Agricultural Literacy Research Articles

Development and validation of a high school agricultural literacy assessment

The National Agricultural Literacy Outcomes (NALOs) are knowledge benchmarks for school-aged youth and are used to improve agricultural literacy (NAITC, 2014; NCAL, 2017). Despite educational efforts, prior research indicated that high school populations remained at low or deficient literacy levels. Additionally, no agricultural literacy assessment instruments using the NALOs as a standardization tool have been developed for the 9-12th grades. The purpose of the study was to validate a summative NALO-centered assessment that could provide baseline data on agricultural literacy following the completion of secondary education (12th grade). The study followed the framework established by Longhurst et al. (2020) for similar assessments in elementary grades. A Delphi team produced 45 items for validation that were reviewed using a convenience sample of [University] undergraduate students. Those items were evaluated using factor, item, and discriminant analysis. Results finalized two 15-item assessments and determined both had acceptable reliability, were adequate for model fit, and were valid for the NALOs and the three proficiency levels. The instruments are critical tools for providing a standardized approach to evaluation efforts. Researchers and educators should use these instruments to provide comparable agricultural literacy data across populations to better identify trends, program needs, and meaningful inferences.

Women in agroecology: inclusion, exclusion, and empowerment in Peru

ABSTRACT In Peru, formal and informal organizations are key actors in promoting agroecological farming and related social goals but struggle to make significant changes for gender equality. In this study, I seek to understand how organizations conceptualize their role in gender equality throughout project design, implementation, and presentation. While the organizations designed their projects around organizational change, the implementation and presentation of their work focused on improving financial security and agricultural literacy for individual women rather than systemic conditions. Despite this, their efforts underscored the importance of women’s contributions and furthered the conversation about gender in Peruvian agriculture.

Factors Affecting the Teaching and Learning of Agriculture in Secondary Schools in Bushenyi District Bitooma Sub-County

The teaching and learning of agriculture in secondary schools have faced challenges over the years, leading to a decline in student interest and performance. Despite its relevance in everyday life, the subject struggles to captivate students and has witnessed diminishing participation in national examinations. This study delves into the factors affecting the teaching and learning of agriculture in Bitooma-Kyamuhunga Sub-County, Bushenyi District, focusing on the period from 2007 to 2010. Previous research highlights various challenges, including teacher qualifications, instructional materials, traditional biases, and government support. Teachers' interaction with students, availability of textbooks, and societal perceptions significantly impact the effectiveness of agriculture education. A cross-sectional survey combining qualitative and quantitative methods was conducted in five secondary schools. Data was collected from head teachers, agriculture teachers, and students from different classes through questionnaires, interviews, and observations. Findings revealed a lack of instructional materials, with only a fraction of students having access to essential resources like textbooks. Additionally, teacher qualifications varied, with only half possessing formal qualifications in agriculture. Traditional biases and parental attitudes further deterred student interest, contributing to the subject's poor performance. The study underscores the need for more qualified agriculture teachers, adequate instructional materials, and government support to improve the teaching and learning of agriculture. Recommendations include enhanced teacher training, provision of resources, and efforts to change societal perceptions towards agriculture. Addressing the identified challenges can revitalize agriculture education, fostering student interest and improving academic performance. Collaboration between stakeholders, including educators, policymakers, and communities, is crucial in overcoming these obstacles and promoting agricultural literacy among students. Keywords: Learning, Agriculture, Secondary Schools, Students

Soviet Library Policy on the Organization of Interaction between Science and Society in the 1920s–1930s

