e‐Agriculture

Abstract

The term e‐agriculture refers to three things. It may mean the use of electronic media to promote and support agricultural programs, projects, and activities. An example is the harnessing of radio or television to disseminate innovation or support capacity development programs of national agriculture agencies. The term e‐agriculture is also used in reference to a movement within the international agricultural sector that advocates the use of information and communication technology for agricultural production, marketing, and advocacy. Part of this movement champions mobile phones and texting services for agricultural market information and crop decision support systems as well as food policy advocacy. Additionally, e‐agriculture refers to a global organization, a community of practice, engaged in the sharing and reuse of best practices and lessons learned using digital communication applications for agriculture via an established online platform administered by the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome. This entry introduces these various developments that are associated with the term e‐agriculture. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

How do development actors do “ICT for development”? A strategy‐as‐practice perspective on emerging practices in Ghanaian agriculture

“…We showed how development actors looked for complementarities across different technological (eg, radio and mobile) and nontechnological (eg, face‐to‐face demonstrations) mediums. These considerations are particularly important in rural settings where legacy technologies and traditional information norms dominate, while personal networks contribute significantly to magnifying information reach (Barakabitze et al, ; Flor & Cisneros, ; Hudson et al, ; Islam & Grönlund, ; Prakash & De' 2007; Venkatesh & Sykes, ). Our study broadens the research focus and examines the novelty of technology in its context.…”

“…However, while such technologies are promising, it is premature to speculate about their impacts (Ekekwe, ). Meanwhile, studies continue to demonstrate reliance on legacy technologies and in‐person channels (Esoko, ; Hudson et al, ) as the most cost‐efficient and omnipresent vehicles for the transmission of market information and agricultural knowledge among smallholders (Flor & Cisneros, ; Prakash & De' 2007; Venkatesh & Sykes, ). Oral communication and strong peer networks dominate as farmers' information sources (Hudson et al, ; Mubin et al, ; Owusu et al, ).…”

“…Oral communication and strong peer networks dominate as farmers' information sources (Hudson et al, ; Mubin et al, ; Owusu et al, ). Reluctance to adopt contemporary technologies is compounded by challenges such as poor infrastructure, low affordability, low literacy levels, lack of conducive social norms (eg, trust), questionable content quality, and poor integration with smallholders' knowledge and needs (Burrell & Oreglia, ; FAO, ; Flor & Cisneros, ; Molony, ; Wyche, Densmore, & Geyer, ).…”

“…Importantly, research demonstrates that smallholders use a mixture of contemporary and legacy technologies, while relying on in‐person channels, accessed through formal and informal networks, for agricultural knowledge and information exchange (Barakabitze, Fue, & Sanga, ; Flor & Cisneros, ; Hudson, Leclair, Pelletier, & Sullivan, ; Islam & Grönlund, ; Prakash & De', ; Venkatesh & Sykes, ). Therefore, in considering the technology‐enabled outreach activities of development actors, we maintain a broad understanding of the term “ICT.” We view it as encompassing contemporary technologies (ie, mobile short message service [SMS] and voice technology, web portals, integrated voice response [IVR], purpose‐built digital technologies developed in‐house, etc), as well as legacy technologies (ie, radio, TV, audio and video recordings, traditional broadcasting, etc).…”

Current Progress and Future Prospects of Agriculture Technology: Gateway to Sustainable Agriculture

“…According to the global system assessment for mobile communications, this proportion is almost eight percent [74]. Moreover, features and flexibility, including GPS, microphone cameras, accelerometers, proximity, and gyroscopes, have attracted IT technicians who are creating more attractive smartphone functions to satisfy many demands of farmers [75][76][77][78].…”