» MekongInfo

Document Details

Communication practices of farmers in the Namo District, Laos: Obstacles and Opportunities for Communication of Technical Information.

This master?s thesis is a Minor Field Study in Technical Communication, granted by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and carried out at the department of Building Economics and Management at Chalmers University of Technology, G?teborg, Sweden. The study is conducted under the supervision of the Lao-Swedish Upland Agriculture and Forestry Research Programme (LSUAFRP), which is a partnership between the National Agriculture and Forestry Resea rch Institute (NAFRI) in Laos and Sida. . The purpose of the study is to investigate how farmers in the Namo District, Laos, obtain, communicate and relate to new agriculture and forestry information and also to examine some aspects of how traders obtain and communicate this information. Based on the results, conclusions are drawn and recommendations are given. A further aim of the report is to reflect over the methodology and suggest improvements. . The study is a case study carried out during two months in Laos. The data was mainly collected through observations and qualitative interviews with farmers and traders. The interviews were simultaneously interpreted in one, or when necessary, two steps. The results indicate that traders, neighbours and family members constitute the farmers? most frequently used sources of information and that village meetings, trainings and demonstrations, study tours and face-to-face discussions constitute commonly used channels for transfer of information. The farmers are interested in receiving new agriculture and forestry information and they experiment with and compare the information. Looking at the gender aspect of communication, women seem to have less knowledge of the Lao language and less access to information disseminated at village meetings than men. The study also reveals that traders are interested in receiving more technical information. The recommendations include changing the time of the village meeting, increasing the amount of information in local language and developing the information exchange with traders. . The study shows that when an interview requires translation it is important that all interpreters involved are well aware of the purpose of the study and intention of the questions. It is also useful for the researcher to have notions in the language and the culture of the interviewee. The recommendations include doing a pilot study and carrying out preparatory discussions with the interpreter.

Uploaded on: Mar 2008
File size: 1.2 MB - Language: English
Keyword(s): Information/Communication , Information/Knowledge Management
Category: Utilities/Communications

Download