The purpose of the article is a critical analysis of the historical experience of forming the educational Soviet state library policy in the 1920s and 1930s and determination of the possibilities of its modern use. It is shown that the basis of this policy were the views of the domestic revolutionary democrats on science and its popularization, as well as V. I. Lenin’s ideas about the political education of the working class and the development of its political consciousness. It is noted that the library educational policy began to be formed within the framework of the educational concept of librarianship as a form of extracurricular education and political propaganda in the late XIX – early XX century, however, the political and organizational conditions for its implementation developed only in Soviet times. The main motive for the formation of the Soviet educational policy was the need to prepare workers and peasants for participation in public administration throughout the power vertical, the fight against the church, as well as improving workers and peasants’ technical and agricultural literacy. Propaganda became the main form of interaction as the most concentrated expression of political, scientific and technical education. These political and pedagogical principles are disclosed and conclusions are drawn about the prospects of using the experience of those years when forming modern library policy on the organization of interaction between science and society. The main achievements and shortcomings are analyzed. The experience of the 1920s and 1930s shows that such policy will become successful if keeping to the following conditions: 1) the library policy in this direction being an integral part of the national educational and scientific policy; 2) the organized management of educational and scientific reading; 3) library impact should have an active character; 4) principles of modern educational library policy are modernized taking into account the achievements of pedagogical science in the field of enlightenment, sociology of reading, information culture and popularization of science.

40 Two-week agriculture institute prepares Mississippi teachers to improve agricultural literacy in classrooms

Abstract Agriculturally rich communities in Mississippi, particularly those with high minority populations, suffer from significant educational disparities, resulting in a median poverty rate 7.8% higher than the national average. Persistent unequal opportunities within the public school system, and a limitation of youth having access to advanced coursework and technology create challenges in improving the welfare of Mississippi communities. Despite being grossly underpaid, teachers in Mississippi remain passionate about agriculture education, often utilizing their personal finances to provide students with opportunities to succeed. Thus, an immersive learning agriculture science professional development program was created for 5th-12th grade classroom teachers. The objective was to improve the quality of education for students by advancing the ability of teachers to foster understanding and practices in agriculture literacy. Teachers (n = 20; cohort 1, n = 12; cohort 2, n = 8) participated in a 2-wk summer institute. Teachers received continuing education credits for their teaching license, a stipend to alleviate associated costs, and supplies for their classroom. The teachers learned agriculture content (e.g., animal, plant, and soil sciences), engaged in hands-on learning labs (e.g., anatomy and immunology), participated in field excursions (e.g., animal handling), received literary instruction, and discussed teacher leadership. To determine if program outcomes were achieved, participants completed surveys (n = 3), interviews (n = 3), and submitted lesson plans (n = 2). Post-institute survey results of participating teachers indicated they were eager to implement their new knowledge in their classrooms, including but not limited to fetal pig dissections, reproductive tract anatomy, blue’s the clue, DNA extraction, carousel activity, mind mapping, and glow germ activity. Statistical analysis using one-way ANOVA was performed on pre- and post-survey knowledge assessment across both cohorts. Regarding agriculture content, self-assessment knowledge scores of both cohorts increased significantly (P ≤ 0.0001) during the post-survey. Both cohort 1 and 2 teachers responded with a score of 80% or higher to: “On an assessment where I had to, “Explain general livestock reproduction and reproductive management practices”; “Explain how a cow's immune system is similar to humans” and, “Explain why farmers work diligently to prevent disease”. In addition, cohort 2 teachers responded with a score of 80% or higher to: “On an assessment where I had to, “Accurately label the anatomical organs of a fetal pig”; “Correctly explain the basic function of fetal pig organs” and, “Explain pregnancy detection in animal science.” This professional development program successfully reached Mississippi teachers, equipping them with tools to increase agriculture literacy. The potential impact of this program extends to encourage more youth to pursue careers in agriculture, foster a more informed consumer base, and mitigate poverty rates within the state. Funding provided by USDA-NIFA-AFRI Education and Workforce Development proposal number 2021-67037-34210/1025666.

