期刊名称：International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology
电子版ISSN：1814-0556
出版年度：2016
卷号：12
期号：3
页码：19-36
出版社：University of the West Indies
摘要：Mobile phones are widespread in the rural areas of Mali and Burkina Faso, but their potential asa tool for knowledge transfer by extension services in the region remains largely unexplored. Theaim of this contribution is to evaluate the potential of video on mobile phones as a tool for farmerto-farmer exchange and agricultural extension in Western Africa’s rural reality. This aim wasaddressed by interviewing 460 farmers in Mali and Burkina Faso. Third generation (3G) mobilephones with video and Bluetooth technology were found to be widespread in the study area.Furthermore, videos on 3G phones were found to have a high frequency of contact and a highinformation utility. The participating farmers reported that 3G phones are readily accessible:including to people who had previously had limited access to information sources, such as youngwomen. Video based information is particularly advantageous to illiterate farmers, and haspotential to transform the typically top-down nature of information flow from extension agents tofarmers. The farmers, in this case, hold ownership of video based information, which therebyextends its outreach. These findings allow the conclusions that video on mobile phones hastremendous potential as a tool for agricultural extension and farmer-to-farmer exchange indeveloping countries. The use of video on mobile phones is a novel approach to farmer-to-farmerexchange, which could contribute to transforming and amplifying extension efforts and therebyenabling the necessary intensification of land use, while also enabling more resilient, inclusiveand democratic farming systems
关键词：Information and communication technology (ICT); mobile phone; video; agriculture;development; rural extension; farmer-to-farmer exchange; Africa
