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Observations and findings of the June 2008 field study
A PhD is being prepared within the FARM foundation about the socio-cultural aspects of information exchange and farming knowledge in West Africa. This article is a summary of what has been observed and learned from an initial field study carried out in June 2008.
The findings highlight that obstacles to the development of farming information include the following elements :
- the importance of the structure and transparency of professional farming organizations,
- the requirement for training in the use of the systems and
- the basic characteristics of an adapted technological platform (reduced cost, widespread in rural areas and based on the spoken word).
The main socio-cultural observations are :
- the natural inclination of farmers to discuss what they do and their desire for more exchanges of information – confirming the importance of what lies behind the PhD
- the potential influence of young highly educated people returning to rural areas on the development of exchanges of information and
- the importance of the spoken word in this cultural context.
These observations will influence the choice of the practical experience which will serve as the basis for the PhD.
- doc Pasquati 0806 EN
- ICT Africa agriculture
Download the entire article (pdf)
Send your comments to Eric Pasquati, ICT project leader at FARM.
Publié le : 7 avril 2010
