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Creating the Livestock Guru: ICTs to enhance livestock-related knowledge among poor households in Orissa, India

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Abstract

Introduction

The following paper details the creation and dissemination of a multi-media learning program for poor livestock keepers in Orissa, India: the Livestock Guru.

Methods

To devise the learning content, interviews were held with 240 poor livestock-keeping households in four districts in Orissa State. Methods for measuring user demand and assessing disease priorities are detailed in addition to a description of the software content, design, and dissemination strategy. The software was based on situated learning theory. Following this approach, the Livestock Guru was created to be contextually specific to the learning environment of the users. Further, to support a demand-led paradigm, the software was designed to be fully inter-active, where users have a choice over the learning material on offer.

Conclusions

The results demonstrate that appropriately designed information and communication technologies can help alleviate barriers to knowledge acquisition by poor livestock keepers at the community level. As such, the overall aim of the paper is to enable the software to be replicated in other contexts.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Ms Sonali Patnaik (Arupa Mission Research Foundation, Bhupaneswar, Orissa) and Mr James McGrane (Chief Technical Advisor, FAO, Indonesia) for their invaluable guidance and assistance in the launching of the Livestock Guru in Orissa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Livestock Development Group, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, P. O. Box 237, RG6 6AL, Reading, UK

    Yibo Lin & Claire Heffernan

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  1. Yibo Lin
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  2. Claire Heffernan
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Correspondence to Claire Heffernan.

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Lin, Y., Heffernan, C. Creating the Livestock Guru: ICTs to enhance livestock-related knowledge among poor households in Orissa, India. Trop Anim Health Prod 42, 1353–1361 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-010-9592-4

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