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Book Information and communication technologies  ICTs  to provide agricultural advice to smallholder farmers  Experimental evidence from Uganda

Download or read book Information and communication technologies ICTs to provide agricultural advice to smallholder farmers Experimental evidence from Uganda written by Van Campenhout, Bjorn and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2018-12-18 with total page 61 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Agricultural extension  Global status and performance in selected countries

Download or read book Agricultural extension Global status and performance in selected countries written by Davis, Kristin E., ed. and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2020-09-02 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural transformation and development are critical to the livelihoods of more than a billion small-scale farmers and other rural people in developing countries. Extension and advisory services play an important role in such transformation and can assist farmers with advice and information, brokering and facilitating innovations and relationships, and dealing with risks and disasters. Agricultural Extension: Global Status and Performance in Selected Countries provides a global overview of agricultural extension and advisory services, assesses and compares extension systems at the national and regional levels, examines the performance of extension approaches in a selected set of country cases, and shares lessons and policy insights. Drawing on both primary and secondary data, the book contributes to the literature on extension by applying a common and comprehensive framework — the “best-fit” approach — to assessments of extension systems, which allows for comparison across cases and geographies. Insights from the research support reforms — in governance, capacity, management, and advisory methods — to improve outcomes, enhance financial sustainability, and achieve greater scale. Agricultural Extension should be a valuable resource for policymakers, extension practitioners, and others concerned with agricultural development.

Book ICTs for Agricultural Extension

Download or read book ICTs for Agricultural Extension written by R. Saravanan and published by New India Publishing. This book was released on 2010-04 with total page 580 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an attempt to document the National Policy on ICTs in agricultural extension, ICT infrastructure scenario and related issues, case studies on innovative ICTs for agricultural extension initiatives (Village knowledge centres, information kiosks, mobile ICT units, web portals, digital data base and networks, rural tele centres, farmer call centres, mobile telephony, video conference, offline multimedia CDs, decision support systems, expert systems, innovative community radio and television programmes, open distance learning etc. The agricultural extension students, academicians, scientists, practitioners, administrators and policy makers will find this compilation of the "ICTs for Agricultural Extension: Global Experiments, Innovations and Experiences" from twenty eight countries relevant to providing a framework for the design and implementation of sustainable ICT-enabled extension services for the agricultural development.

Book Encyclopedia of Food Security and Sustainability

Download or read book Encyclopedia of Food Security and Sustainability written by and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2018-11-08 with total page 1861 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Encyclopedia of Food Security and Sustainability, Three Volume Set covers the hottest topics in the science of food sustainability, providing a synopsis of the path society is on to secure food for a growing population. It investigates the focal issue of sustainable food production in relation to the effects of global change on food resources, biodiversity and global food security. This collection of methodological approaches and knowledge derived from expert authors around the world offers the research community, food industry, scientists and students with the knowledge to relate to, and report on, the novel challenges of food production and sustainability. This comprehensive encyclopedia will act as a platform to show how an interdisciplinary approach and closer collaboration between the scientific and industrial communities is necessary to strengthen our existing capacity to generate and share research data. Offers readers a ‘one-stop’ resource on the topic of food security and sustainability Contains articles split into sections based on the various dimensions of Food Security and Food Sustainability Written by academics and practitioners from various fields and regions with a “farm to fork understanding Includes concise and accessible chapters, providing an authoritative introduction for non-specialists and readers from undergraduate level upwards, as well as up-to-date foundational content for those familiar with the field

Book Prioritizing development policy research in Sudan  An innovative approach to guide IFPRI   s Sudan Strategy Support Program

Download or read book Prioritizing development policy research in Sudan An innovative approach to guide IFPRI s Sudan Strategy Support Program written by Kirui, Oliver K. and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2022-04-04 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper presents an innovative approach to prioritizing development policy research in Sudan with the specific objective of informing the research agenda of the Sudan Strategy Support Program (Sudan SSP) of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The key steps in this process were: A review of relevant priority setting methods and existing government strategies, Pre-selection of research themes, Selection of national and international experts, Design and conduct priority setting workshop; and Priority matrix construction and paper writing. The paper suggests key research priorities for Sudan, which are both highly relevant to Sudan’s current and future development policy agenda and consistent with IFPRI’s own comparative advantage and strategy. It identifies research areas and topics under five main themes, namely: 1. Agricultural production, 2. Markets and trade, 3. Livelihoods and nutrition, 4. Development strategy and investment planning, and 5. Increasing resilience of farming under growing climate challenges. Tackling the priority research tasks identified in this paper, for these five themes, is expected to help reduce poverty and improve food and nutrition security in Sudan. However, strengthening the links between policy research and decision-making will be crucial to ensure that evidence-based solutions are relevant and have a positive impact on people’s lives.