Urban Farms for Neighborhood Improvement and Social Well-being of Urban Areas in Kandy


 
 
 In the latter half of the 20th century, as urban populations increased in the majority of emerging nations, the reliability of urban food production and delivery networks decreased. Urban hunger increased concurrently with the urban population, speeding up by in response, urban farms spread over a growing worldwide. However, later other purposes were added to it and urban farms were nurtured. Globally, urban farms are changing as a result of political, economic, environmental, and technical advancements. With time, urban farming activities are becoming a reason to improve the value and quality of life in terms of economic, social, and other elements. In this research, it was investigated how urban farming affects the social well-being and neighborhood improvements of urban areas. Furthermore, it focuses on urban farms' relative attachment to the neighborhood and confidence, their impact on agriculture literacy and youth development, and the economic and food crises in the urban areas. It was sought to understand community perceptions of how urban farms can benefit cities through a qualitative study conducted in two urban farms in Kandy. Interviews with visitors, laborers, and professionals related to urban farming revealed the pathways by which community members view farms as improving neighborhoods and social well-being. According to this study, six characteristics are highlighted and evaluated: neighborhood attachment, neighborhood confidence, youth development, food access, agricultural literacy, and economic development. Benefits stemmed from a primary changes urban farms made to neighborhood improvement: the creation of public project involvement, the physical improvement of degraded space, the production of local food, and the creation of new businesses. These changes led to multiple perceived benefits, including increased social connectedness, a transformed physical landscape, an improved neighborhood reputation, and employment opportunities. But there were some points that should be developed. especially in cases of food access and youth development. Urban farms with strong social aims may appear to contribute little to economic development if measured using traditional indicators of success such as job creation or fiscal impacts, but they provide numerous other benefits for community development.
 Keywords: Urban farms, Social connectedness, Physical improvement, Food access, Youth engagement, Economic development
 
 

Agricultural literacy in artificial insemination and agribusiness management for social innovation in rural populations affected by armed conflict in Colombia

The achievement of education in rural populations was one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), outlined by the United Nations. During the last World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), it was concluded that the majority of the world’s poor, illiterate and undernourished population lives in rural areas; therefore, access to education is considered one of the greatest challenges for governments in countries with developing economies. The purpose of this study was to determine how a theoretical-practical training program in rural management and leadership (D-ML), artificial insemination (D-AI), and bovine genetic improvement (D-GI) affected the perception and level of knowledge in a rural population affected by Colombia’s armed conflict. Phase 1 included the theoretical and practical training of undergraduate animal sciences students in three dimensions (D-ML, D-AI, D-GI). After training, students were evaluated according to their level of theoretical-practical knowledge and their behavioral performance. There were 13 students selected to be a part of what we went on to call “the group of student leaders.” Phase 2 included the socioeconomic characterization and training of rural residents by the group of student leaders and field experts in the same three dimensions (D-ML, D-AI, D-GI). We evaluated the perception and level of knowledge before and after training in 63 rural residents using an evaluative instrument. The perception of knowledge in rural residents was low for general knowledge (GTD) (2.48 ± 0.76, p < 0.05), D-ML (2.89 ± 1.18, p < 0.05) and D-AI/D-GI (2.17 ± 0.83, p < 0.05), in accordance with the 5-point Likert-type ordinal scale. When level of knowledge was measured before the theorical-practical training, the level of GTD was 45.9%, however, after the training it increased to 77.6% (p < 0.01), while the level of knowledge for D-AI increased from 38.5% pre-training to 80.6% (p <0.05) post-training, and level of knowledge for D-GI pre-training was 50.8% and increased to 73.0% (p < 0.01) post-training. Finally, the level of knowledge for D-ML increased (p < 0.01) from 54.8% pre-training to 75% post-training. Altogether, rural extension programs contribute to closing knowledge gaps in relation to the use of reproductive biotechnologies and bovine management in rural areas affected by armed conflict.

