PROSPERITY THROUGH
AGRICULTURAL COMMUNICATION
AND SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT MODELS
By
Ganesh Prasad Pokhariyal,
School of Mathematics, University of Nairobi, P.O.Box
30197,Nairobi, Kenya.
Email: pokhariyal@uonbi.ac.ke
Abstract:
• This paper describes various modes of
communication and then suggests a
communication models that could bring
prosperity to the farming communities.
• Marketing mechanisms operational in various
countries and the notion of sustainable
development are introduced.
• Agriculture in selected developing countries
and its potential is mentioned.
Cont
• The general model for sustainable
development and stratified agricultural and
development integrated model are developed.
• Recommendations to accomplish sustainable
development through these models are made,
which will assist in achieving the desired
prosperity of the nations.
Agricultural Communication
• sharing and exchanging information regarding:
growing, harvesting and marketing of variety
of agricultural products.
• Agricultural stake holders :farmers, farm
laborers, sellers of seeds, fertilizers and grown
products, transporters, warehouse owners,
insurance companies and consumers
Cont
• Non-agricultural stake holders include:
industries; local, state and central government
organizations; international bodies and nongovernmental organizations (NGO).
• Agricultural extension: feed, fiber, food,
alternative energy resources, natural resource
management, rural development as well as
local, regional, national and international
economy.
Nonhuman communication
• Communication activities are not restricted to
human beings only.
• animals and plants also communicate quite
effectively.
• plant roots communicate in parallel with rhizome
bacteria, with fungi and with insects in the soil.
• These parallel sign-mediated interactions are
governed by syntactic, pragmatic and semantic
rules
Communication Models
• The first major model was given by Shannon
and Weaver (1949) for Bell Labs
• The original model was designed to embed
the functioning of radio and telephone
technologies and consisted of primary parts:
sender, channel and receiver.
Cont
• Problems of the theory
• Technical: which is due to accuracy of message
transmission.
• Semantic :which is due to the precision of meaning
being conveyed.
• Effectiveness: dealing with how effectively does the
received meaning affect behavior.
• There is likelihood of the following types of
communication noises being involved in using this
theory:
• Environmental; physiological – impairment; semantic;
syntactical; organizational; cultural and psychological.
Cont
• Transactional model of communication
Developed by Barnlund (2008), has the basic
premise that individuals are simultaneously
engaging in sending and receiving the
messages.
Agricultural marketing
• Moving of agricultural products from the farms to the
consumers.
• interconnected activities involved include:
 planning production
 growing and harvesting
 grading; packing
 transport
 storage
 agricultural,
 dairy, poultry and meat processing;
 distribution
 advertising and sales.
Cont
• Organizations in various countries that assist farmers
• U.S : Agricultural Marketing Services
(AMS)
• S.A : National Agricultural Marketing Council
(NAMC)
• India: National Institute of Agricultural Marketing
(NIAM)
• Kenya:





National Cereal and Produce Board,
Sisal Board,
Tea Board,
Pyrethrum Board, Cotton Board,
Kenya Dairy Board and Kenya Meat Commission
Modern communication
• Modern communication technologies open up
the possibilities for market information
services to improve information delivery.
cell phones-SMS,
FM radio stations,
Internet-websites of various markets.
Sustainable Development
• United Nation released the Brundtland report in 1987
by defining, “sustainable development is
development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs”.
• The concept of sustainable development is often
broken out into three constituent parts:
 environmental sustainability,
 economic sustainability and
 sociopolitical sustainability.
• A Venn diagram has been drawn to represent the
intersection between these three parts (Barbier, 1987).
Environmental sustainability
• Requires that human activity only uses
nature’s resources at a rate at which they can
be replenished naturally.
• Long term result of environmental
degradation is the inability to sustain human
life.
• Such degradation on a global scale could imply
extinction for humanity.
Economic sustainability
• Involves using the assorted assets of the unit
effectively to allow it to continue functioning
in a profitable manner over time and is
concerned with seeking durable growth
solutions.
• Economic sustainability is about meeting
diverse needs as well as providing livelihood
and services to communities.
Social-political sustainability
• Is concerned with engagement, modification
and advancement of institutional
mechanisms.
• It seeks pathways to durable social
enrichment and development through vibrant
and healthy political processes of society.
