Though Social Media applications can be effectively used by extension and advisory services, lack of awareness and skill about its use currently constrain its widespread use, argues Saravanan Raj and Suchiradipta Bhattacharjee in this blog.
Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services currently face several new and complex challenges. As articulated in the GFRAS Position Paper “The New Extensionist”, it needs new capacities to effectively deal with these challenges (Sulaiman and Davis, 2012). The increasing pluralism in extension funding and delivery demands new relationships, knowledge flows and partnerships among the wide range of EAS providers and other actors in the Agricultural Innovations Systems (Davis and Heemskerk, 2012). Social Media can play an important role in enhancing interactions and information flows among different actors involved in agricultural innovation and also enhance capacities of agricultural extension and advisory service providers. These are highlighted below drawing examples of its use in extension and advisory services which are primarily led by voluntary efforts of few individuals, groups and professional networks.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media refers to the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, consume and exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks. Kaplan & Haenlein (2009) define social media as “a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the “creation and exchange of user-generated content.”
Social media has changed the way we communicate, read, search, think, talk, watch, listen, and sometimes start a revolution – be it political and or social. Social media is more about sociology and psychology of communication than about technology. If Facebook was a country, it would be the second most populated in the world after China.
The fact that only young people and teenagers are most active in social media is turning into an urban myth. Irrespective of age, gender, religion, geography, people are entering in the world of social media. The major five social media websites that are gaining popularity worldwide are Facebook (1.32 billion+), YouTube (1 billion+ unique monthly users), Google+ (500 million+), LinkedIn (277 million+), and Twitter (230 million+).
SOCIAL MEDIA FOR AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION
Developed Countries
Developed countries have started adopting and harvesting the benefits of social media for agricultural extension for some time. For example, US Co-operative extension system and universities have adopted social media for connecting its clients especially through facebook, twitter, pinterst, google+ and youtube (http://www.extension.org/).
The AgChat (Twitter online discussion group by the AgChat Foundation) started in 2009 by a group of American farmers is widely used in USA, UK, Australia and Ireland for facilitating discussions of industry issues between farmers and agribusinesses has 50,200+ followers and 25,000 tweets (https://twitter.com/agchat).
Many US land grant universities developed social media guidelines for extension. Considerable number of articles written by the extension experts from the co-operative extension system and US universities emphasises the potential role of social media in extension. Some of the useful literatures in this field are as follows:
| Amy Harder, Hannah S. Carter, and Christy Chiarelli (2011). Maintaining Professionalism on Facebook: Tips for Extension Agents. WC107, Agricultural Education and Communication Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.
Mains, M., Jenkins-Howard, B., & Stephenson, L. (2013). Effective use of Facebook for Extension professionals. Journal of Extension, 51(5) Article 5TOT6. Available at: http://www.joe.org/joe/2013october/tt6.php Paul Hill (2014). “Connecting” with Your Clients [on Facebook], Journal of Extension, 52 (2) Article # 2COM2. Available at: http://www.joe.org/joe/2014april/pdf/JOE_v52_2comm2.pdf Lucas Clayton Fuess (2011). An analysis and recommendations of the use of social media within the Co- operative extension system: Opportunities, Risks and Barriers. Honors Thesis, Presented to the College of Agriculture, Life Sciences, Social Sciences of Cornell University, USA. http://dspace.library.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/23129/2/Fuess,%20Lucas%20- %20Research%20Honors%20Thesis.pdf Newbury, Elizabeth, Humphreys, Lee, and Fuess, Lucas (2014) Over the Hurdles: Barriers to Social Media Use in Extension Offices, Journal of Extension, Article number 5FEA1, 52(5). www.joe.org/joe/2014october/a1.php |
Australian Government’s Caring for Our Country program funded the project on “Social Media in Agriculture” to explore the use of social media (You Tube, Vimeo, Facebook, Twitter, RSS, etc.) as an extension tool (http://agex.org.au/project/social-media-project/). Research findings from Ontario, Canada indicated that (since 2008) individuals and organizations in the agri-food and rural sectors are including social media tools (Twitter, blog, facebook etc.) in their communication for innovation (Chowdhury and Hambley, 2013).