The Contribution of Special Libraries in Promoting Social Inclusion in Indonesia

Objective. The majority of special libraries fulfill the information needs of their work environment to support the development and improvement of the duties and functions of the institution and its human resources. However, several service innovations have been carried out by creating social inclusion-based service programs for the general public. One is the Center for Library and Dissemination of Agricultural Technology (PUSTAKA) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Indonesia. This research aims to provide an overview of how the PUSTAKA special library can be involved in creating service innovations for the public through social inclusion programs. Methods. The method used is a qualitative method with a library research approach. Results. The study results illustrate that PUSTAKA has extended its reach to communities with limited agricultural collections and information access. The library has also become a maker space for entrepreneurship awareness and creativity, enhancing the potential of the community related to agriculture. PUSTAKA serves as a knowledge hub for agriculture, boasting vast agricultural resources. Furthermore, the library uses information technology to provide virtual services, expanding its reach and promoting agricultural literacy in remote areas. PUSTAKA's multifaceted approach to serving the community highlights its commitment to agricultural education and inclusive social services. Conclusions. The research concludes that PUSTAKA as a special library has implemented social inclusion in contributing to the community by improving the skills of farmers, promoting agricultural literacy, and extending access to agricultural collections and information.

Family matters: intergenerational influences on children’s agricultural literacy

Agricultural and environmental literacy are essential public goods, but associated education efforts struggle to reach broad audiences. Understanding learner backgrounds and lived experiences can help address this challenge. We assessed the relative importance of demographics, parent views of agriculture, interactions with farmers and parents, and learning setting in predicting agricultural literacy among 525 elementary school children in North Carolina, USA. We used classification and regression trees and random forest models, which account for non-linear and interacting relationships. Knowing a farmer and engagement with parents were more predictive of children agricultural literacy than demographics, countering historically held deficit-based assumptions around agricultural and environmental literacy.

A summer agricultural research program enlarges community college students’ perceptions of agricultural careers

This study examined the REACH program, a Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates (REEU) program, aimed at improving agricultural literacy and career development among community college students. This study employed a one-group pretest-posttest design using the Perceptions of Agriculture and Agricultural Careers questionnaire (quantitative) and participants’ written responses to an open-ended question about agricultural career and academic plans (qualitative). Data were collected on the first and last day of the program to compare benchmarks to student achievement. The scaled responses were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, a nonparametric test. The open-ended responses were analyzed using content analysis. REACH Scholars developed more specific career plans and more favorable perceptions of personal job opportunities and their own capabilities in agriculture during the program. Regarding occupational requirements, the scholars’ perception that many agricultural leaders had a college education significantly improved over the course of the REACH program. Despite these improvements, their views about agricultural occupations in general, including food processing, food inspection, forestry, and natural resources management, were not significantly different from pretest to posttest. This study demonstrated an effective evaluation strategy for evaluating undergraduate research programs in agriculture and the allied sciences. Recommendations include strategies for greater outcome evaluation of REEU programs.

우리나라와 미국의 초등 교양 농업 교육 프로그램 내용 비교 분석

The purpose of this study was to investigate the implications for practical arts education in Korea through the analysis of the contents of agricultural literacy education programs in Korea and the United States. Comparative criteria were set to achieve the purpose of the study, wherein the system and contents of agricultural literacy education programs were compared and analyzed according to these criteria. As a result of the analysis, implications for practical arts education in Korea are as follows.
 First, it is necessary to present the educational contents of the agricultural literacy education programs in two grades in terms of formality and to address the level in detail. In the case of elementary schools, it is necessary to present content standards by grade group, while it would be effortless to present middle and high schools in general. Second, in the development of practical arts curriculum in Korea, an integrated area approach is needed rather than one in a specific area. Rather than emphasizing the practical arts and content areas, such an integrated approach to areas (e.g., integrating agriculture and diet) will be essential in the long run.
 Based on the hereby demonstrated results, the present paper offers the following suggestions.
 First, research on the curriculum of various countries that might offer new ideas in elementary agricultural education is continuously needed.
 Second, it is rather difficult to explore the characteristics of current elementary agricultural education being conducted in the curriculum document. Therefore, studies on the actual cases of elementary agricultural education in these countries are needed.

