scholarly journals Smallholder Farmers’ Perspectives on Advisory Extension Services: A Case Study of the Gamo Communities of Southern Ethiopia

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 159
Author(s):  
Miki Dowsing ◽  
Sarah Cardey
Keyword(s):  
Service Provision ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Southern Ethiopia ◽  
Extension Services ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Status ◽  
Service Provisions

This is a case study-based research project investigating the status of Advisory Extension Services in southern Ethiopia. The goal was to determine whether available service provisions meet the requirements of smallholder farmers and enabled them to improve their farming practices and livelihoods. A combination of an exploratory inductive approach and mixed methods was used (e.g., questionnaire survey, focus group discussions, key informant interviews). Participants included members of farming households, and agents, experts, and providers working in the agricultural rural sector. The key findings suggested that limited access to resources and unpredictable environmental conditions were stifling smallholder farmer innovation and livelihoods. Service provisions should be better tailored to local conditions, provide greater resource access, and work more closely with farmers. The development and implementation of service provision should involve a wide range of institutions and farmers throughout the process. Local community- and farmer-based organisations are especially important, and can work alongside innovative and talented farmers to enable more effective dissemination of information. Agricultural rural development and service provision should focus greater attention on the views and perspectives of farmers from a range of areas with differing socio-demographic and agro-ecological characteristics for comparative analysis.

scholarly journals GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE SPACES AS AN INSTRUMENT PROMOTING YOUTH INTEGRATION AND PARTICIPATION IN LOCAL COMMUNITY

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Jaszczak ◽  
Gintarė Vaznonienė ◽  
Bernardas Vaznonis
Keyword(s):  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Social Benefit ◽  
Community Research ◽  
Health Improvement ◽  
Activity Promotion ◽  
The Status ◽  
Local Actors

Insufficient analysis of green infrastructure spaces benefit to youth activity promotion in Lithuanian social sciences discourse enabled to formulate scientific problem – what can be possibilities of using green infrastructure spaces while strengthening youth integration and participation in local community? The aim of the article – after analyzing social benefit of green infrastructure spaces to youth, to determine their usage possibilities for strengthening youth integration and participation in local community. Research methods: scientific literature, document analysis and synthesis, abstraction and comparison methods. Šiauliai district Kuršėnai town environmentally directed school’s projects were analysed for the case study. For youth, green infrastructure spaces are the areas for environmental education, health improvement, strengthening of their integration and participation in local community through various activities. Youth gradually become involved into social activity where their status of a passive participant changes into the status of an active participant. Case study can be used by various local actors (other schools, community, teachers, parents etc.) strengthening integration and participation of youth in local community by using GI spaces.

scholarly journals Partnering for change

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 255-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha L.P. MacLeod ◽  
Neil Hanlon ◽  
Trish Reay ◽  
David Snadden ◽  
Cathy Ulrich
Keyword(s):  
Primary Healthcare ◽  
Health Authority ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Processes Of Change ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Status ◽  
Managing Risk ◽  
Healthcare Transformation

Purpose Despite many calls to strengthen connections between health systems and communities as a way to improve primary healthcare, little is known about how new collaborations can effectively alter service provision. The purpose of this paper is to explore how a health authority, municipal leaders and physicians worked together in the process of transforming primary healthcare. Design/methodology/approach A longitudinal qualitative case study was conducted to explore the processes of change at the regional level and within seven communities across Northern British Columbia (BC), Canada. Over three years, 239 interviews were conducted with physicians, municipal leaders, health authority clinicians and leaders and other health and social service providers. Interviews and contextual documents were analyzed and interpreted to articulate how ongoing transformation has occurred. Findings Four overall strategies with nine approaches were apparent. The strategies were partnering for innovation, keeping the focus on people in communities, taking advantage of opportunities for change and encouraging experimentation while managing risk. The strategies have bumped the existing system out of the status quo and are achieving transformation. Key components have been a commitment to a clear end-in-view, a focus on patients, families, and communities, and acting together over time. Originality/value This study illuminates how partnering for primary healthcare transformation is messy and complicated but can create a foundation for whole system change.

