Participatory Digital Extension in Agriculture: A Study from Ghana

Abstract

The mobilization of scientific knowledge for agricultural application has long been supported by Radio broadcast in Africa. Digital radio and mobile phone integration are becoming linked with radio and physical extension services, known as Radio+. Farm Radio International provides radio extension services in Ghana and participated in a research attachment for this study. There is a need to improve the content and delivery of agricultural extension services. The study utilized Collaborative Inquiry interviews, a process involving semi-structured, in-depth and interactive discussions. Farm Radio International employees were the interview demographic. The interview data was analyzed using a deductive thematic coding process using NVivo. Issues with funding and capacity, participatory processes, and digital development consistently effect all sectors of agricultural extension in Ghana. Based on these results, the recommendation provided is the development of a digital extension application to serve as a mobile communications and information hub to farmers in rural Ghana.