Students and faculty of the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development participated and led discussions at several international conferences in July, including the International Farming System Association in  (Italy), the Canadian Communication Association (Montreal), and the International Association for Media and Communication Research (Christchurch).

The paper, “The Influence of Information Disorder on Climate Change Adaptation Practices of Farmers in Lagos State, Nigeria,” by Edet et al., was presented at IFSA.  The paper focused on how socioeconomic factors, such as age, gender, and experience, influenced agri-food misinformation and farmers' decision-making regarding climate change adaptation. The paper emphasized the practical implications of spreading unverified information. It proposed targeted interventions, including financial assistance and capacity-building programs, to address information disorder, promote resilience, and support sustainable farming systems.

Photo: Uduak Edet in Ph.D. Brainstorming, Trajectory and Group Discussion.

As part of the IFSA conference, Uduak Edet participated in a three-day intensive PhD summer school titled Systems Thinking in Practice (STiP). She joined twenty-two other PhD students from Europe, Australia, and North America to explore the application of systems thinking to complex research problems. Students focused on identifying strategies to address social justice, environmental sustainability, and economic empowerment related to production, distribution, and consumption in contemporary farming systems. The program included in-depth discussions, brainstorming sessions, a farm visit, and a final group presentation.

The paper entitled “Unravelling the Nuances of Public Discourse: A Social Network and Thematic Analysis of YouTube Comments Amidst the Dutch Farmers’ Protests” by Kabir et al., was presented in CCA.

Photo: Dr. Khondokar Kabir presenting at CCA.

The paper analyzed key insights from YouTube video comments about the 2022 Dutch farmers’ protests. It demonstrated how social and online media debates on controversial issues can lead to greater polarization and potentially promote the spread of misinformation. It emphasized the significant role of opinion leaders in initiating and guiding these discussions, which may have increased the likelihood of misinformation. The findings were linked to the work of other conference presentations that identified subtle, modern tactics used by various actors to disseminate misinformation online.

In CCA, a roundtable discussion focused on the new book Digital Communication for Agricultural and Rural Development Participatory Practices in a Post-COVID Age, edited by Ataharul Chowdhury and Gordon Gow. The book gathered insights into mediated participation (e.g., social media and AI-powered) and takes a fresh and forward-looking perspective on post-COVID. The book provides several new perspectives, including agri-food misinformation, alternative social media, and digital and data-mediated participation. The discussion highlighted that the book provides several lessons for the future of participatory development in communication for development processes, especially in agricultural and rural development

In IAMCR, Dr. Chowdhury presented a book chapter that discussed why and how communication practitioners and scholars deal with information disorder in the agri-food context, especially focusing on the power, profit, and propaganda framework. He also chaired a session of the Rural Communication working group of the IAMCR.

Photo:  PhD student gathered outside.  Photo credit: Uduak Edet.