Communication Use in Decisions on Rural Credit in Southern Brazil

Abstract

Development implies change and change is the result of decisions. Decisions are based on information. But the only information of value is that which the decision maker possesses. This is not to suggest that communication is the major mover toward development. The decision maker's personal resources and the institutional structure of which he is a part limit the range of decisions possible and as a result the range of information relevant for him.However, the effectiveness of a communication system or program can be evaluated in terms of how well it conveys relevant information so that the decision maker has a better perspective of his needs and opportunities, and the possible alternatives of decisions he might make to meet these needs.The present study concerned itself with communications about rural credit in a small-farm area in southern Brazil. Mosher considers production credit as one of the accelerators of agricultural development.1 In a Brazilian study, Fonseca found high economic ability to be the best predictor of practice adoption.2 It brings about changes by permitting a wider choice of alternatives. Diaz Bordenave found that among Brazilian farmers this wider range of decision making also led to a Ivo Schneider, faculty member in the Institute of Economic Studies and Research in the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil, is currently studying for a Ph.D. in mass communications at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Dr. Fett is an assistant professor of agricultural journalism at Wisconsin currently on a two-year assignment in Brazil. The article is based on Schneider's 1967 M.S. thesis in rural sociology from UFRGS. The assistance of Dr. Lloyd Bostian and Prof. Alzemiro Sturm is acknowledged.higher intensity of search for instrumental information?Specifically, this study attempted to determine what credit information farmers received and through what channels, and what factors were associated with receiving credit information, knowledge of credit sources, knowledge of credit terminology and use of rural credit.The analytic model used is shown in Figure 1. This is based on a paradigm of the adoption process. Situational factors were selected on the basis of best predictors from other studies plus characteristics considered important in the study locale. MethodA modified cluster sampling method was used to select 124 rural properties from the municipio (county) of Ibir~b h .~ Properties with less than five hectares5 (10% of the municipio's properties) or more than 200 hectares (1 % of the properties) were excluded because these represented small subsistence plots with no need for credit or large farms outside of the planned objectives for the municipio.A pretested questionnaire was used to interview the "farm operator" on each property. Interviews were conducted in German in those cases where the farm operator did not understand Portuguese well.