Helping the Helpless: Contribution of Rural Extension Services to Smallholder Farmers’ Climate Change Adaptive Capacity and Adaptation in Rural Ghana

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Asare-Nuamah ◽  
Ebo Botchway ◽  
Justina A. Onumah
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Adaptive Capacity ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Extension Services ◽  
Farming Communities ◽  
Multiple Strategies ◽  
Transfer Of Skills

While there is no doubt that extension services play an active role in promoting smallholder farmers’ adaptive capacity and adaptation to climate change, there is a dearth of information and research on how this institution champions climate change adaptation in rural farming communities in Ghana. This study employed a qualitative case study design and interviewed 15 extension officers and 26 smallholder farmers to understand how extension services enhance smallholder farmers’ climate change adaptive capacity and adaptation in the rural Adansi North District in Ghana. The findings indicate that extension services adopt multiple strategies to build the adaptive capacity of farmers to climate change. Through the transfer of skills and knowledge, technology and innovations, supply of inputs, technical advice and liaison role with existing local institutions, farmers are able to adapt to climate change. The study further revealed that extension services are hindered by geographical, sociocultural and economic challenges which affect their alignment and fitness to effectively assist smallholder farmers. The study recommends strengthening the capacity of the extension institution. Moreover, more experts must be trained to provide special, targeted and important services to smallholder farmers in respect of climate change sensitization and adaptation.

scholarly journals Dysphagia Management in Schools: A Survey of Speech-Language Pathologists

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 527-546
Author(s):  
Catherine Felicetti ◽  
Kelly Richardson ◽  
Angela Mansolillo
Keyword(s):  
Service Provision ◽  
Treatment Plan ◽  
The United States ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
School Based ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Pediatric Feeding ◽  
Survey Responses

Purpose To date, few studies have examined school-based pediatric feeding and swallowing practices across the United States. This study aims to (a) identify barriers to feeding and swallowing service provision in an educational setting and (b) identify the types of service suggested by school-based speech-language pathologists in response to a fictional case study. Method School-based speech-language pathologists and clinical fellows were invited to participate in a 15-min web-based survey. The survey questions addressed demographic and vocational information and perceived barriers to service provision. Survey respondents were also asked to develop a treatment plan in response to a fictional case study. In total, 200 anonymous survey responses were coded and analyzed using qualitative analysis methods. Results A number of barriers to practice were identified, which include academic and/or clinical preparedness and concerns related to the educational relevance of service. Analysis of the case study results indicated a wide range of treatment plans. The most common type of direct intervention suggested was an oral motor exercise regime, followed by diet modifications, and the implementation of safe swallow strategies. Conclusions Information gained in this study may be used to support policies and protocols related to the assessment and treatment of pediatric feeding and swallowing impairment in school settings.

scholarly journals Memory, Performance, Identity: Making Personal History, Making Meaning: A Critical Analysis of an Independent Heritage Initiative at Duart House, Havelock North

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lorie A. Mastemaker
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
International Studies ◽  
Community Group ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Depth Study