Book Big data for smallholder farmers

Download or read book Big data for smallholder farmers written by Pedrick, Clare and published by CTA. This book was released on 2019-02-01 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is massive scope for linking farmers to valuable knowledge and agricultural services through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as a pathway to driving improved productivity and market access, creating opportunities for higher incomes and better food security as a result. In Uganda, as in many sub-Saharan countries, lack of timely and accurate access to information about weather, financial services, crop management, markets and climate coping mechanisms is a serious obstacle for smallholder farmers, preventing them from achieving higher yields and selling their produce for better prices. To address these challenges, an innovative initiative is showcasing how ICTs can be used to capture satellite-based information on a wide range of agricultural indicators, packaging it into tailor-made messages for farmers in local languages.

Book Information and Communication Technology for Agriculture and Rural Development

Download or read book Information and Communication Technology for Agriculture and Rural Development written by R. Saravanan and published by New India Publishing Agency. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The articles included in this book focuses on; Digital divide in rural India, e-Agriculture issues, Cyber extension, overview on Village Knowledge Centres VKCs, Community Information Centre iniative in Orissa, SATCOM application in Karnataka State, Model e-Villages in Arunachal Pradesh State of North-East India, Nationwide InDG web portal initiative for rural development, Kisan Mobile Sandesh KMS, Dynamic Market Information DMI by Web and Mobile in Tamil Nadu, Expert systems for pest and diseases diagnosis in rubber, Interactive Multimedia Compact Disc IMCD, Village Information Centres among Dairy Farmers in Tamil Nadu, KISSAN initiative of Kerala State, Mobile Agricultural School and Services MASS in Jharkhand, Farmers Database creation in Darjeeling District of West Bengal, Village Resource Centres VRCs in Uttaranchal, Pest Surveillance of Rice using satellite data, Techmode Approach for Distance Learning Courses for Field Veterinarians in Maharastra, Information Retrieval System for Buffalo Reproduction, Web Portals and Digital Data base in Agroforestry, Watershed Modelling using GIS and Remote Sensing in Gujarat State, e-Readiness and Participation Level of Akshya and KISSAN Kerala Beneficiaries and VRC & CIC Network in Assam and Internet utilization pattern, evaluation of Kissan Call Centres KCCs, ICT adoption level, impact, stakeholders feedback, policy implications and recommendations.

Book Working with Smallholders

Download or read book Working with Smallholders written by International Finance Corporation and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2023-11-01 with total page 437 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Smallholder farmers are the stewards of more than 80 percent of the world’s farms. These small family businesses produce about one-third of the world’s food. In Africa and Asia, smallholders dominate the production of food crops, as well as export commodities such as cocoa, coffee, and cotton. However, smallholders and farm workers remain among the poorest segments of the population, and they are on the frontline of climate change. Smallholder farmers face constraints in accessing inputs, finance, knowledge, technology, labor, and markets. Raising farm-level productivity in a sustainable way is a key development priority. Agribusinesses are increasingly working with smallholder farmers in low- and middle-income countries to secure agricultural commodities. More productive smallholders boost rural incomes and economic growth, as well as reduce poverty. Smallholders also represent a growing underserved market for farm inputs, information, and financial services. Working with Smallholders: A Handbook for Firms Building Sustainable Supply Chains (third edition) shows agribusinesses how to engage more effectively with smallholders and to develop sustainable, resilient, and productive supply chains. The book compiles practical solutions and cutting-edge ideas to overcome the challenges facing smallholders. This third edition is substantially revised from the second edition and incorporates new material on the potential for digital technologies and sustainable farming. This handbook is written principally to outline opportunities for the private sector. The content may also be useful to the staffs of governmental or nongovernmental development programs working with smallholders, as well as to academic and research institutions.

Book Smallholder Farmers  Use of Ict to Agricultural and Market Information

Download or read book Smallholder Farmers Use of Ict to Agricultural and Market Information written by Gurmu Bayissa Urgesa and published by LAP Lambert Academic Publishing. This book was released on 2015-01-29 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Providing access to information help farmers to increase their agricultural productivity and put them in a favorable market position in relation to other actors. Hence primary sources of information such as agricultural extension workers should be updated with agricultural and market information, how to collect and disseminate accurate and timely information to the farmers. This could be done through upgrading their skill or on job training by agricultural offices or other bodies working on agriculture and market information dissemination. As most farmers who are selling their produce to cooperatives in primary market get more price benefit than those who sale to small traders, the cooperatives should attract and bring them to the membership through price incentives. There should be a coordinated way of improving technological infrastructure (both telecommunication network and Electricity) between Ethio telecom and Electric power corporation in order to solve network and power disruption so that farmer can adopt and get access to the ICT.