Assessing Agricultural Literacy Among Senior Secondary School Students in Kwara, Nigeria: Implications for Educational Interventions

This research study aimed to evaluate the level of agricultural literacy among senior secondary school students in Kwara State, Nigeria, using a descriptive survey research design. The target population comprised all senior secondary school science students in Kwara State, and a sample of 1,200 students was selected using a multi-stage sampling procedure. Data were collected using an adapted standardized questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.71. Both descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were conducted to analyze the data. The findings of the study revealed that there was no significant difference in agricultural literacy among senior secondary school students based on their gender or school location. However, the study did identify a significant difference in agricultural literacy among senior secondary school students based on the type of school they attended. Consequently, the study recommended that agricultural science teachers should focus on other components of agricultural literacy, particularly agricultural policy literacy, to enhance students' understanding of agricultural policy.
 Abstrak
 Studi penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengevaluasi tingkat literasi pertanian di kalangan siswa sekolah menengah atas di Negara Bagian Kwara, Nigeria, menggunakan desain penelitian survei deskriptif. Populasi target terdiri dari semua siswa sekolah menengah atas jurusan sains di Negara Bagian Kwara, dan sampel sebanyak 1.200 siswa dipilih menggunakan prosedur sampel multi-tahap. Data dikumpulkan menggunakan kuesioner standar yang telah diadaptasi dengan koefisien reliabilitas sebesar 0,71. Analisis statistik deskriptif dan inferensial dilakukan untuk menganalisis data. Temuan penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa tidak ada perbedaan signifikan dalam literasi pertanian di antara siswa sekolah menengah atas berdasarkan jenis kelamin atau lokasi sekolah. Namun, penelitian ini mengidentifikasi perbedaan signifikan dalam literasi pertanian di antara siswa sekolah menengah atas berdasarkan jenis sekolah yang mereka hadiri. Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini merekomendasikan agar guru ilmu pertanian memfokuskan pada komponen literasi pertanian lainnya, terutama literasi kebijakan pertanian, untuk meningkatkan pemahaman siswa tentang kebijakan pertanian.

Desain Infografik Naratif Vermikompos Untuk Mendukung Pertanian Organik Petani Torongrejo Kota Batu

The campaign of organic agricultural literacy in Indonesia is a strategic issue today. Awareness to pursue organic farming in Indonesia has not been followed by adequate organic farming literacy campaigns. This dedication examines the preparation of vermicompost narrative infographic designs for organic farming for Torongrejo farmers. A total of 34 farmers were respondents to find out how the right vermicompost narrative infographic design to support organic farming was structured. Respondents were accompanied directly to apply vermicompost, then respondents were asked to answer 17 questions in a questionnaire related to how vermicompost narrative infographics are made so that farmers get maximum information about vermicompost that supports organic farming. The results of the initial questionnaire showed that narrative infographics were needed by Torongrejo farmers to support organic farming, using vermicompost with a percentage of 94.12%. The readability of the vermicompost narrative infographic of Torongrejo farmers is 93.38%. The design of the vermicompost narrative infographic facilitates and guides Torongrejo village farmers to implement land fertilization independently and sustainably, because they stay connected to the contact person and access tutorials on using vermicompost on the youtube link available in the infographic

A Case Study: Agricultural literacy proficiency in an Iowa elementary school

Planning theories suggest a stepwise structure for organizing programs; evaluate current status with a needs assessment, identify strengths, weaknesses or gaps, use tools such as a logic model to plan, then implement and evaluate programming (Kettner et al., 2017). The National Agriculture in the Classroom organization and its state affiliates have the responsibility of providing agricultural education content to school-aged children and teachers to increase agricultural literacy (NAITC, n.d.). The Longhurst Murray Agricultural Literacy Instrument (LMALI) is a modern, valid tool to assess proficiency level of students participating in such programming (Longhurst, et al., 2020). Tri-Center Elementary in Iowa administered the LMALI to kindergarten through fifth grade students in March 2021. The findings from this case study suggest recommendations to state and national program planners to improve effectiveness of agricultural literacy outreach programs.

