To feed a growing population, agricultural productivity needs to increase dramatically. Agricultural extension information, with its public, non-rival nature, is generally undersupplied, and public provision remains challenging. In this research, we explore the effectiveness of alternative modes of agricultural extension information delivery. We test whether simple agricultural extension video messages delivered through Android tablets increase knowledge of recommended practices in seed selection, storage, and handling among a sample of potato farmers in southwestern Uganda. Using a field experiment with ex ante matching in a factorial design, we find that showing agricultural extension videos significantly affects farmers’ knowledge. However, our results suggest impact pathways that go beyond simply replicating what was shown in the video. Video messages may also trigger a process of abstraction, whereby farmers apply insights gained in one context to a different context. Alternatively, video messages may activate knowledge farmers already posses but, for some reason, do not use.

Agricultural extension can have important impacts on vulnerable populations by increasing food production, which improves both rural incomes and urban food security. Yet, crises induced by violent conflict or disease outbreaks can sever the connections between extension agents and farmers. Understanding how agricultural extension systems can safely and effectively reach farmers in times of crisis could help stabilize agri-food systems in fragile states. In the context of COVID-19, a military coup, and an emergent threat of fall armyworm in Myanmar, this paper uses a randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of two cellphone-based extension interventions – a direct-to-farmer and a lead farmer intervention – for fall armyworm control in maize. Despite low compliance, both interventions caused knowledge improvements. However, damage control estimates show that the lead-farmer group used pesticides most effectively. Similar cellphone-based lead-farmer programs could be an effective tool in fragile states and when faced with emergent threats to agriculture.

This book presents case studies to analyse the relationship between sustainability – environmental, social, institutional and economic – and digital innovation. The respective contributions offer a contextualisation of the main present and future trends concerning these two elements, and present analyses from economic, technical, managerial, and social perspectives alike. The individual sections of the book focus on interactions between sustainability and digital innovation in existing organisations and highlight the new opportunities, challenges and threats that may emerge as a result. The contributions are mainly based on case studies and research conducted in Europe and Africa, with a few focusing on Southeast Asia and Central America, and were prepared by experts in the fields of Information Systems, Computer Science, Social Development, and Economics.

This research explores how inputs such as chemical fertilizer that are often complementary to labor can benefit smallholders in countries like Nepal. These and other inputs complement labor when a country experiences periods of increased labor scarcity due to rising wages in rural areas. The future of smallholders in Asian countries is vigorously debated in the policy and research arena. An increasing number of studies indicate that in the face of rising rural farm wages, growing mechanization is gradually shifting the advantages enjoyed by smallholders to slightly larger farms in many Asian countries, including Nepal. While the evidence is limited, earlier studies suggest that this trend may also be associated with a greater return to the use of chemical fertilizers by larger farms than by their smaller counterparts. In this paper, we further assess the relationship between the role of chemical fertilizer and farm size in lowland Nepal. In particular, we assess the different effects of chemical fertilizer price on large versus small farm households, depending on farm size. We use the 2003 and 2010 panel data from the Nepal Living Standard Survey. Results generally suggest that in Nepal Terai, lower chemical fertilizer price seems to increase the per capita incomes of farm households with larger landholdings more than it does those with smaller landholdings. The mechanism is somewhat complicated; typically, larger farms benefit through an increased supply of crops from sharecropped/rented farms, which leads to a potential increase in forage supply and increased revenues from livestock production. However, greater benefits for larger farms through this mechanism remains consistent with the greater return to chemical fertilizer among larger farms. This is contrary to the notion that chemical fertilizer is a land-saving input that benefits smaller farms relatively more than it does larger farms. We conclude that fertilizer policy in Nepal should be designed within the broader framework of longer-term agricultural-sector strategies that will impact the future of smallholder farmers.