Book Women   s empowerment  agricultural extension  and digitalization  Disentangling information and role model effects in rural Uganda

Download or read book Women s empowerment agricultural extension and digitalization Disentangling information and role model effects in rural Uganda written by Lecoutere, Els and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on with total page 61 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In many developing countries, agricultural extension services are generally biased towards men, with information targeted mainly to male members of a farming household and in formats that are rarely tailored to female members. Nevertheless, female farmers may also benefit from such services as this may affect their ability to make informed decisions, resulting in increased farm productivity, household income, and welfare. We conduct a gendered field experiment among maize-farming households in eastern Uganda to test whether video-enabled extension messaging affects outcomes related to maize cultivation. In this experiment, men, women, and couples are shown randomly assigned videos about improved maize management practices in which male, female, or both male and female actors are featured. We first vary exposure to the videos by gender to test the effects of changes in intra-household information asymmetries, investigating whether involving women as recipients of information increases their ability to participate in household decision-making, and thus their involvement in household production choices. We then vary exposure to the gender of the actors in the videos to test for role-model effects, exploring whether involving women as information messengers challenges the idea that decision-making is a predominantly male domain, in turn affecting women’s outcomes. Results show that targeting women with information increases their knowledge about improved maize management practices, their role in agricultural decision-making, the adoption of recommended practices and inputs, production-related outcomes, and the quantity of maize women sell to the market. Results for the role-model effects are mixed, and are evident more in joint household outcomes than individual women’s outcomes. Overall, our findings suggest that in the context of our study, extension efforts aimed at directly addressing intra-household information asymmetries may be a first-best means of empowering women in agriculture. Other, more subtle means that seek to influence perceptions and norms about gendered roles in the household may not generate expected effects or work via expected impact pathways, though they remain worth further exploration.

Book Introduction to Development Engineering

Download or read book Introduction to Development Engineering written by Temina Madon and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-09-08 with total page 655 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access textbook introduces the emerging field of Development Engineering and its constituent theories, methods, and applications. It is both a teaching text for students and a resource for researchers and practitioners engaged in the design and scaling of technologies for low-resource communities. The scope is broad, ranging from the development of mobile applications for low-literacy users to hardware and software solutions for providing electricity and water in remote settings. It is also highly interdisciplinary, drawing on methods and theory from the social sciences as well as engineering and the natural sciences. The opening section reviews the history of “technology-for-development” research, and presents a framework that formalizes this body of work and begins its transformation into an academic discipline. It identifies common challenges in development and explains the book’s iterative approach of “innovation, implementation, evaluation, adaptation.” Each of the next six thematic sections focuses on a different sector: energy and environment; market performance; education and labor; water, sanitation and health; digital governance; and connectivity. These thematic sections contain case studies from landmark research that directly integrates engineering innovation with technically rigorous methods from the social sciences. Each case study describes the design, evaluation, and/or scaling of a technology in the field and follows a single form, with common elements and discussion questions, to create continuity and pedagogical consistency. Together, they highlight successful solutions to development challenges, while also analyzing the rarely discussed failures. The book concludes by reiterating the core principles of development engineering illustrated in the case studies, highlighting common challenges that engineers and scientists will face in designing technology interventions that sustainably accelerate economic development. Development Engineering provides, for the first time, a coherent intellectual framework for attacking the challenges of poverty and global climate change through the design of better technologies. It offers the rigorous discipline needed to channel the energy of a new generation of scientists and engineers toward advancing social justice and improved living conditions in low-resource communities around the world.

Book The  perceived  quality of agricultural technology and its adoption  Experimental evidence from Uganda