A Historical Examination of Food Labeling Policies and Practices in the United States: Implications for Agricultural Communications

Knowledge of agricultural practices has declined in recent years, resulting in consumers becoming uncertain of where and how their food has been produced and the marketing tactics used to promote the product. Historically, the U.S. population’s rich agricultural heritage coincided with higher levels of agricultural literacy. Some scholars, however, have maintained that U.S. culture has begun to lose touch with its agricultural foundations. More recent evidence has demonstrated that consumers acquire knowledge about their food from various media, most notably the Internet and social media. Often these sources use incorrect information and promote food and agricultural marketing trends that may not be grounded in scientific data. In response, this historical narrative analyzed a reform effort that occurred in U.S. food labeling policy and practice in the 1900s, which contributed to food labeling issues and consumer distrust in the agricultural industry. Based on the findings of this investigation, we concluded that food labels were initially intended to provide consumers with more profound knowledge of the food they purchased. However, key legislative acts such as the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act and the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act shifted the food labeling movement into a branding device to differentiate products and brands. We recommend that agricultural practitioners explore new ways to communicate their message more effectively. We also call for producers to incorporate more personal and emotional appeals when marketing agricultural products to better compete with third-party branding efforts.

Collaborative Strategies to Improve Nutrition Security and Education: Lessons Learned During a Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic intensified disparities for underserved populations as accessing resources became more difficult. Dairy Council of California launched the Let's Eat Healthy initiative to address nutrition security through collaborative solutions in the school environment. To ensure nutrition security for children and families, nutritious food and nutrition education must go hand-in-hand. Improving access to high quality food can help address the health disparities that exist for people who are at increased risk for food insecurity. Nutrition education supports students' holistic learning and social and emotional learning skills. Nutrition education models must be increasingly flexible in the face of ongoing challenges. Collaborative efforts to connect food access hubs, such as schools, with support and resources to provide evidence-based nutrition education and agricultural literacy can equip individuals and communities with the knowledge, skills, and ability to make nutrient-rich food choices. Investments and strategies in nutrition security that utilize the Individual plus Policy, System, and Environmental (I + PSE) model, such as the Let's Eat Healthy initiative, will effectively influence positive behavior change and improve community health. Navigating challenges in a rapidly changing environment requires people and organizations to work together, across disciplines, to leverage knowledge, experience, resources, expertise, and creative thinking. Improving access to healthy food and nutrition education will be most effective when done through collaboration.

The Role of Agritourism Microentrepreneurship and Collective Action in Shaping Stewardship of Farmlands

Agritourism has been promoted primarily as a way to mitigate economic challenges faced by small-scale family farmers, but it may also foster land stewardship and promote agricultural literacy. There has been very little research on these relationships. We employed a primarily qualitative approach to assess how farmers’ involvement in agritourism microentrepreneurship shapes their stewardship of small-scale farmlands in southeastern North Carolina. Furthermore, we examined how farmers’ involvement in social structures, summarized in measures of collective action, supported or hindered this relationship. We find that reasons for participation in agritourism differed greatly between conventional farmers and alternative farmers. While both groups expressed a desire to reduce agricultural illiteracy among the public through agritourism, conventional farmers were motivated primarily by sociocultural reasons (e.g., community and youth development) while alternative farmers wanted to educate visitors about land stewardship and environmentally sustainable food production. Involvement in agritourism microentrepreneurship did not directly influence land stewardship by either group of farmers. Alternative farmers expressed that collective action was important in helping them promote land stewardship, but they felt restricted by sociocultural and geographic barriers preventing them from developing trust within their community. Conversely, conventional farmers reported deeper cultural roots in the community. Thus, participation in agritourism does not have a generalizable impact on farmers’ land stewardship; instead, agritourism becomes a stage through which farmers try to demonstrate their pre-existing land ethics.

