farm radio
Posted by EKStallings on Oct 26, 2011
Video-mediated farmer-to-farmer learning for sustainable agriculture data sheet 829 Views
Abstract:
From June to September 2011, Agro-Insight conducted a scoping study for SDC, GFRAS and SAI Platform on the production, dissemination and use of farmer training videos in developing countries, with a focus on sustainable agriculture. Literature was consulted, the internet screened, experts and users consulted and a global on-line survey launched in English, French and Spanish.
There is a general consensus that farmers need good agricultural training videos, but they do not browse the web in search of them. For watching videos they rely mainly on outside agencies. Only about 20% of all respondents have never used video to train farmers and have never searched the web for agricultural videos. Many of those didn’t know where to look for videos, hadn’t found videos on the right subject or hadn’t found videos in their local language.
Mobile is one of the technologies discussed, but not the only. The study cites some mobile-based programs and notes current limitations to mobile video for farmers.
Posted by EKStallings on Oct 06, 2011
Mobile phones may be one mechanism to increase effectiveness and efficiency for agricultural extension in low-income countries. Agricultural extension, broadly defined as the delivery of information to small-scale farmers, was developed to counteract information asymmetries suffered by farmers with limited access to information sources like landline phones, newspapers, radios and TV programming. This has meant that farmers have not been able to take advantage of innovations in agricultural production (from seed types to information about pest control or crop rotations) and have been largely unable to increase their yields and hence incomes.
While agricultural extension programs have tried to counteract this lack of information, they have also been long plagued by lack of scale, sustainability, relevance and responsiveness. Mobile phones, with their low-cost and capability for quick communication, may resolve many of these obstacles.
Dial “A” for Agriculture: A Review of Information and Communication Technologies for Agricultural Extension in Developing Countries, by Jenny C. Aker, a well-known researcher in the field, provides a broad overview of the shift toward using mobile phones in extension services and offers critical guides for assessing the effectiveness of such programs.
Half a century ago, extension programs were conceived to fill the glaring gap between agricultural innovation and crop yields. Despite great advances in agricultural innovations in the latter part of the twentieth century, farmers in Latin America and especially Sub-Saharan Africa have only seen slight increases in yields. Extension programs,which have largely taken the form of in-person visits and training, have consistently suffered from questions of cost-effectiveness.
Posted by MelissaUlbricht on Aug 20, 2010
We have two new case studies for you to check out.
Both studies are part of the Mobile Media Toolkit that will include many other case studies, how-to guides, resources, and tools on how use mobile phones for reporting, content delivery, and citizen participation, to be puplished later this month.
The first case study looks at how Freedom Fone was deployed at two farm radio stations in Africa. We look at what worked, what didn't, and how integrated voice technology can help enhance radio. You can even listen to an IVR jingle with the sound of local drums from the Morogoro region of Tanzania.
The second case study looks at Bubbly, an audio blogging platform that is making strides in India.
| Two New Case Studies: Farm Radio, Freedom Fone, Audio Blogging, and Bollywood! data sheet 3169 Views |
| Global Regions: |
|
| Countries: |
Ghana
India
Tanzania
|