Developing Countries
Social media use has gained pace in the developing countries too, especially with Facebook. Some examples are given in the table below:
Table 1: Examples of use of Facebook in agriculture extension
| Name of Group/Community/ Pages | Description | Target users | Region | Followers/ Members* |
| Use by farmers | ||||
| Livestock Information and Marketing Centre (https://www.facebo ok.com/groups/Lives tock.TN/ | Members (farmers, extension personnel, scientists, market functionaries, consumers, local leaders, etc.) of this group share information related to livestock production, management, marketing, etc. A separate page is also on facebook related only to marketing of livestock.(https://www.facebook.com/Livestock.Market) | Agricultural stakeholders related to livestock | Tamil Nadu, India | 49,483 |
| Mkulima Young (Young Farmer) (https://www.facebook.com/mkulima.young) | This page is an information sharing platform for young farmers started Joseph Macharia, a young farmer himself. Mostly agro-advisory and market information are shared. | Young farmers | Kenya | 39,082 |
| Natural farming Development Centre (https://www.facebook.com/groups/Natu ralFarmingTN/). | Members of the group share information related to organic farming, permaculture, hydroponics, aquaponics, Natural Repellents, etc. | Farmers interested in organic and zero budget agriculture | Tamil Nadu, India | 16,268 |
| Turmeric Farmers’ Association of India (https://www.facebook.com/turmeric.far mers) | This page was created by turmeric farmers to stabilize price of turmeric in the market. Till date, the farmers connect through the page and share information to keep turmeric price stable and increase marketing opportunities of turmeric. | Turmeric farmers | India | 2,911 |
| National Ecological Producers Association (APNE) (https://www.facebook.com/anpe.peru) | Information related to ecological farming is shared through the page. | Farmers | Peru | 3,061 |
| Use by extension centres | ||||
| Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Namakkal (https://www.facebo ok.com/krishi.namak kal) | Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Namakkal communicates information related to farmers’ training programmes, availability of inputs etc. | Subject Matter Specialists of KVK, farmers, and other agricultural stakeholders | Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, India | 1464 |
| Use by extension professional networks | ||||
| Agricultural Extension in South Asia (AESA) (https://www.facebo ok.com/groups/428431183848161/) | Members post links to relevant publications on extension and advisory services, announcements of workshops and conferences, major policy decisions on extension, reports of meetings and workshops relevant to the broader theme of extension | Agricultural Extension stakeholders | South Asia | 7,550 |
| Global Forum for Rur al Advisory Services (GFRAS) https://www.facebook.com/groups/gfras/ | This page provides information related to advocacy and leadership on pluralistic, demand-driven rural advisory services. | RAS Professionals and others | Global | 1794 |
| Use by extension personnel | ||||
| Vivasayam Karkkalam | Mr. Madhu Balan, a public extension officer started facebook group to cater the information needs of famers in 2012. | Farmers and others those | Tamil Nadu, | 12118 |
| (Let us Learn Agriculture) (https://www.facebook.com/groups/mad hualan) | This group, exchange information on improved farm technologies, initiates discussion with other farmers and extension personnel, share information and photos on best practices by other farmers, government schemes, etc.
Question and answers, information on Terrace garden, hydrophonics are most discussed topics in this group. |
who are interested in agriculture | India |
*As on 7 December 2014
All these examples presented above are initiated by individuals, small groups and networks to disseminate information by and for agricultural stakeholders through social media. The number of followers/members of these pages, communities and groups are increasing everyday and many of them are professionals. Social media use in agriculture is not restricted to any specific age group but users belong to all age groups. While Twitter is a more preferred platform in developed countries, Facebook dominates in developing countries. While farmers in developed countries are active in social media to tell their stories and connect with their clients, in the developing countries, these efforts are scattered and there are only very few cases where extension professionals and farmers participate actively in social media.
CHALLENGES IN USING SOCIAL MEDIA FOR AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION IN THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
- Passive users: A review of the activities in most of the groups/communities/pages indicated in table 1 shows that most of the users are very passive and only very few are pro-active. While many visit the group pages, only few posts, share and discuss ideas and issues.
- Irrelevant information: Along with useful things, frequently there is irrelevant information also posted in the social media which increases the need of monitoring.
- Participation of agricultural stakeholders: Other than groups like Turmeric Farmers Association of India which is formed by farmers, other groups like AESA, YPARD, etc. are used actively only by specific type of users and participation of farmers is almost nil even though they are for all agricultural stakeholders.
- Infrastructure issues: Limited ICT infrastructure and internet connectivity is still a major issue in rural areas of most developing countries.
- Mindset of users: Many users still believe that social media is “not for serious business”. It is for just to share personal photos and general information.
THE WAY FORWARD
- Keeping relevant and adding value: Success of social media use in agricultural extension depends on ability of users in sharing relevant information with other users. Social media champions/ facilitators or active users should streamline the postings or discussions to make it more relevant to users and should add value to the users time spend in social media.
- Awareness creation and capacity building: Social media is still not considered as an important medium for “agvocacy” (advocating agriculture) by extension professionals, sometimes because of lack of awareness and sometimes because they stereotype their traditional clientele (Diem et al. 2011). Creating awareness among extension professionals and building their capacities to share more information through social media (Newbury et al 2014) can address some of these issues.
- Sensible use and institutionalising social media: Sensible use of social media and institutionalising the culture of integrated use of media including social media in day to day activities are important to sustaining momentum and also for better sharing and networking.
- Encouraging self publication and also collective contribution: Social media platforms facilitate self Also, contribution of agricultural stakeholders from across the globe creates a knowledge pool accessible to many, thus making open access to knowledge and information on agriculture.
