About

Jose Garcia Bravo is an Associate Professor in Engineering Technology at Purdue University. His areas of interest include Machine Systems Engineering, Data Science, and Digital Agriculture. As a courtesy faculty member in the Department of Agricultural & Biological Engineering, he contributes to research and teaching efforts related to these fields, focusing on the integration of digital technologies and data-driven approaches in engineering systems.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Sociology
• Political Science
• Environmental health
• Pedagogy
• Psychology
• Nursing
• Multimedia
• Business
• Medicine
• Economics
• Public relations
• Economic growth

Selected publications

• Taboos, Animations, and the Genealogies of Moral Authority in Kenya: Decolonizing Knowledge, Pedagogy, and Power

  Genealogy · 2026-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  This chapter examines shifting genealogies of knowledge and moral authority in Western Kenya by unsettling the hierarchical opposition between “indigenous” and “scientific” knowledge regimes as ways of knowing and acting. Treating pedagogy as a critical mode of social reproduction, it juxtaposes practices of taboo in the Mount Elgon region, as inherited prohibitions that regulate relations among people, animals, and land, with the deployment of animated educational media in Mumias by Scientific Animations Without Borders (SAWBO) as a technocratic apparatus for imparting new agrarian knowledge and practices. By staging an encounter between these two modes of social knowledge reproduction—both understood as moral technologies that shape conduct, sustain ecological balance, and transmit communal values (one grounded in taboo, the other in technical instruction)—the paper re-situates an “indigenous”/“scientific” inequality within longer genealogies spanning precolonial, colonial, and contemporary postcolonial and developmental formations. By foregrounding commitments to these knowledge traditions, the paper stages how taboos and educational animations alike can embody evolving modes of community self-determination and ethical stewardship. It ultimately argues that the force of the “indigenous < scientific” inequality lies primarily not in correcting its hierarchical opposition but in the ongoing struggle over which modes of life will be allowed to endure. Decolonizing these genealogies requires attending to the marked/unmarked distinctions that structure bodies, discourse, and social reproduction in the present.

  PublisherDOI

• The Right to Traditional Knowledge and Language

  2025-01-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Using Digital Technologies to Co-Create Collaborative Futures for Partnerships: Cross-Sector Partnerships Using Animated Videos to Improve Rwandan Agricultural Extension Services

  Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies · 2025-07-29 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  This paper presents a descriptive analysis of an agricultural e-extension partnership between the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB) and Scientific Animations Without Borders (SAWBO), examining the potential of digital tools for the future of agricultural extension efforts. The collaboration integrates SAWBO’s animated videos into Rwanda’s agricultural systems, enhancing access to knowledge and extending outreach to rural communities. Drawing from the traditional Rwandan practice of Umuganda (community service), Riane Eisler’s cultural transformation theory, and co-production perspectives, the RAB / SAWBO partnership utilizes culturally relevant methods for community engagement, demonstrating the value of traditional practices for modernizing enhanced digital outreach. This analysis foregrounds the concept of "informationalization," in which digital information and communication technologies (ICTs) become central to sustainable development, as a means of bridging infrastructural and socioeconomic gaps in agricultural extension. The authors argue that the future of effective partnerships in agricultural development must prioritize participatory, non-domination frameworks and adaptive learning, especially in complex cross-sectoral collaborations that address evolving challenges like climate change impacts on food security and pest management. Per co-production and cultural transformation theory, the paper advocates for partnerships that are prepared to respond to emergent information, while being embedded in culturally legible structures. By envisioning a future where partnerships are institutionalized across sectors, the paper underscores the potential for sustainable long-term transformations of culture through collaborative digital platforms that accommodate evolving technologies and local needs.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Learning-Systems Approaches for the Right to Knowledge: Highly Accessible Materials for Achieving the SDGs

  2025-01-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• “The children don’t want to listen, the fathers need to be ready”: Perceptions and belief systems connected to the restoration and preservation of a sacred forest in Benin

