The purpose of this study was to synthesize emergent agricultural development reports related to post-conflict needs assessments in eight southern Iraqi provinces. This study is an empirical case study of Post Conflict Agricultural Development Assessments and Strategies in Eight Southern Iraqi Provinces. The objective is a systems approach using qualitative and quantitative methods to improve Iraqi agricultural practice, extension and training, community development, security, and policies for governance. The design called for a case study and a description of pre-deployment activities of a military-based civilian assessment team, initial organization and adjustments, and techniques for internal and external communication. Particular attention was given to agricultural specialties, crosscutting constructs, and data collection and analysis protocols in eight provinces in Iraq. Three objectives were identified to achieve the purpose of this study. The first objective was to identify emergent agricultural development themes from each of the eight Iraqi provinces. The second objective was to identify emergent agricultural development trends from each of the eight Iraqi provinces. A third objective was to provide relevant case documentation to assist in future agricultural development/post conflict development efforts. It was found that Iraqi agricultural production lags due to many factors, including counter productive government policies that undermine productivity, distort local economies, and confound security issues and competition via subsidized credit and agricultural inputs. Outdated technology and undertrained producers lacking knowledge of production related areas such as plant and animal genetics, fertilizers, irrigation and drainage systems and farm equipment. Inadequate and unstable electricity availability and provision, degradation of irrigation-infrastructure and management systems, a complete lack of or insufficient access to credit and private capital as well as inadequate market development and network infrastructure have all taken their toll on evolution and improvement of agricultural growth in southern Iraq. It may be that the largest threat to the future of Iraq is not violence, but the diminishing hope of young people caused by their inability to obtain vocational based skills training and the lack of jobs that match such skills. A pervasive lack of job opportunities or perceived lack of job availability may encourage continued civil unrest and possibly continue the insurgency. In order to address this issue, an aggressive youth development focus can make a positive impact in the current society. A majority of youth without useful skills are forced to abandon the farm and move to cities or to pursue other means of earning income in rural areas.

While our schools across the United States evidently are witnessing an influx of students from diverse backgrounds, the need to address the issue of diversity among public school teachers is critical for inclusive and equitable schools. The purpose of this study was to explore and analyze Texas secondary agricultural education teachers' attitudes toward diversity inclusion in Texas secondary agricultural education programs. Using a web-based questionnaire, the researcher employed a nonproportional stratified random sampling technique, and 232 secondary agricultural education teachers participated in the study. Descriptive statistics were used for reporting the demographic and personal characteristics of respondents. Mean scores were used to assess teachers' perceptions of the benefits of diversity inclusion, perceptions of the barriers of diversity inclusion, and perceptions of proposed solutions to increase diversity inclusion in Texas secondary agricultural education programs. The sample consisted of 170 males and 45 females. The ethnic distribution of the sample was 90.5% White/European American, 6.2% Hispanic/Latino American, 1.9% Native American, 0.9% African American, and 0.5% Asian American. Respondents agreed that secondary agricultural education programs can benefit students of color and students with disabilities. Respondents also agreed that some of the barriers that prevent diversity inclusion in agricultural education include the lack of information about agricultural education, negative parental attitudes about agricultural education, and not being accepted by peers. Respondents indicated that the following is needed for all students to achieve in school: (a) educators, parents, and policymakers must develop strategies to address the different learning styles of all students; (b) agricultural educators should encourage and strive to increase students? of color membership in FFA; (c) teachers should become familiar with students of color represented in their classrooms in order to promote an atmosphere of acceptance and cooperation; and (d) agricultural educators should increase recruitment efforts to promote diversity inclusion must occur. The study also indicated that statistically significant differences in means scores existed based upon certain personal characteristics in regards to the Benefits, Barriers, and Solutions scales.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2004. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xiii, 134 p.; also includes grapics. Includes abstract and vita. Advisor: Jo Jones, Dept. of Agricultural Education. Includes bibliographical references (p. 122-134).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 132 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 112-118).

<p> This ethnography explores the practices and activities of an experiential learning program in sustainable agriculture, the Student Experimental Farm at the University of California, Davis, from a community development and social justice perspective. We need more dialogue about the work to imagine and live new futures&mdash;ways in which human beings might rectify the social and environmental contradictions created by structural and historical injustices in their own lives and organizations. We need more records of the activities and approaches of programs attempting to do the work of changing a system inside and out&mdash;the subversive work of peaceful and self-determined adaptation to a more just way of working with ourselves, other people and nature. And importantly, we need more records of programs working in public view; not just in the oft-detached realms of liberal counterculture, though these spaces can be creatively rejuvenating, but in the institutions of education and politics&mdash;land grant universities in particular&mdash;that still carry much weight in the agricultural field, to which many practitioners are connected, and which most still consult as a major resource for guidance and knowledge. </p><p> This research is framed by three broad relationships for inquiry: the individual&rsquo;s relationship to oneself in the learning process, social relationships between members of a learning community, and institutional relationships that frame activity. In discussion I address issues of the opportunity for critical transformation in experiential learning, meaning and motivation for individuals in the learning process, and emphasize the value of peer relationships and a broader learning community for successful results. I present various social tensions between responding to the needs of both novice and advanced learners; between education and production in the student farm setting; and in socio-spatial identity and meanings. I argue for building communities of inquiry in sustainable agriculture education more proactively, with the goal of acknowledging cultural difference and working for social equity from the inside out. </p><p> Additionally, I discuss institutional relationships and structures at the Student Farm and in the undergraduate major in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems (SA&amp;F) staff, educators and students have developed to adapt existing institutional structures for more shared power in decision-making and progressive learning aims. I offer research findings, discussion and recommendations as resources that can be consulted by educators, student farmers, and those interested in developing contextualized learning programs for the purposes of social justice, sustainability, and community development.</p>

Arizona Cooperative Extension strives to address community issues and needs through a research based educational process. The specific foci of the Extension agent gradually changed over time. Today's Arizona Extension agents should have good communication skills as they work to identify community resources, form community partnerships, and develop educational materials, among other things. The study sought to describe how Arizona Extension agents utilize nine communication technologies: cell phones, Smartphones, tablet computers, wikis, blogs, podcasts, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Greater than half of the participants utilized each mobile device included in the study (cell phones, Smartphones, and tablet computers). Facebook was a widely used social media tool. The researcher suggests that funding and professional development may play key roles in Arizona Extension agent technology adoption. Communication technology use should be considered within Cooperative Extension work in order to help agents better serve the clientele.

This item was digitized as part of the Million Books Project led by Carnegie Mellon University and supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Cornell University coordinated the participation of land-grant and agricultural libraries in providing historical agricultural information for the digitization project; the University of Arizona Libraries, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the Office of Arid Lands Studies collaborated in the selection and provision of material for the digitization project.

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