Using radio and interactive ICTs to improve food security among smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa

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

“…It also demonstrates that, given the challenges listed above and the importance of face‐to‐face and oral interaction in building trust (Duncombe & Heeks, ; Molony, ), contemporary technologies may not be able to replace other channels entirely. Building on this, Hudson et al () study found that a combination of both radio and mobile channels for information dissemination greatly increased not only awareness but also adoption of new farming practices. This is suggestive of the need to move away from purely technical solutions and towards an emphasis on “valued ways of being and doing” (Kendall & Dearden, , p.13).…”

“…However, while such technologies are promising, it is premature to speculate about their impacts (Ekekwe, 2017). Meanwhile, studies continue to demonstrate reliance on legacy technologies and in-person channels (Esoko, 2017;Hudson et al, 2017) as the most cost-efficient and omnipresent vehicles for the transmission of market information and agricultural knowledge among smallholders (Flor & Cisneros, 2015;Prakash & De' 2007;Venkatesh & Sykes, 2013). Oral communication and strong peer networks dominate as farmers' information sources (Hudson et al, 2017;Mubin et al, 2015;Owusu et al, 2017).…”

“…With the exception of perspectives from design science, participatory, and interventionist research (eg, Gregor, Imran, & Turner, 2014;Robinson & Imran, 2015), few studies have offered this type of strategic understanding. Furthermore, few capture the nuanced interplay between contemporary technologies, legacy technologies, and social carriers of information (Dewan, Ganley, & Kraemer, 2010;Hudson et al, 2017) in propelling change in the rural agricultural context. Instead, researchers tend to take on a mono-technology focus (Caine et al, 2018;Martin & Abbott, 2011), sidelining the issue of how new technologies take root, coexist, and compete with existing information norms.…”

“…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, 2017;Flor & Cisneros, 2015;Hudson, Leclair, Pelletier, & Sullivan, 2017;Islam & Grönlund, 2007;Prakash & De', 2007;Venkatesh & Sykes, 2013). Therefore, in considering the technology-enabled outreach activities of development actors, we maintain a broad understanding of the term "ICT."…”

The role of interactive radio programming in advancing women’s empowerment and crop and dietary diversity: Mixed methods evidence from Malawi

“…Compared with more advanced types of ICT, such as mobile-and Internet-based information systems, radio programming has been more rarely evaluated rigorously given the difficulties in controlling access to radio stations in a randomized control trial context or rarity of large-scale panel datasets. Recent evaluations of interactive radio programming and participatory radio campaigns have been positive about the role of radio programs in rural areas, although the evidence is limited to pilot cases with small sample sizes and qualitative case studies (Zossou and Demont 2019;Hampson et al 2016;Yadav et al 2017;Hudson et al 2017;Kelemu, Haregewoin, and Daniel 2016). A recent multicase study assesses the role of radio-based information services versus other information services for promoting climate-smart agriculture (Westermann et al 2018).…”