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Communication Strategy 2020-2023

Committee on World Food Security (2018), 16 pp.

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Her Farm Radio: Building Knowledge and Developing the Capacity of Malawi’s Female Farmers on Forest Landscape Restoration

Augustine Mulomole, Catherine Mloza Banda, Rex Chapota

IUCN (2018), 12 pp.

"As farmers, foresters and providers, women have a unique understanding of the ecosystems they live alongside. A pioneering radio programme in Malawi is tapping into this immense body of knowledge by creating a platform for women to engage in landscape restoration." (Page 1)

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Why Invest in ICTs for Agriculture?

Wageningen: Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) (2018), vi, 67 pp.

"Through case studies and examples of ICTS for agriculture (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. Further, the chapter reviews the ICT applications, i ... more

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WorldCat (46)

Can the TV Makeover Format of Edutainment Lead to Widespread Changes in Farmer Behaviour and Influence Innovation Systems? Shamba Shape Up in Kenya

Graham Clarkson, Chris Garforth, Peter Dorward, George Mose, Carlos Barahona, Francisco Areal, MacKenzie Dove

Land Use Policy, volume 76 (2018), pp. 338-351

"Edutainment, the combination of education with entertainment through various media such as television, radio, mobile phone applications and games, is increasingly being used as an approach to stimulate innovation and increase agricultural productivity amongst smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Afri ... ca. Shamba Shape Up, a widely publicised makeover reality TV programme, is an example of edutainment that has received considerable attention, and airs in three countries in East Africa where it is estimated to be watched by millions of viewers. There is no published academic research on the influence of makeover television formats on innovation systems and processes in smallholder agriculture. Using an Agricultural Innovation Systems approach, this paper explores how makeover edutainment is influencing smallholder farmer innovation systems together with the effect this is having on smallholder farms. In the absence of previous research, it articulates a Theory of Change which draws on research traditions from mass communication, agricultural extension and innovation systems. Data came from two large scale quantitative (n=9885 and n=1572) surveys and in-depth participatory qualitative research comprising focus group discussions, participatory budgets, agricultural timelines, case studies and key information interviews in Kenya. An estimated 430,000 farmers in the study area were benefiting from their interaction with the programme through increased income and / or a range of related social benefits including food security, improving household health, diversification of livelihood choices, paying school fees for children and increasing their community standing / social capital. Participatory research showed SSU enhanced an already rich communication environment and strengthened existing processes of innovation. It helped set the agenda for discussions within farming communities about opportunities for improving smallholder farms, while also giving specific ideas, information and knowledge, all in the context of featured farm families carefully selected so that a wide range of viewers would identify with them and their challenges. Broadcasts motivated and inspired farmers to improve their own farms through a range of influences including entertainment, strong empathy with the featured host farm families, the way ideas emerged through interaction with credible experts, and importantly through stimulating widespread discussion and interaction amongst and between farmers and communities of experts on agricultural problems, solutions and opportunities. The fact that local extension workers also watched the programmes further enhanced the influence on local innovation systems. The findings indicate that well designed makeover edutainment can strongly influence agricultural innovation processes and systems resulting in impact on the agricultural production and behaviours of large numbers of smallholder farmers." (Abstract) more

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Digital Platforms for Agro-Advisory and Business Service Delivery: Lessons from Scaling-up of AgroTech in Ghana

Cecil Osei, Alfred Yeboah, Francis Arthur, Emmanuel Agbedanu, Sybil Chidiac

Grameen Foundation; Farmradio International (2018), 15 pp.

"Grameen Foundation, Farm Radio International and other partners implemented the project “Achieving Impact at Scale” from 2015 to 2018 18. The objective of the project is to test the scale up of AgroTech, an ICT platform, in the delivery of agricultural extension and agribusiness advisory servic ... more

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When Food is Cooking Up a Storm: Proven Recipes for Risk Communication

Parma (IT): European Food Safety Authority (efsa) (2017), 67 pp.

