanization. Despite the advantages of institutional innovation, the unexpected side effects such as rapid rising housing prices actually undermine the success of plan implementation.
25 pages., via online journal, Rural internet use, although still limited, is growing, raising the question of how rural people are using social media politically. As a vehicle of communication that permits the rapid transmission of information, images and text across space and connections between dispersed networks of individuals, does technological advance in rural areas presage significant political transformations? This article investigates this question in the light of a poor result for the Cambodian People’s Party in the 2013 elections, and the subsequent banning of the main opposition party, before the 2018 elections. Expanding internet use in rural areas has linked relatively quiescent rural Cambodians for the first time to networks of information about militant urban movements of the poor. Rural Cambodians are responding to this opportunity through strategies of quiet encroachment in cyberspace. This has had real effects on the nature of the relationship between the dominant party and the rural population and suggests the declining utility of the election-winning strategy used by the party since 1993. However, the extent of this virtual information revolution is limited, since neither the urban nor rural poor are mapping out new online political strategies, agendas or identities that can push Cambodia’s sclerotic politics in new directions.
14 pages., Online via Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)., Authors tested label effectiveness involving "supermarket shoppers on a rural American Indian reservation." Results showed added value and willingness to pay through tailoring the label to the local community.
8 pages., via online journal., Documents fragmentation of an existing information-sharing network. Authors recommend broadening diversity in stakeholder engagement to enhance the information flow for dissemination and diffusion in practice.
18 pages., via online journal., Findings in rural communities prompt authors to recommend a customized policy framework that is responsive to the diversity and uniqueness of local contexts in connectivity and digital inclusion.
Miller, Alfred (author / Louisville Courier-Journal)
Format:
Article
Publication Date:
2019
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 124 Document Number: D11197
Notes:
Online from the ProPublica Local Reporting Network. 16 pages., Report of a troubled and costly effort to provide "high-speed internet to Kentucky''s remote corners."
6 pages., via website,Ryerson Review of Journalism., Between the hours of about 4 p.m. to midnight, Ashleigh Weeden goes dark. Not for the usual reasons, though. In Weeden’s southwestern Ontario town, the internet connection becomes—for all practical purposes—nonexistent during those hours. The PhD student at the University of Guelph lives in Ariss, Ontario, a “dispersed rural community” sandwiched between urban centres like Guelph and Kitchener. Despite paying about $250 monthly for internet access, she finds herself shut out of the internet. “…[S]ometimes [internet speed] goes one, maybe half a megabyte down,” she says. “I can’t grade, I can’t do anything, there’s no point, I might as well give up until about midnight.”
18 pages., The economic challenges in Nigeria make it to suffer from food insecurity which is due to low agricultural production and productivity. Specific initiatives by the Federal Government on pro-poor rural agricultural food growth to achieve SDGs to end hunger have been established. Similar structures have also been established in all the 36 States of the Federation and, in some cases, at Local Government Area level. The government is also with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and a wide array of stakeholders. Use of pro-poor rural agricultural food growth through rural public library services to achieve the goal 1 and goal 2 targets of SDGs (end poverty and hunger) is particularly the focus of this study. This paper submits that public libraries have a great role to play in the implementation of SDGs by using emerging technology, collaborating on capacity building and going into partnership with critical stakeholders to make information available to poor rural farmers. Hence, materials from the key partners of the government on information about production forecasts, increased agricultural productivity, soil composition, markets for different crops, dairy and poultry farming, farm mechanics, land use, preservation of soil, rainfall and cultivation of different types of crops, effective extension service delivery and feedback on situation for improved research and policy implementation on agriculture should be acquired by public libraries, organized, preserved and made available to rural poor to facilitate pro-poor rural agricultural food growth for the attainment of SDGs in Nigeria.
9 pages., Online via Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)., An online survey among undergraduate and graduate university students in rural Pakistan revealed that the majority used social media for political awareness and information. Findings of the study suggested that "online political activities strongly correlate to political awareness and offline political participation. In rural areas of Pakistan, the younger generations are very active on social media to participate in online and offline political happenings."
Parker, Kim (author), Horowitz, Juliana Menasce (author), Brown, Anna (author), Fry, Richard (author), Cohn, D'Vera (author), and Igielnik, Ruth (author)
Format:
Research report
Publication Date:
2018-05-22
Published:
USA: Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 198 Document Number: D09679
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 199 Document Number: D09871
Notes:
Via website. 3 pages., Report of discussion at four E-Connectivity Listening Sessions organized by the Farm Foundation in collaboration with five other public agencies and related organizations.
Analysis of an online social microblog, Sina Weibo. Researchers found that "the poor and rich areas were more willing to behave immorally, and the relation between GDP and collective moral motivation was curved. Also, normal people were less ethical when prices increased than when incomes decreased. Ecological construction and the value added by industries which used more farmers and off-farm workers were both correlated with morality. We also found a dark side to science and technological innovation, which harmed collective morality when areas grew richer."
