Rwanda, a small country in Africa, has experienced declines in per capita food production. Fish culture is one part of a many-stranded effort to increase food production and food security by intensifying the use of land resources to produce a much-needed protein crop. Beginning in 1983, the Rwanda National Fish Culture Project has assisted farmers…

Following a description of the misfortunes Jamaican agriculture has faced in the past decade, this article focuses on the nonformal adult education program and its relationship to long-range stabilization of agricultural production. (LRA)

This paper examines how educational radio has been used to disseminate agricultural information to farmers in rural communities of Manitoba (Canada), and discusses implications for educational uses of radio in developing countries. In-depth interviews were conducted with 15 communication experts involved in rural extension services in Manitoba.…

The main objective of the program was to obtain qualitative data on the value of Radio Farm Forums (RFF), to both the farmers and the extension service, in terms of facilitating two-way communication between the two parties. The concept of RFF is to provide agricultural information through integrated use of mass media and interpersonal…

Discusses forces promoting privatization of agricultural extension. Discusses experiences of privatization and commercialization of extension and related problems in various countries, particularly developing countries. Suggests that the state will continue to play an important role in agricultural extension in many countries and that…

A study was made of the relationship between attendance by tribal peasant farmers and leaders at one-week courses in agricultural development held at Domboshawa Training Centre and subsequent changes in the Mtoko district of Rhodesia. The broad aim of the courses was to enable tribesmen to gain a better understanding of the causes of erosion due…

A switchover by any government to a more integrated, community-based approach to rural development will inevitably require the recruitment, training, and effective "backstopping" of large numbers of front-line workers. (SSH)

Discussion of agricultural and rural development extension systems in developing countries emphasizes the importance of a communication system and the goal of improvements in the socioeconomic status of farmers. The use of various instructional materials is discussed, constraints to development are reviewed, and the importance of feedback is…

A review of the information provided by rural sociologists and agricultural extensionists regarding the adoption of new and/or improved farm practices in Nigeria in order to determine their contribution to the transfer of technology to farmers indicates that a great deal of attention had been paid to communication variables and to personal and…

Reviews experiments in Kenya and Nigeria attempting to modify the progressive-farmer strategy. Success requires that extension services recognize small farmers' ability to make their own rational decisions and involve farmers in planning and implementing extension programs. Available from: Rural Sociological Society, 325 Morgan Hall, University of…

Using 74 adult farmers in four matched groups in Central India, this study examined the impact of group radio listening, discussion, decision, commitment, and consensus on the effectiveness of Indian radio forums. Effectiveness was measured in terms of changes in knowledge, belief, attitudes, and intention to adopt an innovation. Subjects were…

Personal interviews were conducted in July, 1967, with 315 farm operators in rural Brazil where the local extension service had been in operation for more than four years. Patron-dependence (PD) was described as the subscription to a value system, according to the individual's position in the status structure, which produces dependency at…

Discussion of the Nigerian government's efforts to improve agricultural productivity focuses on the role of rural libraries. Highlights include the neglect of libraries, the need for functional education for farmers, the role of library services, libraries as distributors of extension materials, and suggestions for improvements. (LRW)

Stating that rural extension education in developing countries has neglected small, poor farmers, the author suggests a model changing extension services approach to concentrate on motivating poor farmers to increase production and raise their standard of living through localized personal contact, providing useful technology involving the whole…