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- Daum, Thomas, 1990, et al.
(författare)
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Smartphone apps as a new method to collect data on smallholder farming systems in the digital age: A case study from Zambia
- 2018
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Ingår i: Computers and Electronics in Agriculture. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1699. ; 153, s. 144-150
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Across the developing world, the spread of mobile- and smartphones has led to a surge in mobile services for rural populations. While the potentials of mobile services to provide development opportunities for smallholder farmers are widely acknowledged, the potentials to use smartphone applications to collect data on smallholder farming systems are little explored. Yet, researchers studying farming systems need good quality data. So far, data on smallholder farming systems is typically collected using household surveys. Survey questions are prone to recall biases, however, which can be substantial. This paper assesses whether smartphone can be used to collect data in real time and thus increase the accuracy of socioeconomic and agronomic data collection. In this paper, we present a smartphone application that was developed for this purpose. We use the application to analyze the effects of agricultural mechanization on intra-household time-use and nutrition in rural Zambia. While the early, descriptive results shed interesting light on the effects of mechanization, the contribution of this study is primarily methodological. The study highlights the potentials of using smartphone applications to collect socioeconomic and agronomic data on smallholder-farming systems, potentially in real time. It also suggests ways to combine data recorded by respondents with built-in sensors of smartphones and external sensors and thus shows fascinating new pathways for researchers in the digital age.
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| 2. |
- Nyokabi, Simon, et al.
(författare)
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Informal value chain actors' knowledge and perceptions about zoonotic diseases and biosecurity in Kenya and the importance for food safety and public health.
- 2018
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Ingår i: Tropical Animal Health and Production. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0049-4747 .- 1573-7438. ; 50:3, s. 509-518
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Zoonotic diseases, transmitted from animals to humans, are a public health challenge in developing countries. Livestock value chain actors have an important role to play as the first line of defence in safeguarding public health. However, although the livelihood and economic impacts of zoonoses are widely known, adoption of biosecurity measures aimed at preventing zoonoses is low, particularly among actors in informal livestock value chains in low and middle-income countries. The main objective of this study was to investigate knowledge of zoonoses and adoption of biosecurity measures by livestock and milk value chain actors in Bura, Tana River County, in Kenya, where cattle, camels, sheep and goats are the main livestock kept. The study utilised a mixed methods approach, with a questionnaire survey administered to 154 value chain actors. Additional information was elicited through key informant interviews and participatory methods with relevant stakeholders outside the value chain. Our results found low levels of knowledge of zoonoses and low levels of adherence to food safety standards, with only 37% of milk traders knowing about brucellosis, in spite of a sero-prevalence of 9% in the small ruminants tested in this study, and no slaughterhouse worker knew about Q fever. Actors had little formal education (between 0 and 10%) and lacked training in food safety and biosecurity measures. Adoption of biosecurity measures by value chain actors was very low or non-existent, with only 11% of butchers wearing gloves. There was a gendered dimension, evidenced by markedly different participation in value chains and lower adoption rates and knowledge levels among female actors. Finally, cultural and religious practices were shown to play an important role in exposure and transmission of diseases, influencing perceptions and attitudes to risks and adoption of biosecurity measures.
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