Open AccessAgricultural extension and advisory services strategies during COVID‐19 lockdown
Author(s) -
BaffoeBonnie Anthony,
Martin David Tanner,
Mrema Frank
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
agricultural and environmental letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.681
H-Index - 12
ISSN - 2471-9625
DOI - 10.1002/ael2.20056
Subject(s) - agricultural extension , agriculture , covid-19 , business , extension (predicate logic) , service (business) , agricultural communication , marketing , geography , computer science , medicine , disease , archaeology , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , programming language
The COVID‐19 lockdown policies that began in 2020 caused an unprecedented shock to developing countries’ agricultural activities, especially those in sub‐Saharan Africa and South Asia. To reduce some of the impacts of COVID‐19 events, agricultural extension and advisory personnel created an avenue to assist farmers in these developing countries. However, since COVID‐19 protocols restricted public gatherings and close contact activities, agricultural extension activities had to be performed using unconventional ways such as mobile phones, radio, and television. This paper highlights some of the challenges agricultural extension and advisory service personnel encountered using these unconventional means of communication for their activities. We also present some solutions to these challenges that can enable policymakers to enhance agricultural extension activities performed unconventionally.