New Decade, Same Concerns: A Systematic Review of Agricultural Literacy of School Students

In this new decade of the twenty-first century, research reports the same concerns about agricultural literacy in primary and high school students globally. A systematic review of agricultural literacy studies published between 2000 and 2020 which assess the agricultural literacy of the target population; evaluated an agricultural education program or curriculum; or developed instruments to measure agricultural literacy was conducted. The review method followed an internationally recognized protocol for selecting, screening, analyzing, and reporting outcomes. Results found that definitions of agricultural literacy have evolved from an awareness to a measure of a deeper understanding developed throughout the years of formal schooling by both formal and informal education and experiences. Informal agricultural knowledge may be gained through numerous sources and misconceptions are apparent even among those with informal familial knowledge networks. Developing agricultural literacy in school-aged children through formal education is critical. Recommendations offer innovative ways of developing agriculturally literate young people that can be used to design, deliver and evaluate programs which aim to increase the agricultural literacy of primary and secondary students across the globe.

The Influence of Social Media Content Framing on Audience Perceptions of the Wild Horse and Burro Controversy.

The central research question that guided this study was: how does the framing of written content on Facebook influence public perception of information regarding the management of wild horses and burros? This research was conducted using content analysis to examine 136 Facebook posts of six organizations communicating about the wild horse and burro controversy and 8,295 comments made by individuals to the organization’s posts. There were eight major themes that emerged from the data, organized by the interaction of three frames: organization frame, audience frame, and organization-audience interaction frame. Organization frame themes included: organization positionality and its influence on framing posts for emotional appeal and audience action, and organization post style, post frequency, and response frequency and its influence on audience reception of the issued. Audience frame themes included: action-oriented responses, emotional responses, government responses, and management-related responses. Organizationaudience interaction frame themes included: the influence of organization comments on audience’s perception of the issue, and misinformation concerns.. These themes provide insight into how organizations and individuals are communicating about the wild horse and burro controversy using social media and illuminate opportunities for further research into social media communications to positively impact agricultural literacy. Recommendations for practice include: supplying necessary information to social media instead of relying on the audience to click links, keeping the perceived-cost and investment of requested audience participation low to encourage activism, and strategic planning regarding the frequency and types of post to maximize audience engagement.

Evidence from Fogera district in Ethiopia on configuration of farmer's information literacy conditions that explain better productivity performance of the horticultural crops

BackgroundThe combinational/configurational effects of the agricultural information literacy indicators are believed to have an influence on the productivity performance of the horticultural crops. Previous studies have emphasized the contributions of the net-effect of each information literacy condition of smallholder farmers on the productivity performance of the horticultural crops. Yet, these studies failed to make qualitative analysis on configurational effects of the agricultural information literacy conditions.MethodsThe study addresses the qualitative questions that are outside the scope of the conventional variable-oriented method. It aims to disentangle the causal complexity that links with productivity performance in Fogera district of the Amhara region, Ethiopia. A fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) of 80 smallholder farmers was conducted through a simple ransom sampling technique from two kebeles of Fogera district to examine the combinational effects of agricultural information literacy condition on the productivity performance instead of individual net-effect.ResultsThe results of the fsQCA model indicated that a combination of two or three conditions include the high levels of farm organizational, farm record-keeping, and farming skills to be consistently sufficient to attain high productivity performance of horticultural crops. These configurations help to seek relevant policy information and make policy strategies on the horticultural sector to improve its productivity performance.ConclusionThus, improving the joint information literacy effects of the farmers regarding their organizational, farm recording, and farming skills should give due attention by governmental and non-governmental organizations that work to improve the productivity performance of the horticultural crops.