<p>On a small ridge overlooking Havelock North and parts of the Heretaunga Plains to the west, a Victorian homestead known as Duart House was rescued from neglect by a local community group in 1985. The group became known as the Duart House Society (DHS) who formed to care for its maintenance and promote it to the public for social and cultural activity; however, in managing local heritage, the DHS have done so according to their own priorities and needs. This dissertation examines a case study of an independent heritage initiative and considers the question of how we might understand the ways in which people engage and respond to heritage, and why these activities should be of interest to professionals in favour of democratising museums and heritage. There is currently no research on independent heritage activity in New Zealand and international studies have also been largely neglected. A range of historical, empirical and theoretical approaches are incorporated in this research, including interviews, observation, questionnaires, primary and secondary resources, to generate a diverse range of data reflecting the wide range of factors that influence the central question of this research. By utilising Duart House of Havelock North as a case study, in conjunction with theories of intangible heritage, history and memory, the research moves beyond the 'official' museum and heritage sector to draw attention to the exclusive nature of people's sense of the past in New Zealand. This dissertation also addresses an issue that has been under-theorised in the existing literature of museum and heritage studies, namely that of individual memory, and the importance of objects and places to keep memory alive in the face of change. The research not only provides an in-depth study of one example of local heritage, but suggests an awareness of heritage as personal opposed to collective, and something which is 'performed' in multiple layers rather than just a physical place or 'thing'. It concludes that heritage is a far more complex process between people, place and memory than the literature on the subject claims, which poses a problem for museums who want to be 'all things to all people' and one that is not easily resolved. The research proposes a new direction for museums that is less concerned with 'truth' and more comfortable with 'open-ended exploration', 'wonder' and 'imagination'. This dissertation therefore serves as a critical resource to prompt further debate about the challenge of establishing closer relationships between museums, heritage and communities.</p>

scholarly journals Assessment of Agricultural Advisory Messages from Farmer-to-Farmer in Making a Case for Scaling Up Production: A Qualitative Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nana Afranaa Kwapong ◽  
Daniel Ankrah ◽  
Dominic Boateng-Gyambiby ◽  
Joseph Asenso-Agyemang ◽  
Lydia Oteng Fening
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Group Formation ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Agricultural Extension ◽  
Extension Agents ◽  
Extension Services ◽  
Study Approach

Inadequate access to agricultural extension services often results in poor farm practices, affecting yields and subsequently the income and wellbeing of smallholder farmers. Given the high demand for agricultural information and the limited capacity of extension services, a farmer-to-farmer extension approach has been explored by many underserved farmers. In this study, we use a qualitative case study approach explore how cassava farmers who had limited access to agricultural advisory services from public extension agents managed to up-scale their farming business. Our research question was: what lessons can be learned from the lived experience of these farmers to address current challenges of cassava farming? The results of our study revealed diversity in advisory messages from farmer to farmer and agricultural extension agents. Farmers’ messages focused on encouraging farmers’ commitment and motivation towards farming business, availability of needed financial resources for the entire production season, willingness to reinvest profits, and access to farmland for future expansion. In contrast, the traditional messages from agricultural extension agents focused on encouraging group formation to address marketing challenges, diversification of farm operations, and good agricultural practices. These results show the need for pluralistic extension approaches to ensure farmers get access to necessary information.

scholarly journals Urban agriculture: a timely game changer for urban residents in Nigeria.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mac-Anthony C. Onyema ◽  
Chukwudi C. Nwaigwe
Keyword(s):  
Urban Agriculture ◽  
Urban Dynamics ◽  
Academic Fields ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Status ◽  
World Food Summit ◽  
Zero Hunger ◽  
Sufficient Food

Abstract This paper leverages on the yet-unanswered calls of the 1996 World Food Summit as well as the 2nd Sustainable Development Goal of the United Nations both of which support zero hunger and safe, nutritious and sufficient food. Nigeria and Africa on the whole actively engage in agriculture but this is more restricted to the rural area. This piece provides a view of the status of urban agriculture presented in both exploratory and descriptive terms thus contributing to the several academic fields in urban planning and research discourse. The farmers, government and urban managers are among key stakeholders that can step up at both local and regional scales especially in terms of governance, estate planning and urban dynamics. Although with a global outlook and dimension, case study therein presents current practices and quantitative descriptions based on surveys from metropolitan city of Lagos, Nigeria thus providing an argumentative reflection for the promotion of a wide range of urban agriculture practices. This is hoped to nourish the discussion on urban wellbeing and development.

