Improving the effectiveness of agricultural extension services in supporting farmers to adapt to climate change: Insights from northeastern Ghana

In the past decade, many information and communication technology (ICT) projects in Indian agriculture have emerged, either substituting or supporting extension services by providing farmers with access to agricultural information. ICTs have the potential to reach many farmers with timely and accessible content. But the content that the ICTs deliver has more relevance if it is localized and context specific, as this improves the value and actionability of the information, which can have important impacts on farm management. The localization of content is influenced by how the ICT projects access, assess, apply, and deliver content. This paper examines the content development and management processes occurring in six well-known ICT projects in Indian agriculture. There are important lessons to be learned from a case study of this process. Content management and development through ICTs is important to examine because public extension services may be able to increase their efficiency and effectiveness by using these tools to support their work with farmers. Though there are differences in scale and mechanisms of delivery and feedback, all of the case study projects use a network of experts in relevant fields to provide content, though the extent of localization varies. Despite the best efforts of these and many other e-agriculture initiatives in India, there is no easy way for their collective knowledge to be tapped, tracked, and put to use across the different platforms. In fact, there is a critical missing link to bridge the gaps between local or parochial access and serving public needs. To mainstream such ICT efforts and knowledge management in agriculture for rural livelihoods, it is necessary to put in place a centralized search engine, or harvester, to access the decentralized and dispersed digital agricultural information repositories and network of experts.

The relevance of content in ICT initiatives in Indian agriculture

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have the potential to reach many farmers with timely and accessible content. This article highlights the importance of ICTs in promoting agricultural transformation. It recommends the establishment of agricultural communication networks, which involve active participation of all stakeholders in agriculture and highlights the need for a participatory approach, the monitoring and evaluation of end users, and the integration of farmer knowledge and information needs into the content management system. Public institutions in agriculture should also be involved in developing a curriculum in ICTs for agricultural development and support ICT platforms to facilitate farmers’ access to quality agricultural information.

Promoting the Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Agricultural Transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for Policy

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe selected Caribbean extension officers' technology preferences and examine factors that may affect their technology preferences.Design/methodology/approach: The sample consisted of extension officers (N = 119) participating in professional development training sessions in Grenada, Belize and Saint Lucia. A 29-item instrument with a four-point scale was used to gather data on technology preferences. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data.Findings: Extension officers used Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) for personal benefits and increased professional productivity but then would use traditional interaction methods with farmers. Education levels of extension officers played a part in technology acceptance; higher levels of education earned led to an increase in technology use.Practical Implications: An increase in awareness is important for the further adoption of ICTs for extension purposes. Organisations i...

Exploring the Use of Information Communication Technologies by Selected Caribbean Extension Officers

Investment in ICTs has not always yielded the expected results due to inadequate usage of ICTs by extension staffs. Our study aims to present a more general account of the use of ICTs and preferences of extension and advisory workers at the grassroots level. Following the technology acceptance model (TAM) and Dillman survey method, a google form was used to collect data from 131 sub-district level extension officers covering 48 (out of 64) districts of Bangladesh. Descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling was used to analyse the data and test the complex causal relationship of TAM components. Results revealed that the extension and advisory workers obtained ICT tools from the extension organization but received insufficient organizational supports to purchase internet packages, maintenance costs, and training to continue the use of it. Factor like perceived usefulness of ICTs positively influenced the extension workers' intention to use ICT-based information systems. A better understanding of the underlying reasoning behind the intention to use ICTs could aid future intervention design and facilitate ICT adoption in extension services in Bangladesh and beyond. 

Application of the technology acceptance model to assess the use and preferences of ICTs among field-level extension officers in Bangladesh

The need for improved agricultural extension throughout the developing world has never been greater. Agricultural and rural development and hence rural extension continue to be in a phase of transition in this part of the world. The vulnerability of farming in the developing world to climate change, to changes in natural resources quality (including desertification over large tracts),and lack of coping and adaptation strategies at micro and macro levels of decision making are all well documented, while globalization of commodity trade offers a mix of opportunities as well as challenges. The role of extension and support systems in this background is undergoing profound changes while no unified alternative framework has emerged (Eicher, 2007). In this paper, we offer some suggestions on building new and more effective linkages between research and extension sub systems in agricultural knowledge systems, with a range of information and communication technologies offering platforms and mediation services. The focus is on assessing the effect of improved information access and development of human capacity in supporting extension processes at the micro-level.

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ICT-enabled knowledge sharing in support of extension: addressing the agrarian challenges of the developing world threatened by climate change, with a case study from India

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ICT-enabled knowledge sharing in support of extension: addressing the agrarian challenges of the developing world threatened by climate change, with a case study from India