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ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks, and Institutions
Key Guides

Washington, DC: World Bank, updated ed. (2017), xxiii, 436 pp.

"This resource is designed to support practitioners, decision makers, and development partners who work at the intersection of ICT and agriculture. In this revised e-Sourcebook you will find updated modules on ICT in the work of producer organizations; in research, extension and innovation; and in v ... more

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Buy Burkinabè! Yam Pukri’s Agripol Advocacy Platform in Burkina Faso

Sylvestre Ouédraogo, Théophile Assane Sawadogo

Wageningen: Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) (2017), 6 pp.

"Agripol is a platform that facilitates lobbying and advocacy of government, decision makers and the public by farmers’ organisations and others interested in agricultural development. Yam Pukri, which maintains the site, runs workshops and training courses to help its clients gain lobbying skills ... more

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Beyond the Hype: Mobile Phones and the Web to Improve Agricultural Value Chains

Paul Mundy, Benjamin Kwasi Addom, Krishan Bheenick

Wageningen: Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) (2017), 16 pp.

"CTA’s ICT4Ag project (2014–15) enabled seven organisations in Africa and the Caribbean to develop, test and promote information services for smallscale farmers and fishers, traders and lobbying groups. Key recommendations: Understanding users’ needs requires intensive interaction with potenti ... more

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WorldCat (51)

Using Radio and Interactive ICTs to Improve Food Security Among Smallholder Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa

Heather E. Hudson, Mark Leclair, Bernard Pelletier, Bartholomew Sullivan

Telecommunications Policy, volume 30 (2017), pp. 1-15

"The paper summarizes evidence on food insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa and strategies to provide information on innovative agricultural practices to smallholder farmers. The research in this paper is then discussed within the context of research on information and communication technologies (ICTS) ... more

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Inclusive Rural Communication Services: Building Evidence, Informing Policy
Deep Insights

Rome: FAO; University of Queensland (2017), viii, 90 pp.

"This publication is the first scoping study aimed at compiling existing evaluation cases in the field of Communication for Development as applied to agricultural and rural development initiatives. It draws on a literature review and 19 cases across Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribb ... more

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The Retirement Project of George Stuart Atkins: Development Radio in the Time of Cybernetics

Ian Smillie

Development in Practice, volume 27, issue 8 (2017), pp. 1133-1140

"For years after its start-up in 1979, Farm Radio International (FRI) sent radio scripts and other material to broadcasters in more than 100 developing countries, believing it reached as many as 100 million people. By 2000, however, its unidirectional scattershot approach was being questioned by bot ... more

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Building an Ecosystem Around Data: Using Interactive Radio for Accountability to Farmers in Tanzania

Francesca Feruglio, Heather Gilberds

Brighton: Institute of Development Studies (IDS); Farm Radio International (2017), 15 pp.

"In 2015, Farm Radio International applied to Making All Voices Count for a practitioner research and learning grant. Farm Radio International (FRI) is a Canadian-based not-for-profit organisation working in direct partnership with approximately 600 radio broadcasters in 38 African countries to figh ... more

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ICT4AG Handbook: A Quick Guide to ICT Solutions for Smallholder Farmers

Namita Singh

Digital Green (2017), 30 pp.

"This handbook gives an overview of a broad range of technologies and can be useful for professionals engaged in agriculture extension, organizations working with smallholder farmers, implementors, donors and other public sector partners. Those interested in the use ICTs for development may also fin ... more

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Role of Media in Shaping the Policy Process: Comparative Lessons from the Food Price Crisis in Bangladesh, China, India, and Viet Nam

Suresh Chandra Babu, Smita Aggarwal, Junjie Chen

Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) (2017), vi, 39 pp.

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Going to Scale with ICTs for Agriculture

Elizabeth Willmott-Harrop

Wageningen: Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) (2017), 31 pp.

