TOPIC: At present, there is a knowledge gap between youth involved in agriculture, researchers, and agriculture extension workers, due to a decline in agro-based enterprises. This decline has led to youth unemployment, as well as an increase in crime and delinquency. Through this internship program, we aim to strengthen our youth involved in agriculture through innovative technologies in ICT, in order to bridge the gap between researchers and farmers. Interns will help test the effectiveness of social media as a low-cost agricultural extension tool for farmers, as social media can help young farmers:
- Seek information on farm operations.
- Clarify their doubts on plants/livestock disease systems.
- Provide access to market-related information.
PROJECT SUMMARY: The interns will get in contact with all institutional students and staff, as well as residents of Bambui, Bamenda, to learn about:
- Farming in the tropics.
- Learn about how changing climate conditions affect farmers.
- How they can counteract using Indigenous knowledge.
RESULTS: Interns will organize four virtual learning-cum-discussion groups, for four different agricultural enterprises. This will include benchmark surveys on indicators assessing their knowledge, attitude, information needs and productivity indicators, as well as, providing locally relevant information on the enterprises (supported by experts).
