Building Pathways out of Rural Poverty through Investments in Agricultural Information Systems (WorldAgInfo Final Report, complete)

Abstract

This report summarizes the results of activities undertaken as part of the 21st Century Agricultural Education and Information Systems Project (WorldAgInfo), May to December 2007, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented by A.R. Mann Library, Cornell University. Project activities included consultations with staff of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; site visits to South Asia and Africa by members of the project's Design Team; two international workshops convened in Ithaca, New York, and Livingstone, Zambia, to bring together policy makers, scholars, instructional technology and curriculum specialists, and private sector representatives; literature reviews on topics relevant to smallholder agriculture in Africa and South Asia; and smallholder interviews conducted on site in India, Sri Lanka, Mali and Zambia by agriculture undergraduate and graduate students. The report offers a wealth of ideas for innovations in agricultural education and information systems, pulling together the creative thinking of the many people who participated in the project, which included members from the fields of agriculture, information technology, and education.