scholarly journals Assessment of Tourism Development Compliant with Ecotourism Principles, Case Study: Guilan, Iran

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-276
Author(s):  
Mehdi Hesam ◽  
◽  
Fatemeh Bagheri ◽  
Arash Atefi ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Local Community ◽  
Tourism Development ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Welfare ◽  
The Status ◽  
Unique Nature ◽  
Education And Awareness ◽  
Guilan Province

Purpose: The purpose of the research is to evaluate the compliance of tourism development with the ecotourism principles through the opinions of visitors Guilan province as a unique destination in Iran. Methods: This study was conducted using the descriptive-analytical method. A questionnaire is designed and filled by the visitors. The gathered data have been analyzed by binomial, Friedman, and path analysis in SPSS and LISREL software. The barometer of ecotourism has also been modified to explain human welfare and natural ecotourism. Results: The results of this research have indicated that the tourism activities are significantly compliant with the principles and that education and awareness can considerably influence other dimensions. Conclusion: Tourists in the study area are highly interested in observing the principles of ecotourism. This is seen in all aspects of helping the local economy, protecting the environment, communicating with the local community, and education. However, the status of environmental protection is appropriate in the study area. This is likely resulted from understanding of the visitors about the unique nature of Guilan province and its outstanding features. The scarcity of these resources has made tourists more protective of them. On the other hand, since most of the tourists in this province have recreational purposes, we should try to pay more attention to education as one of the pillars of ecotourism.

British Merchants, Private Interests and the Fostering of Free Trade in Chile, 1811–1831

2019 ◽  
pp. 153-184
Author(s):  
Andrés Baeza Ruz
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
The Other ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Private Interests ◽  
The Status ◽  
State Actors ◽  
Independence Era

The final case study to be discussed is the role of the other British ‘non–state’ actors involved in Chile’s independence–era: merchants. The presence of merchants and traders of different nationalities had been very extensive along the Chilean coasts prior to the crisis of 1808, but their presence was illegal since Spain adopted a trade monopoly policy after the conquest of America. This situation changed after 1811 thanks to the policies adopted by the new Chilean authorities, who gradually ‘legalised’ the status of these ‘smugglers’. As a result, the activities of British merchants in Chile were no longer forbidden and their former status as illegal traders or smugglers shifted to a new one, in which they became legal merchants operating in Chile. British merchants who travelled to Chile were fundamental in fostering and consolidating, although as with the cases studied in chapters two and three, this was done according to local conditions.

scholarly journals Cross-Scale Vulnerability Assessment for Smallholder Farming: A Case Study from the Northeast of Brazil

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 3787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophia Dobkowitz ◽  
Ariane Walz ◽  
Gabriele Baroni ◽  
Aldrin M. Pérez-Marin
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Vulnerability Assessment ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Ecological Indicators ◽  
Field Scale ◽  
Smallholder Farming ◽  
Local Conditions

Climate change heavily impacts smallholder farming worldwide. Cross-scale vulnerability assessment has a high potential to identify nested measures for reducing vulnerability of smallholder farmers. Despite their high practical value, there are currently only limited examples of cross-scale assessments. The presented study aims at assessing the vulnerability of smallholder farmers in the Northeast of Brazil across three scales: regional, farm and field scale. In doing so, it builds on existing vulnerability indices and compares results between indices at the same scale and across scales. In total, six independent indices are tested, two at each scale. The calculated indices include social, economic and ecological indicators, based on municipal statistics, meteorological data, farm interviews and soil analyses. Subsequently, indices and overlapping indicators are normalized for intra- and cross-scale comparison. The results show considerable differences between indices across and within scales. They indicate different activities to reduce vulnerability of smallholder farmers. Major shortcomings arise from the conceptual differences between the indices. We therefore recommend the development of hierarchical indices, which are adapted to local conditions and contain more overlapping indicators for a better understanding of the nested vulnerabilities of smallholder farmers.

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