Agriculture in India,Kenya,Uganda and
Tanzania
Country
Land(sqkm)
Population
Workers in
agriculture
%
G.D.P
Highest
contribution produced
commodity
India
2,973,190
1.21 B
65-70
16.6
Fruits,
Vegetables,
millet
Kenya
587,000
35 M
80
29
Pyrethrum
Uganda
241,038
35.9 M
90
Even with
service
sector
Tanzania
945,087
46.9 M
80
˜50
Cloves
Problem area for agriculture
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Slow growth:
current agricultural practices.
inadequate irrigation system
Lack of extension services
Poor road network.
Excessive regulations
Rudimentary market infrastructure
Global warming
Inability of government to implement various
schemes.
Aim of these countries
• Achieving prosperity through:
End of endemic poverty and reduction of
inequality.
Progress around social transition.
Further political consolidation.
Economic integration and regional geopolitical
engagement.
Conceptual Framework
• The study in such areas is usually
accomplished through the conceptual
framework by identifying:
 independent variables,
moderating variables,
intervening variables and
dependent variable (with its determinants).
GENERAL MODEL FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
• The general model for sustainable
development is given by the following
multiple regression equation:
• Y= α0 + α1 X1 +α2 X2 + α3 X3 + α4 X4 + α5 X5 + α6
X6 + α7 X7 + α8 X8 + α9 X9 +
α10 X10 + α11 X11 + α12 X12 + α13 X13 + α14 X14
+ α15 X15 + € ,
• where € denotes the error term.
Model for India and East African
Countries
• India and East Africa have cultural diversity and as
a consequence of this, their agriculture has fairly
high degree of variability in terms of agroecological zones, inputs, the markets as well as
needs.
• This could be best accomplished through a
stratified agricultural and development integrated
model.
• The model consists of three interconnected
systems: farm, market and society.
• Farm system:consists of land (its quality and agro-ecological zone);
seed quality and its suitability; chosen crop and its maturity
duration; irrigation facilities; manpower and machinery;
communication facilities in the farm; electricity and other energy
sources and weather forecast facility.
• Market system:consists of proximity to market; road and other
transportation network; demand and supply mechanism; economic
status of people in and around the market; communication
mechanism at the market and ethical practices followed in the
market.
• Society system:consists of people’s attitude (their desire and
participation in development activities); environment for
sustainable development; level and quality of education of people;
short term and long term development plans; government and
private support for sustainable development; suitable infrastructure
and ethical behavior of people.
DISCUSSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
• The general model can be adequately applied to
the countries, where agricultural communication
systems are fairly well established and people
constitute reasonably good homogenous society.
• Excessive materialist thinking, attitude of selfinterest and inflated ego prominently prevalent in
society in India and the selected East African
countries (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania), hamper
efforts for sustainable development.
Cont
• Mechanism of performance measurement for
all persons involved would motivate people to
work efficiently in achieving the set targets.
• In future, communication is going to
use”Cloud-based system” and “Data farms”
for efficiency and bigger volumes.
References
• Baluska F; Marcuso, Stefano & Volkmann, Dieter
(2006): Communication in plants: neuronal aspects of
plant life; Taylor & Francis US, p 19 ISBN 3-540-28475-3
“The emergence of plant neurobiology as the most
recent area of plant sciences”.
• Shannon, C.E. & Weaver, W (1949): Mathematical
theory of communication, Urbana Illinois; University of
Illinois Press.
• Barnlund, D.C. (2008): A transactional model of
communication. In C.D. Mortensen (Eds.);
communication theory (2nded., pp47-57), New
Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction.
• United Nations (1987): “Repot of the world commission on
environment and development” General Assembly Resolution
42/187, 11th December, 1987.
• Barbier, E. (1987): The concept of sustainable economic
development. Environmental conservation, 14(2); 101-110.
• FAO STAT, 2010 data. Faostat.fao.org; (Wikipedia: retrieved on May
1, 2012)
• Pokhariyal, Ganesh P (2007): Development strategies for subSaharan Africa; International Jour. On world peace, vol XXIV No.1,
83-102.
• United States department of agriculture (October, 2011): Livestock
and Poultry: World markets & trade”.
• Handbook of Statistics on Indian Economy
(2011): Reserve Bank of India.
• Kibet, Caleb (2011): Major challenges facing
Kenyan agriculture sector: Home blogs
• United Nations (2009) Faostat: “Top
production, in India, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania.
• World Bank (2008): India, Kenya, Uganda and
Tanzania, country overviews.
• Wikipedia: Retrieved on September 1, 2014.
• Thank you for listening