Social Relations and Knowledge Sharing in the Virtual Community of Practice among Farmers in Brebes District, Central Java, Indonesia

Due to the aggregation of common interests and concerns, digital information and communication technology (ICT) applications used by farmers can build virtual communities of practice (VCoP). This study aims to identify farmers’ level of access to digital ICT applications, social capital (SC), social power relations (SPR), and knowledge sharing (KS) in the VCoP. It will also examine the causal relationship between exogenous and endogenous constructs. This study involved the participation of 221 farmers as smartphone users in Brebes District, Central Java Province, Indonesia. It used survey methods with questionnaire instruments and multistage clustered random sampling techniques. It assessed causal relationship models between constructs using SmartPLS 3 software. The study identified disparities in the level of access to digital ICT applications. The farmers who perceived SC and SPR at moderate and high levels were more than 75 per cent and 85 per cent, consecutively. Other farmers perceived KS in VCoP at low levels (average 29 percent) and moderate levels (average 48 per cent). Path analysis shows that concerning access to digital ICT applications, the effects are significant and positive on SC and SPR; SC affects KS in VCoP significantly and positively; access to digital ICT applications significantly and positively influences KS in VCoP. However, despite the direction being positive, the effects of SPR on the KS in VCoP are not significant. Variations in values in the latent variables' access to digital ICT applications, SC, and SPR can explain the variation in the latent variable knowledge sharing by 36 percent

Inequality and Preference: Leveraging Digital ICT Applications for Knowledge-Intensive Agriculture

Digital ICT plays a strategic role in transforming input-intensive to knowledge-intensive agriculture. Its use has close relations to the farmers’ characteristics. This study aims to analyze the farmers’ characteristics and the intensity of utilizing various digital ICT applications/platforms. The survey was conducted on 150 smartphone-using farmers from Boyolali District, Central Java Province, Indonesia, accompanied by interviews and online observations. This research identifies digital divides and inequalities in leveraging Android farming applications, Facebook groups of farmers, WAG of farmers’ groups, Internet/Google information resources and YouTube. The correlation test indicated a significant correlation between gender, age, education, farming land area, farm income, internet quota budget, the availability of PC/Laptop (besides smartphones), and participation in farmers’ group with the intensity of leveraging some digital ICT applications. These correlations are unique and reflect farmers’ receptions and preferences for using digital ICT applications. This novelty is crucial for the development of knowledge-intensive agriculture that emphasizes the strategic role of development communication to facilitate knowledge sharing, involvement, and capacity development among farmers. Without understanding farmers’ characteristics and vulnerabilities, digital divide and inequality among farmers will continue to be reproduced

Determinants of dietary diversity among pregnant women in Laikipia County, Kenya: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Dietary diversity has continued to gain widespread attention among the population since it has evidently been associated with nutrient adequacy. A diverse diet has been shown to reflect nutrient adequacy since no one food can meet the nutritional requirement of a person. Pregnant women have been considered vulnerable to malnutrition due to their increased nutrient requirement and therefore a variety of foods in their diet is considered imperative in ensuring adequate nutrient intake. To promote dietary diversity, it is important to understand the factors associated with it. This paper therefore assessed the determinants of dietary diversity among pregnant women in Laikipia County, Kenya. METHODS: The study was a cross-sectional analytical study consisting of 254 pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at Nanyuki Teaching and Referral Hospital in Laikipia County, Kenya. RESULTS: The mean Dietary Diversity Score (DDS) was 6.84 ± 1.46 Standard Deviation (SD), with cereals being the most (99%) commonly consumed food group. Adjusted Logistic Regression (AOR) analyses revealed education level (AOR = 2.78; (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.06, 5.32; p < 0.001), employment status (AOR = 2.29; CI 1.18, 4.14; p = 0.003), monthly income (AOR = 2.08; CI 1.32, 3.03; p < 0.001), household assets (AOR = 1.93; CI 0.73, 6.90; p = 0.030), land ownership (AOR = 0.64; CI 0.44, 2.25; p = 0.040), and morbidity (AOR = 0.78; CI 0.36, 2.34; p = 0.010) among the pregnant women as the variables that influenced their dietary diversity. CONCLUSION: Socioeconomic factors (education level, employment status, monthly income, household assets and land ownership) have been shown to influence dietary diversity in this study. New policies and intervention programmes targeting these determinants of dietary diversity should therefore be enacted, while the existing ones should be supported and monitored particularly among the vulnerable populations. Such policies and programmes among pregnant women will ensure improved dietary diversity and adequate nutrient intake. Similarly, since morbidity incidence among pregnant women have been shown to significantly influence dietary diversity, public health awareness campaign on the importance of early detection and timely treatment of diseases among pregnant women should be launched by the relevant stakeholders

Asymmetric catalysis by chiral lanthanide complexes in water

The development of catalytic, asymmetric transformations in water is a challenging task. The lanthanides are becoming reagents of choice for many Lewis acid-catalyzed reactions in aqueous media as they are water tolerant. However, enantioselective reactions catalyzed by lanthanides are difficult to achieve in water due to the instability of the reported catalysts. Herein we report the development of stable, well-defined chiral lanthanide complexes and their effectiveness in the asymmetric reduction of alpha-keto acids in aqueous solution. This is the first. example of asymmetric reduction by a chiral lanthanide complex in water. Although modest ees are obtained (40-50%) the ytterbium complexes offer a unique advantage as they have the ability to monitor, direct from the reaction mixture, the % ee for the reaction, by H-1 NMR, through a dipolar analysis of the observed paramagnetic shift