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 207 Document Number: D12979
Notes:
Part IV: Journalistic Recovery Post-Trump: Lessons Learned -- "Stop Overlooking Us": missed intersections of Trump, media, and rural America, This book examines the disruptive nature of Trump news - both the news his administration makes and the coverage of it - related to dominant paradigms and ideologies of U.S. journalism. By relying on conceptualizations of media memory and "othering" through news coverage that enhances socio-conservative positions on issues such as immigration, the book positions this moment in a time of contestation. Contributors ranging from scholars, professionals, and media critics operate in unison to analyze today's interconnected challenges to traditional practices within media spheres posed by Trump news. The outcomes should resonate with citizens who rely on journalism for civic engagement and who are active in social change
Case study of an internationally-finded campesino radio station and cultural negotiation in which local interests engage with - and transform - donor-funded content aimed at the local community.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 131 Document Number: D11333
Notes:
Online from the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C. 22 pages., Report of a national online survey among a representative sample of 18- to 37-year old residents in the United States. Invited information about science topics and other related and unrelated content areas, then build a picture of science relevance and connection from the full pattern of survey responses. "...this investigation represents a crucial first step toward a more data-driven, audience-centric approach to doing public engagement with and for young adults - an approach that is necessary and appropriate for the 21st century."
11 pages, via online journal article, This study of Japan's electoral geography focuses on the outcomes of the 2014 General Election for the House of Representatives. It reflects on the political power of segmented policy communities involved in international free trade and domestic agricultural policy reform and the way they interact with each other. The capability of these policy communities to negotiate behind-the-scenes trade-offs, in order to facilitate reform without disrupting the status quo, is identified as a major determinant of the power structure in contemporary Japan. Also, as low-information and low-participation elections tend to result in a high rate of re-election of incumbents, the depoliticisation of the citizenry is in the interest of these policy communities. Therefore, specific policies and the differentiation among political parties played only a minor role during the 2014 electoral campaign. The paper demonstrates that the strong force of the agricultural policy community to resist transformational change is still deeply rooted in the proportional overrepresentation of agricultural interests built into the electoral system. It concludes that within the context of an increasing deficit of legitimacy and an aggravating depoliticisation trend, commitments to fundamental polity reform are integral to voters' perceptions of the fairness of Japan's democratic institutions. Significant structural reforms that embody federalist and direct democracy principles are discussed as an alternative to the unitary state model in order to seriously tackle issues of proportional misrepresentation and adequately accommodate rural interests.
Jackson, Janine (author / Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) and Vallas, Rebecca (author / Center for American Progress)
Format:
Interview
Publication Date:
2017
Published:
USA: Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, New York City, New York
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 129 Document Number: D11274
Notes:
Online from FAIR website. June 9 episode of CounterSpin. 7 pages., Interview inviting analysis of a series in the Washington Post newspaper. Focused on receivers of disability benefits in rural America. It identified inaccuracies and "deeply offensive allegation" in reporting.
Khan, Md. Anowarul Arif (author), Khan, Md. Mostafizur Rahman (author), Hassan, Mahmudul (author), Ahmed, Firoz (author), and Haque, Shah Md. Rauful (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2017
Published:
Bangladesh
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 133 Document Number: D11377
9 pages., Online via Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Authors examined the history, role, potentials, and challenges of community radio in Bangladesh, especial serving those in rural and hard to reach areas. Emphasis on principles of access and participation, volunteerism, diversity, independence, and locality.
Beam, Brooke W. (author) and Specht, Annie R. (author)
Format:
Conference paper
Publication Date:
2016-02
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 162 Document Number: D08135
Notes:
Research paper presented in the Agricultural Communications Section, Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists (SAAS) in San Antonio, Texas, February 7-8, 2016. 26 pages.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 130 Document Number: D11276
Notes:
19 pages., Online from FAIR website., Addresses issues in media coverage in the Oregon standoff between federal authorities and a Patriot/Militia alliance of building occupiers and, more generally, anti-government protests and standoffs.
Authors identify urgent need to address the concerns of rural consumers and involve the available constitutional mechanism of Panchayati Raj institutions.
15 pages., Article #: 1277838, via online journal., Commercial channels can be non-conventional networks for disseminating agricultural information, especially if farmers are willing to pay for a DVD with
learning videos. Using purposive sampling, we selected retailer and involved them
in selling videos compiled in a DVD. Inside the jacket of DVD, we pasted a sticker
listing a phone number that buyers or video viewers could call for further questions.
We interviewed 341 of the buyers who called that number. After the phone interviews, snowball sampling was used to select 180 farmers for face-to-face interviews
in order to validate the information collected during the telephone interviews and
to understand the behavioural changes triggered by watching the videos. Within
four months of first distributing DVDs to retailers, 80% of the 700 DVDs were sold.
Distributing videos through commercial channels gives a fair chance to everyone to
learn, since the DVDs were sold on the open market at an affordable price. About
84% of the DVDs were sold at 1 USD, suggesting that all of the respondents were
willing to pay for learning DVDs; 86% of respondents said they now spent less
money on pesticides after watching the videos. Private sector actors can become
“new extensionists” and distribute agricultural information to rural populations.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 145 Document Number: D06603
Notes:
Survey research report from the Pew Research Center. 7 pages., Rural respondents prioritized gun rights (63%) while urban respondents said it is more important to control gun ownership (60%).
