Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse knowledge systems and channels of innovation diffusion in Tajikistan. In particular, I look at the formation of agricultural advisory services (AASs) and how these provide a vital source of knowledge and innovation for farmers during the transition process. Methodology: Empirically, this paper draws…

Rural mainland China has undergone dramatic changes since the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949. The collectivization of agriculture basically altered the rural arrangement of conventional China. Using a series of mass media campaigns, Mao Tse-Tung to some extent transformed the traditional rural social system to what he envisioned as…

A major issue in Information Systems (IS) research is how to combine relevance and rigor (Benbasat & Zmud, 1999) and reduce the widening gap between research results and adoption (Dunn, 1994). Qualitative researchers make use of interpretivist methods to add richness and depth to their understanding of user problems. Interpretivist methods…

This paper describes the major international agricultural information services, sources, and systems; outlines the existing information situation in Tanzania as it relates to problems of agricultural development; and reviews the improvements in information provision resources required to support the process of agricultural development in Tanzania.…

Reviews experiments in Kenya and Nigeria attempting to modify the progressive-farmer strategy. Success requires that extension services recognize small farmers' ability to make their own rational decisions and involve farmers in planning and implementing extension programs. Available from: Rural Sociological Society, 325 Morgan Hall, University of…

When considering what type of communication is required for development, the conventional answer of diffusion of technological innovation for modernization and growth is inadequate. Daniel Lerner and Everett Rogers describe traditional people as the greatest obstacle to development. Paulo Freire perceives communication as an instrument for…

This report summarizes 1996 activities of the Inter-American Foundation (IAF), an independent agency of the U.S. government. The IAF promotes equitable, responsible, and participatory self-help development in the Caribbean and Latin America by awarding grants directly to local grassroots organizations, as well as to larger organizations that…

Four issues of this newsletter focus primarily on the use of communication technologies in developing nations to educate their people. The issues included in this collection are: (1) No. 56 (1987-1), which highlights agricultural, health, and educational projects that have used radio, telecommunications, and interactive video to train trainers…

Describes a study that was conducted to determine the information needs of women in rural areas of Nigeria. Survey results are reported concerning age, education, occupation, economic status, and sources of useful information; and solutions to solve the information gap that center around disseminating information through radio messages are…

The objectives of the state-of-the-art paper, second in a series on farming systems research (FSR) in the Third World, are to: (1) review the literature on farming systems; (2) evaluate farming systems research in international institutes and in national agricultural research systems in the Third World; and (3) recommend what can be done to…

These keynote remarks review some of the origins of Title XII of the Foreign Assistance Act. This legislation, whose goal is to conquer famine and malnutrition worldwide, was signed into law by President Ford in 1975. Senator Hubert Humphrey's address at the 1977 Famine Prevention Symposium in Washington, DC, is recounted with emphasis on his…

Based on an extensive review of the literature, this analysis of the special role of communications in relation to social development examines three major groups of writings: (1) those concerned with perceptions and definitions of early concepts of communication/communication theory and underdevelopment/development, which provide the basis for a…

Goals of a workshop bringing together 31 education and rural development specialists from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, Nepal, and India were to explore problems, synthesize experiences, and consider how to improve their programs of education for rural development. After giving individual country reports, participants…

Emphasis placed on adult education in Tanzania stems directly from the decision to bring about development through an egalitarian rural transformation. The political decision to stress socialist development with priority to those living in rural areas preceded the creation of the adult education network and shaped its structures and organization.…