- Choosing suitable mix of social media and appropriate content: There are different type of social media with different set of active users and followers. To reach large number of extension stakeholders with diverse content, it is advisable to use suitable mix of social media based on the type and form of the content.
- Satisfying heterogeneous users: Participants engaged or interested in agricultural extension come from diverse backgrounds and working atmosphere and they have different needs and interest. Hence, the content should be diverse.
- Changing institutional culture to use social media: Extension organisations should adopt the “social media policy guidelines” for use by extension professionals and encourage the stakeholders to use the social media for interaction and obtaining feedback.
REFERENCES
Andres, Dustin & Woodard, Josh (2013). Social media handbook for agricultural development practitioners. Publication of the FACET project implemented by fhi360 of the USAID. https://communities.usaidallnet.gov/ictforag/node/427.
Kaplan & Haenlein. (2009). Harnessing social media in agriculture. Report for New Zealand Nuffield Scholarship Fund. http://www.nuffield.org.nz/uploads/media/S_Stanley_2013_Final_Report.pdf
Chowdhury, A., & Hambly Odame, H. (2013). Social Media for Enhancing Innovation in Agri-food and Rural Development: Current Dynamics in Ontario, Canada. In W. Ashton & A. S. Carson [Eds.], The Journal of Rural and Community Development, 8(2), 97-119. Available at: www.jrcd.ca
Diem, K.G., Hino, J., Martin, D. and Meisenbach, T. (2011). Is extension ready to adopt technology for delivering programs and reaching new audiences? Journal of Extension, Article number FEA1, 49(6). www.joe.org/joe/2011december/a1.php
Sulaiman R S and Davis K. (2012). The New Extensionist: Roles, strategies and capacities to strengthen extension and advisory services. Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services, November, 2012. www.g- fras.org/en/gfras/157-the-new-extensionist.html
Davis, K. and Heemskerk, W. (2012). Investment in extension and advisory services as part of agricultural innovation systems. Module 3 of Agricultural Innovation Systems: An investment sourcebook. Washington, DC: The World Bank. elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/pdf/10.1596/978-0-8213-8684-2
Newbury, Elizabeth, Humphreys, Lee, and Fuess, Lucas (2014) Over the Hurdles: Barriers to Social Media Use in Extension Offices, Journal of Extension, Article number 5FEA1, 52(5). www.joe.org/joe/2014october/a1.php
Dr. R. Saravanan is an Associate Professor (Extension Education and Rural Sociology), College of Horticulture and Forestry, Central Agricultural University (CAU), Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh, India. Email: saravananraj@hotmail.com
Ms. Suchiradipta Bhattacharjee is a Ph.D Scholar in Agricultural Extension in the School of Social Sciences, College of Post Graduate Studies, Central Agricultural University (CAU), Umiam (Barapani), Meghalaya, India. Email: suchiradipta.cau@gmail.com
Nice concept about use of social media in Agricultural extension. Due to advancement of technology and increase access of mobile and internet with rural people government and other stakeholders should exploit the importance of social media in information dissimination. Here in Nepal , some agriculture application like SMART KRISHI and ICT for agriculture are gaining polularity these days.
Good effort A nice compilation of extension applications of social media. Though we Indians are lagging behind in harnessing power of internet, this paper highlights few successful FB applications which could make a big difference in the future. As this blog paper focus on documenting few successful experiences, other capabilities of FB or twitter to redefine human interaction were left out. The FB page can help us to see how far our information has reached in a time-bound manner. It is a strong indicator of impact of the information presented in each page. The likes, comments and shares of the users can also be used as proxies to assess the impact of each page. The poll feature of FB can help to seek users opinion on a particular aspect; the event feature will help to reach farmers/ users personally by extending greeting on birthdays, inviting for an extension event etc. Doodle is one of the scheduling tool which can help in planning extension programs esp for time management. We can integrate webpages with FB or twitter accounts of any user and post updates. The crowdfunding or fund raising websites like GOFUNDME could be used to generate funds for organizing events (A very popular method in Western countries which is rarely used in India). The research on FB or twiiter has grown to greater heights as it is seen as manifestation of ones self or creating image of oneself in the virtual world. Several research papers on group cohesion in the virtual world, disclosure and self-identify, impact of FB use on personality, effectiveness of social media use on job productivity etc were published from Western countries. In agricultural filed, we could see viral post about a seedless mango variety that rocked twitter a couple of months ago. This viral post technique can be effectively used to disseminate must do practices to farmers like climate predictions etc. Social media offer endless capabilities, but is our duty to understand it first before using it for extension applications.
simple..but well written. Congrats. As the passes, hope that many extension organisations will develop applications around social media. When we start using social media with definite purpose, well defined processes, based on the real needs we can be hopeful that social media will become an extension method. Whats-app could be effectively used for leveraging farmer-farmer or extesionist-extensionist communication…in a problem solving mode. But the question is – can we weave patterns from different experiences, so that social media is used in extension as a strategy