Download or read book The perceived quality of agricultural technology and its adoption Experimental evidence from Uganda written by Miehe, Caroline and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2023-09-26 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recently, issues related to the (perceived) quality of inputs and technologies have been proposed as an important constraint to their adoption by smallholder farmers in low income countries. Taking maize seed embodying genetic gain as a case, we train random agro-dealers to test whether under-adoption by farmers is caused by low quality due to sellers' lack of knowledge about proper storage and handling. In a second hypothesis, we randomly introduce an information clearinghouse similar to popular crowd-sourced review platforms such as yelp.com or trustpilot.com to test whether information asymmetries crowd out quality seed. We find that the information clearinghouse treatment improves outcomes for both agro-dealers and farmers, with agro-dealers receiving more customers and reporting higher revenues from maize seed sales, and farmers reporting significantly higher use of improved maize seed varieties obtained from agro-dealers, leading to higher maize productivity after two seasons. The primary mechanisms behind this impact appear to be an increased effort to signal quality by agro-dealers and a general restoration of trust in the market for improved seed. The agro-dealer training does not have a clear impact on agro-dealers, nor on farmers in associated catchment areas. However, we do find that the information clearinghouse increases agro-dealer knowledge about proper seed storage and handling. Upon exploring interaction effects between the training and the clearinghouse treatment, we also find that the training becomes effective for agro-dealers that are also in the clearinghouse treatment group. This underscores the importance of incentives to make supply side interventions such as trainings effective.

Book ICTs For Agricultural Extension

Download or read book ICTs For Agricultural Extension written by R. Saravanan and published by Nipa. This book was released on 2023-07 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an attempt to document the National Policy on ICTs in agricultural extension, ICT infrastructure scenario and related issues, case studies on innovative ICTs for agricultural extension initiatives (Village knowledge centres, information kiosks, mobile ICT units, web portals, digital data base and networks, rural tele centres, farmer call centres, mobile telephony, video conference, offline multimedia CDs, decision support systems, expert systems, innovative community radio and television programmes, open distance learning etc. The agricultural extension students, academicians, scientists, practitioners, administrators and policy makers will find this compilation of the "ICTs for Agricultural Extension: Global Experiments, Innovations and Experiences" from twenty eight countries relevant to providing a framework for the design and implementation of sustainable ICT-enabled extension services for the agricultural development.

Book Success stories on information and communication technologies for agriculture and rural development

Download or read book Success stories on information and communication technologies for agriculture and rural development written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2017-01-01 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Family farming remains the predominant form of agriculture in Asia and the Pacific. There are more than 570 million farms in the world of which over 500 million are family-owned. They are responsible for at least 56 percent of agricultural production. These smallholder resource-poor farmers are confronted by many challenges – the negative impact of climate change, increased frequency of natural disasters, loss of biodiversity, crude oil price hikes, rapid expansion of bioenergy development, incr easing food price volatility, inefficient supply chains and others. The information needs of farmers will only increase as they have to make more and more complex decisions on the use of their land, selection of the agricultural commodities they plant, choice of markets to sell their agricultural products and other necessary decisions that impact the livelihoods of their families and society. Indeed, agriculture is becoming increasingly knowledge-intensive.

Book Why Invest in ICTs for agriculture

Download or read book Why Invest in ICTs for agriculture written by Tetteh Kwasi Nuer, Alexander and published by CTA. This book was released on 2018-12-19 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the ability to reach many farmers with timely and accessible content, the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for agriculture (ICT4Ag) has the potential to transform farming and food production, worldwide. ICT4Ag supports new methods in the monitoring and management of soils, plants and livestock (precision agriculture), access to online markets, and improved communication between value chain stakeholders, among others. The services provided are vital in connecting farmers with the information they need to improve their agricultural productivity and reduce poverty. Through case studies and examples of ICT4Ag initiatives from across Asia, the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa, the first chapter looks at how ICT4Ag actually works to drive economic development across developing economies.

Book Communication Technologies In Agriculture

Download or read book Communication Technologies In Agriculture written by Jai Sridhar and published by Nipa. This book was released on 2023-06-14 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural Extension is one of the youngest disciplines that focus on enhancing agriculture and rural livelihood through improved information and communication (ICT) processes.The discipline primarily involves conceptualization, design, development, evaluation and application of innovative ways to use ICT in transfer of research output to the end users. Many ICT interventions developed and tested around the world have improvedfarmers livelihood, increased agricultural productivity and income, and reducedfarm risks. Within ICT, Communication is a broad term that needs to be understood very objectively by the scholars and practitioners so that their approach to the whole extension education process could be analytical and one that could draw synergies of technologies, concepts and philosophies which are getting added to already existing knowledge base. In the light of all the above this text book"Communication Technologies in Agriculture"will be a comprehensive book with 24 chapters which covers the old wisdom and also the new horizons in innovations and trends in Agricultural Extension for all those who are associated with Agricultural Extension as a student, scholar, researcher and practitioner.This book would serve to the information needs of all the stake holders in the change process. More fittingly, the Under Graduate students of Agriculture and Horticulture and Post Graduate students of Agricultural Extension, Mass Communication and Rural Development who would use it for enriching their theoretical requirements.