Extending the Learning Community. Rural radio, social learning and farm productivity in Ghana

Extending the Learning Community. Rural radio, social learning and farm productivity in Ghana

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This paper examines the potential role of indigenous knowledge sharing through rural FM radio stations in Ghanaian agriculture. To identify social learning effects, we examine crop productivity trends and their association with participation in radio programs, and compare the strength of these associations before and after the emergence of rural radio. Our analysis shows stronger conditional correlations between participation intensity and noncash crop yields, which are consistent with the expectation that noncash crop farmers will more likely adjust farming practice as a result of social learning. The results suggest the potential for agricultural research to have an impact on effective farming by taking advantage of rural FM radio stations.

The report authored by Olumide Taiwo and Emmanuel Asmah is available online.

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