The impact of ICT-enabled extension campaign on farmers' knowledge and management of fall armyworm in Uganda

PLoS One. 2019 Aug 21;14(8):e0220844. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220844. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

This study evaluates the unique and combined effects of three complementary ICT-based extension methods - interactive radio, mobile SMS messages and village-based video screenings - on farmers' knowledge and management of fall armyworm (FAW), an invasive pest of maize that is threatening food security in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Building on a survey of maize farmers in western Uganda and using various selection-on-observables estimators, we find consistent evidence that participation in the ICT-based extension campaigns significantly increases farmers' knowledge about FAW and stimulates the adoption of agricultural technologies and practices for the management of the pest. We also show that exposure to multiple campaign channels yields significantly higher outcomes than exposure to a single channel, with some evidence of additive effects. These results are robust to alternative estimators and also to hidden bias. Results further suggest that among the three ICT channels, radio has greater reach, video exerts a stronger impact on the outcome measures, and greater gains are achieved when video is complemented by radio. Our findings imply that complementary ICT-based extension campaigns (particularly those that allow both verbal and visual communication) hold great potential to improve farmers' knowledge and trigger behavioural changes in the identification, monitoring and sustainable management of a new invasive pest, such as FAW.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Agriculture / methods*
  • Animals
  • Farmers
  • Humans
  • Pest Control / methods*
  • Plant Diseases / parasitology
  • Plant Diseases / prevention & control
  • Spodoptera / physiology*
  • Uganda
  • Zea mays / parasitology*

Grants and funding

This research was financially supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) through CABI’s Plantwise programme. CABI is an international intergovernmental organization and we gratefully acknowledge the core financial support from our member countries (and lead agencies) including the UK (Department for International Development), China (Chinese Ministry of Agriculture), Australia (Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research), Canada (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada), The Netherlands (Directorate-General for International Cooperation) and Switzerland (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation). See https://www.cabi.org/about-cabi/who-we-work-with/key-donors/ for details.