What are the political and institutional prerequisites for pursuing policies that contribute to structural transformation? This paper addresses this question by focusing on Ghana, which has achieved sustained economic growth in recent decades and is broadly lauded for its environment of political pluralism, respect for human rights, free and fair elections, and vocal civil society. Yet, despite these virtues, Ghana remains unable to achieve substantial structural transformation as identified as changes in economic productivity driven by value-added within sectors and shifts in the allocation of labor between sectors. This paper argues that Ghana is strongly democratic but plagued by weak state capacity, and these politico-institutional characteristics have shaped the economic policies pursued, including in the agricultural sector, and the resultant development trajectory. Specifically, three political economy factors have undermined Ghana’s ability to achieve substantive structural transformation since then. First, democracy has enabled a broader range of interest groups to permeate policymaking decisions, often resulting in policy backtracking and volatility as well as fiscal deficits around elections that, among other things, stifle credit access for domestic business through high interest rates. Secondly, public sector reforms were not pursued with the same vigor as macroeconomic reforms, meaning that the state has lacked the capacity typically necessary to identify winning industries or to actively facilitate the transition to higher value-added sectors. Thirdly, successive governments, regardless of party, have failed to actively invest in building strong, productive relationships with the private sector, which is a historical legacy of the strong distrust and alienation of the private sector that characterized previous government administrations.

Rice is becoming increasingly important for Ugandan farm households, both as a cash crop and staple food. Rice production in Uganda increased from about 110,000 tons in 2000 to about 237,000 tons in 2014 and the share of rice in total consumption also grew over time. Previous research as part of the PASIC project, a policy action project funded by the Embassy of the King-dom of the Netherlands in Uganda and led by the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industries and Fisheries (MAAIF) with support of IFPRI, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC), suggests that a lack of knowledge may be an important constraint to sustainable intensification among rice growers in eastern Uganda. In-deed, rice growing is a complex activity that requires substantial technical and managerial know-how. Successful rice growing involves a range of activities, such as leveling of fields, construction of bunds and canals, sowing in nurseries, transplanting, water and nutrient management, threshing, drying, winnowing, and milling. To get high yields, all of these activities need to be performed according to recommended practices and at particular points in time. In addition, rice growing involves complex inter-temporal decision making, where money and labor invested today needs to be compared to uncertain earnings in the fu-ture. Hence, farmers need to be informed about, for instance, the cost of fertilizer and the expected return to its use on rice, or about the expected benefits of investing time in field preparation.

Networking capabilities have been significantly enhanced in recent years. With emerging advancements in technology, wireless communication has increased exponentially. Routing Protocols and Architectural Solutions for Optimal Wireless Networks and Security is a comprehensive resource on the latest technological advancements in designing secure wireless networks and secure transmission of data, voice and video over wireless networks and other innovations. Featuring comprehensive coverage across a range of relevant topics such as network planning, radio resource allocation, and broadband wireless networks, this publication is an ideal reference source for network designers, industries, researchers, educators, and governments who are involved in designing and implementing security and wireless networks and applications.

This volume presents insights on the challenges of digital communication and participation in agricultural and rural development. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that digital technology and mediated participation is more important and essential in managing ongoing communication for development projects than ever before. However, it has also underscored the various challenges and gaps in knowledge with digital participatory practices, including the further exclusion of marginalized groups and those with limited access to digital technology. The book considers how the concept of participation has been transformed by the realities of the pandemic, reflecting on essential principles and practical considerations of communication for development and social change, particularly in the context of global agriculture and food security, the well-being of rural communities, and evolving environmental challenges, such as climate change. In gathering these insights, this volume highlights lessons for the future of participatory development in communication for development and social change processes. This volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of agricultural and rural development, communication for development, digital communication, and sustainable development more broadly.

For this issue, we reflect back on almost 20 years of ICT Update (nearly 100 issues). ICT Update’s objective has always been to capture contemporary developments in ICTs for agriculture; the trends, latest technologies and stories from the field. By looking back, we can see significant changes in the ICT4Ag landscape, and draw lessons on how to move forward and address ongoing challenges for inclusion, adoption and innovation. This issue highlights three of ICT Update’s recurring themes: learning; barriers for inclusion and adoption of ICTs; and innovation and entrepreneurship.

Information and communication technology (ICT) has always mattered in agriculture. Ever since people have grown crops, raised livestock, and caught fish, they have sought information from one another. Today, ICT represents a tremendous opportunity for rural populations to improve productivity, to enhance food and nutrition security, to access markets, and to find employment opportunities in a revitalized sector. ICT has unleashed incredible potential to improve agriculture, and it has found a foothold even in poor smallholder farms. ICT in Agriculture, Updated Edition is the revised version of the popular ICT in Agriculture e-Sourcebook, first launched in 2011 and designed to support practitioners, decision makers, and development partners who work at the intersection of ICT and agriculture. Our hope is that this updated Sourcebook will be a practical guide to understanding current trends, implementing appropriate interventions, and evaluating the impact of ICT interventions in agricultural programs.