Transfer of horticultural and agricultural information in Highland Guatemala

For smallholder farmers in developing countries, information on weather, markets, pest and disease control and agricultural techniques is key to improving productivity and incomes.
However, infrastructure and budget constraints often limit the ability of extension agents to reach farmers in remote areas.
This is the case in Guatemala, where current estimates suggest that extension agents only reach 50% of municipalities.
However, the rapid spread of information and communication techn­ologies (ICTs) like mobile phones and radios provides a novel opportunity for purveyors of agricultural information, such as extension agents, input suppliers and NGOs, to reach rural areas quickly, easily, and cheaply.
Prospects are particularly bright in Guatemala, which has relatively good telecommunications infrastructure and high rates of mobile phone use, as well as a network of locally run community radio stations.
This study examines how farmers in the Western Highlands of Guatemala obtain agricultural information, which methods of information transfer are most trusted and effective, and the potential of ICTs, particularly radio, to improve the spread of agri­cultural information from extension agents and NGOs to farmers in the rural highlands.

XXIX International Horticultural Congress on Horticulture: Sustaining Lives, Livelihoods and Landscapes (IHC2014): Plenary Sessions of IHC2014 and VII International Symposium on Education, Research Training and Consultancy

K.J. Barale, A. Crump, E.J. Mitcham, E.E. Peach-Fine, M.A. Bell

extension, input suppliers, ICTs, information sources, radio

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2016.1126.9