Getting the message out: Information and communication technologies and agricultural extension
There has been much optimism about the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to provide agricultural extension services to remote households. Yet, little is known about how different communication methods fare, and, moreover, whether different segments of the population adop...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
Wiley
2023
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/134680 |
| _version_ | 1855535942030327808 |
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| author | Giulivi, Nicoletta Harou, Aurélie Gautam, Shriniwas Güereña, David T. |
| author_browse | Gautam, Shriniwas Giulivi, Nicoletta Güereña, David T. Harou, Aurélie |
| author_facet | Giulivi, Nicoletta Harou, Aurélie Gautam, Shriniwas Güereña, David T. |
| author_sort | Giulivi, Nicoletta |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | There has been much optimism about the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to provide agricultural extension services to remote households. Yet, little is known about how different communication methods fare, and, moreover, whether different segments of the population adopt information communicated via different means equally. We conduct a randomized controlled trial comparing the effectiveness of three ICTs—radio, voice response messages, and a smartphone app—with traditional extension training in communicating fertilizer management practices across four districts in rural Nepal. We find that farmers in the smartphone app and the extension training programs are on average 8.4 and 13 percentage points more likely to adopt topdressing fertilizer practices compared to control farmers, statistically significant at the 1% and 5% levels, respectively. Farmers in the smartphone app treatment achieve the highest agronomic literacy test scores, 7.8 percentage points higher than the control, statistically significant at the 1% level. In contrast, farmers receiving radio or voice response messages were not more likely to adopt the same fertilizer recommendations nor show improved specific or general agronomic knowledge relative to control farmers. Our results suggest that smartphone apps are more cost effective at inducing farmer knowledge and technology adoption than extension trainings. Heterogeneous treatment effects, however, reveal that a targeted ICT approach may be more effective in disseminating extension advice. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace134680 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publishDateRange | 2023 |
| publishDateSort | 2023 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| publisherStr | Wiley |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1346802025-11-11T19:02:48Z Getting the message out: Information and communication technologies and agricultural extension Giulivi, Nicoletta Harou, Aurélie Gautam, Shriniwas Güereña, David T. technology adoption information technology remote control farmers digital technology information systems There has been much optimism about the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to provide agricultural extension services to remote households. Yet, little is known about how different communication methods fare, and, moreover, whether different segments of the population adopt information communicated via different means equally. We conduct a randomized controlled trial comparing the effectiveness of three ICTs—radio, voice response messages, and a smartphone app—with traditional extension training in communicating fertilizer management practices across four districts in rural Nepal. We find that farmers in the smartphone app and the extension training programs are on average 8.4 and 13 percentage points more likely to adopt topdressing fertilizer practices compared to control farmers, statistically significant at the 1% and 5% levels, respectively. Farmers in the smartphone app treatment achieve the highest agronomic literacy test scores, 7.8 percentage points higher than the control, statistically significant at the 1% level. In contrast, farmers receiving radio or voice response messages were not more likely to adopt the same fertilizer recommendations nor show improved specific or general agronomic knowledge relative to control farmers. Our results suggest that smartphone apps are more cost effective at inducing farmer knowledge and technology adoption than extension trainings. Heterogeneous treatment effects, however, reveal that a targeted ICT approach may be more effective in disseminating extension advice. 2023-05 2023-11-23T10:28:18Z 2023-11-23T10:28:18Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/134680 en Open Access application/pdf Wiley Giulivi, N.; Harou, A.; Gautam, S.; Guerena, D. (2023) Getting the message out: Information and communication technologies and agricultural extension. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 105(3): p. 1011-1045. ISSN: 0002-9092 |
| spellingShingle | technology adoption information technology remote control farmers digital technology information systems Giulivi, Nicoletta Harou, Aurélie Gautam, Shriniwas Güereña, David T. Getting the message out: Information and communication technologies and agricultural extension |
| title | Getting the message out: Information and communication technologies and agricultural extension |
| title_full | Getting the message out: Information and communication technologies and agricultural extension |
| title_fullStr | Getting the message out: Information and communication technologies and agricultural extension |
| title_full_unstemmed | Getting the message out: Information and communication technologies and agricultural extension |
| title_short | Getting the message out: Information and communication technologies and agricultural extension |
| title_sort | getting the message out information and communication technologies and agricultural extension |
| topic | technology adoption information technology remote control farmers digital technology information systems |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/134680 |
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