1,720,976 research outputs found
Who communicates the information matters for technology adoption
No full textThe role of information in agricultural technology adoption in developing countries has been widely documented in the literature, but much less is known about the importance of the identity of the communicator of the information. We conduct a randomized experiment to assess the effects of information delivered through two approaches wherein either a peer farmer or a market actor supports the extension worker in communicating the standardized information regarding product-quality-enhancing practices and high-value market participation. Results show that farmers in the peer-farmer treatment arm improve the quality of their produce, whereas farmers in the market actor treatment participate in high-value markets to a larger extent than the extension-worker-only treatment farmers. We document positive but marginal treatment effects on coffee revenues. This study contributes to the literature by testing whether incorporating non-traditional communicators, such as private sector actors, into the extension programs is effective in removing the informational barriers to agricultural technology adoption
Unlocking Market Potential of Agroforestry Products Among Smallholder Farmers in the Sahelian and Sudanian Ecozone Countries of West Africa
No full textIn the Sahelian countries, gathering of agroforestry tree products is one
of the few livelihood activities that hold great potential for income generation and
poverty reduction among resource-poor households. This study explores the
determinants of market participation and selling decisions, which are key prerequisites
for sustainable intensification and commercialization of the rural economy. A
commercialized economy provides invaluable opportunities for smallholder farmers
to increase their income and escape from poverty traps that are faced by most rural
households in the Sahel. The results from a cross-sectional sample of 1080
households drawn from four Sahelian countries, namely Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso
and Senegal, lend support to the relevance of three sets of variables in explaining
agroforestry farmers’ participation in markets and selling decisions. Market participation
and selling decisions are affected by predisposing, facilitating and reinforcing
factors. In areas where markets for tree products are functioning well, long
distances from the main markets do not deter agroforestry farmers from participating
in markets and selling decisions. This demonstrates that other interventions
to strengthen value chains and market integration can be successful even where
transportation is more costly
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Assessment of beneficiaries and benefits from ecosystem services of tree-based farming systems in the semi-arid Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia
No full textOptimization of tree cover is frequently mentioned in the context of agroforestry research and advocacy. While there have been several, mostly modeling, attempts to study the optimization of agroforestry systems, there have been few studies on the perspectives of farmers on the optimization of tree cover in the agroforestry systems that they manage. This report describes the first part of a study on the perspectives of farmers in the Central rift Valley of Ethiopia on the benefits that they derive from trees and the optimization of tree cover in their agricultural lands
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Planting basin (Soil and water conservation) planned comparison protocol
No full textAgricultural productivity in arid and semi-arid areas,such as Kitui and Makueni counties of Kenya,
is limited by several challenges. These include water scarcity resulting from unpredictable and
unreliable rains, and land degradation, in the form of soil erosion and compaction. Lack of
adequate water leads to crop failure and poor harvests, yet irrigation infrastructure (including
sourcing of water) is not always a viable option for resource-scarce, smallholder farmers in these
counties. Investment in appropriate soil and water conservation practices at farm-scale is,
therefore, a potential option to encourage sustainable agriculture production in semi-arid lands.
The appropriateness of the technologies depends on the social, economic, and biophysical
characteristics of the farming community.
A number of research and development organisations, both government and non-governmental,
have promoted practices and approaches to boost production in water scarce areas. For example
the RAE Trust1 has been working with rainwater harvesting technologies such as contour earth
bunds since 1982 and has recorded impressive results in Baringo County of Kenya (Black et al,
2012), while PDRT2 has used Zai planting pits and several other techniques to improve
productivity on 125 000 ha in Niger (Danjuma and Mohammed, 2015). In addition, farmers
experiment with their own innovations and/or modify technologies/practices learned from
extension agents to suit their respective circumstances. However, despite this progress, there
remain unanswered questions on the appropriate designs and combinations of practices to
ensure farmers achieve optimum yields cost-effectively under various contexts.
One innovation that is increasingly being promoted in Kitui and Makueni counties is the use of
planting basins, commonly known as Zai pits, which concentrate water at the crop root zone,
thereby lengthening the period of moisture availability for the crop. While improved crop yields
have been realized through use of Zai pits in Ethiopia (Amede et al, 2011), southern Africa
(Twomlow et al, 2009) and elsewhere (Roose et. al, 1999), questions on the appropriate design
of pits (including size and shape), as well as the appropriate fertilization method to use for
optimum crop production for the different contexts, remain among farmers. Farmers in 12
watersheds in Kitui and Makueni Counties of Kenya raised these questions as some of their
learning priorities during the DryDev project community action planning (CAP) process in August
2015. This planned comparison aims to address these questions as a co-learning activity involving scientists, development agents and farmers in these watersheds, as part of DryDev’s
farmer-led action learning component
Planting Basins (soil and water conservation) revised planned comparison protocol
No full textField Implementation steps: Planting Basins (soil and water conservation) Planned Comparison – Modified for the 2017 Planting Seaso
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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