1. Adapting Content to Local Context

Farmers often trust local (endogenous) information more than outside (exogenous) information. Although issues and problems can be illustrated with examples from elsewhere, farmers are unlikely to believe solutions, or be motivated to adopt them, without substantial discussion of locally specific examples. Therefore, information on food and agriculture should be focused on local agro-ecological conditions, weather and topography, as well as local cultural and economic aspects of production, marketing and processing. (Supporting communication between relevant local institutions may be more important than providing content from the Internet at local level, although the Internet and interactive television have been successfully used by farmers to discuss local problems with technical specialists who are far away). There is also enormous potential to enrich information in national and international information systems with specialized local knowledge. However, this requires both a detailed understanding of the local context and a sophisticated capacity to tailor information appropriately for both local and national or international audiences.