Agricultural Information Needs and Resources of Smallholder Sugarcane Farmers in Swaziland
The sugar industry is the dominant agricultural sector in Swaziland’s economy, contributing significantly to the gross domestic product. Provision of relevant and timely information to smallholder sugarcane farmers is crucial for them to have a competitive footing with large-scale counterparts and r...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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De Gruyter
2024-06-01
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| Series: | Libri |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/libri-2022-0062 |
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| author | Dlamini Nkosinathi M. Ngulube Patrick |
| author_facet | Dlamini Nkosinathi M. Ngulube Patrick |
| author_sort | Dlamini Nkosinathi M. |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The sugar industry is the dominant agricultural sector in Swaziland’s economy, contributing significantly to the gross domestic product. Provision of relevant and timely information to smallholder sugarcane farmers is crucial for them to have a competitive footing with large-scale counterparts and reduce poverty. However, there is limited literature on the information needs and the kind of information communication resources that could make the dissemination of information to farmers efficient and effective. This study thus aims to investigate the information needs and resources of smallholder sugarcane farmers in Swaziland to inform the provision of information services in the sugar industry. It was underpinned by a positivist paradigm and used the survey research method complemented by methodological triangulation to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Data was collected using survey questionnaires and face-to-face interviews, with 168 responses and six interviews conducted. The findings revealed that 71 % of information needs of farmers were primarily in legislative compliance, sugarcane crop husbandry, markets and transport, and financial advice information, however, there were no statistically significant differences between the three mill groups in information needs. The smallholder sugarcane farmers also mostly obtained agricultural information through extension officers, farmer groups, and mobile phones, indicating that required information was mainly accessed through face-to-face interactions. The empirical findings of the study have implications for practice, policy, and theory with respect to guiding the implementation of agricultural information services by information providers in the context of rural farmers in developing countries. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7f8d1d91684b455b911d068f4e74a82b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0024-2667 1865-8423 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-06-01 |
| publisher | De Gruyter |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Libri |
| spelling | doaj-art-7f8d1d91684b455b911d068f4e74a82b2024-11-20T15:35:09ZengDe GruyterLibri0024-26671865-84232024-06-0174213314810.1515/libri-2022-0062Agricultural Information Needs and Resources of Smallholder Sugarcane Farmers in SwazilandDlamini Nkosinathi M.0Ngulube Patrick1108044University of Eswatini, Kwaluseni, EswatiniUniversity of South Africa, Pretoria, South AfricaThe sugar industry is the dominant agricultural sector in Swaziland’s economy, contributing significantly to the gross domestic product. Provision of relevant and timely information to smallholder sugarcane farmers is crucial for them to have a competitive footing with large-scale counterparts and reduce poverty. However, there is limited literature on the information needs and the kind of information communication resources that could make the dissemination of information to farmers efficient and effective. This study thus aims to investigate the information needs and resources of smallholder sugarcane farmers in Swaziland to inform the provision of information services in the sugar industry. It was underpinned by a positivist paradigm and used the survey research method complemented by methodological triangulation to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Data was collected using survey questionnaires and face-to-face interviews, with 168 responses and six interviews conducted. The findings revealed that 71 % of information needs of farmers were primarily in legislative compliance, sugarcane crop husbandry, markets and transport, and financial advice information, however, there were no statistically significant differences between the three mill groups in information needs. The smallholder sugarcane farmers also mostly obtained agricultural information through extension officers, farmer groups, and mobile phones, indicating that required information was mainly accessed through face-to-face interactions. The empirical findings of the study have implications for practice, policy, and theory with respect to guiding the implementation of agricultural information services by information providers in the context of rural farmers in developing countries.https://doi.org/10.1515/libri-2022-0062developing countriesinformation needsinformation resourcessmallholder farmerssugarcane farmersswaziland |
| spellingShingle | Dlamini Nkosinathi M. Ngulube Patrick Agricultural Information Needs and Resources of Smallholder Sugarcane Farmers in Swaziland Libri developing countries information needs information resources smallholder farmers sugarcane farmers swaziland |
| title | Agricultural Information Needs and Resources of Smallholder Sugarcane Farmers in Swaziland |
| title_full | Agricultural Information Needs and Resources of Smallholder Sugarcane Farmers in Swaziland |
| title_fullStr | Agricultural Information Needs and Resources of Smallholder Sugarcane Farmers in Swaziland |
| title_full_unstemmed | Agricultural Information Needs and Resources of Smallholder Sugarcane Farmers in Swaziland |
| title_short | Agricultural Information Needs and Resources of Smallholder Sugarcane Farmers in Swaziland |
| title_sort | agricultural information needs and resources of smallholder sugarcane farmers in swaziland |
| topic | developing countries information needs information resources smallholder farmers sugarcane farmers swaziland |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/libri-2022-0062 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT dlamininkosinathim agriculturalinformationneedsandresourcesofsmallholdersugarcanefarmersinswaziland AT ngulubepatrick agriculturalinformationneedsandresourcesofsmallholdersugarcanefarmersinswaziland |