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Google Scholar (49)

WorldCat (54)

Makutano Junction: A Village Soap Opera for Kenyan TV. An Interview with Producer and Mediae.org Director and Co-Founder David Campbell

Ben Stringer, David Campbell

Architecture and Culture, volume 5, issue 1 (2017), pp. 99-113

"Makutano Junction is an ‘edutainment’ soap opera made for local TV stations in Kenya and other East African countries. The show is about a fictional peri-urban village and the people who live in it. The program is made in Kenya, but was devised and is produced by Mediae, a UK based company that ... more

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Google Scholar (50)

WorldCat (39)

The Political Economy of the Media in Malawi: News Coverage of Agricultural Input Subsidies

Anthony Mavuto Gunde

African Journalism Studies, volume 38, issue 1 (2017), pp. 19-39

"In this article, media coverage of the Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP) in Malawi as was reported in the Weekend Nation newspaper between 2005 and 2012 is examined from a critical political economy perspective. The FISP aimed at subsidising inputs for low income rural farmers. The Weekend Nation ... more

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A Passion for Video: 25 Stories About Making, Translating, Sharing and Using Videos on Farmer Innovation
Deep Insights

Jeffery Bentley, Eric Boa, Mundie Salm (eds.)

Nairobi; Wageningen: Access Agriculture; Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) (2016), 56 pp.

"The stories in this volume were gathered as part of a Writeshop held in Nairobi on 9–10 November, in the context of the Access Agriculture Week 9–13 November, 2015. People are story-tellers as well as creatures who walk and make tools. Stories are important to us. Statistics tell us what happen ... more

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Exploring the Potential for Interactive Radio to Improve Accountability and Responsiveness to Small-Scale Farmers in Tanzania

Heather Gilberds et al.

Ottawa: Farm Radio International (2016), 36 pp.

"The research examines the possibilities of new digital technologies along with radio to facilitate adaptive management processes through rapid feedback to help ensure that agricultural development projects are farmer-centered, and meet the needs of those they intend to serve. Grounded in assessing ... Farm Radio International’s Listening Post—a methodology for collecting real-time, unfiltered feedback from farmers through a multi-channel platform linked to radio—the research highlights barriers to success and articulates lessons learned during the process of designing and implementing the model [...] The research demonstrates that linking a mobile-based crowd-sourcing tool with radio is effective at ensuring engagement from a large number of farmers. The radio stations offer a simple way to recruit participants from among the regular listeners of farmer radio programs. Also, the radio stations tend to be trusted sources of agricultural information among farmers, increasing motivation to participate. Further, the radio programs offer an easy way to close feedback loops by disseminating information about actions that stakeholders are taking in response to feedback. The Listening Post faced many of the same challenges documented by organizations utilizing similar tools—it was difficult to incentivize stakeholders to adequately respond to farmers, and competing motivations between extension officers, farmers, funders and partner organizations made it difficult to collect high-quality information that was usable and actionable. Moreover, an overarching focus on developing and implementing the technology and engaging a large number of farmers at the exclusion of other factors meant that many of the processes and mechanisms for effectively using the data collected and for responding to what farmers were saying weren’t fully developed. Despite these issues, there is significant evidence that the Listening Post model holds potential to act as a conduit for civic action if the correct stakeholders are engaged from the outset, if mechanisms for analyzing and disseminating relevant data from the platform to partners, local stakeholders and farmers is further refined, and if stakeholders ensure farmers can effectively use the technology." (Executive summary) more

ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks, and Institutions Key Guides

Inclusive Rural Communication Services: Building Evidence, Informing Policy Deep Insights

A Passion for Video: 25 Stories About Making, Translating, Sharing and Using Videos on Farmer Innovation Deep Insights

ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks, and Institutions
Key Guides

Inclusive Rural Communication Services: Building Evidence, Informing Policy
Deep Insights

A Passion for Video: 25 Stories About Making, Translating, Sharing and Using Videos on Farmer Innovation
Deep Insights