  World Development Perspectives · 2025-10-01 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  • Loss of culturally indigenous and traditional ecosystems services (ES) benefits undermines SDGs for sustainable land use. • Aesthetic, spiritual, and cultural ES are underemphasized. • Forest are meant for human use, but what constitutes “appropriate use” differs widely. • ES benefits from sacred forests are intertwined and locally particular. • “Magic” and “science” can successfully collaborate. The preservation of forests is critical for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the sustainable use of land. Building on previous research, this study explores the interplay of local beliefs, cultural practices, and ecosystem services around a restored sacred forest in southern Benin. Utilizing Raymond Williams’ concept of structures of feeling , it investigates how local stakeholders’ beliefs and actions influence the forest’s restoration and maintenance. Findings include (1) a consensus that forests exist for human use despite differing perspectives on what constitutes appropriate use, (2) concerns about the ongoing loss of traditional knowledge and practices related to forest use, (3) challenges posed by modernizing perspectives that view traditional practices as backward, contrasting them with the cultural and spiritual values associated with the forest, and (4) beliefs about the forest’s role for human well-being. The study shows how structures of feeling can underpin successful negotiations and compromise support for the project’s continuing success and SDG goals around sustainable land use. Further research is needed to understand the intricate web of social, environmental, and economic structures of feeling around sacred forests, particularly aesthetic, spiritual, and social dimensions that address the erosion of indigenous knowledge and practices.

  PublisherDOI

• Assessing Drivers of Storage Decision-Making to Prevent Postharvest Loss Among Smallholder Ginger Farmers in Palpa District, Nepal

  SAGE Open · 2025-10-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Postharvest losses erode Nepal’s ginger value chain and farm incomes, affecting food and income security; yet the behavioral drivers of loss-reducing practices remain poorly understood. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 256 ginger-growing farmers randomly selected from Bagnaskali, Ribdikot, and Tansen municipalities in the Palpa district, using a structured questionnaire. A semi-log OLS model of the percentage of crop loss was evaluated to understand the factors affecting postharvest loss, and a logit model of willingness to adopt improved storage was used to investigate the drivers of willingness to adopt improved technologies. Household demographics, farm, and institutional covariates were included. Farmers reported losing an average of 27.8% of harvested ginger. Using a polypropylene sack and receiving extension advice lowered those losses by 39.7%. Additionally, membership in group-saving schemes and women’s associations increased the odds of adopting improved storage by a factor of 5 and 21-fold, respectively. In contrast, receipt of an input subsidy decreases the odds of adoption by 32% ceteris paribus. The study concludes that leveraging social capital channels (particularly women-led associations and rotating savings groups) could sharply curb ginger losses, while indiscriminate subsidies may dampen storage incentives. Scaling participatory extension that couples hands-on advice with low-cost sack technology offers a practical first step. Future research should test these relationships across Nepal’s diverse agroecologies and incorporate climatic and market-infrastructure variables to refine policy design.

  PublisherDOI

• Conclusion: Preservation, Sustainability, the Right to Knowledge, and the SDGs

  2025-01-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Scientific Animations Without Borders (SAWBO): Solving the Last Mile Problem of Democratizing IPM Educational Content

  Outlooks on Pest Management · 2025-06-01 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Scaling of integrated pest management (IPM) and other research for development (R4D) knowledge in the global South to the "last mile" (especially the hardest-to-reach geographic and social populations) has remained a challenge for the international development community. In the global South, many end users (1) live in remote areas, (2) speak local languages, (3) are low-literate learners, (4) have limited access to the internet and/ or electrical power grids, and (5) may not have access to the technologies for accessing educational materials (e.g., smartphones). Classically, international development projects funded end-user IPM training using in-person approaches, often with trainers without topic-specific expertise, the ability to speak the local language, or both. They often lacked the necessary tools to convey accurate information. Such traditional approaches also are costly, suffer from inaccurate messaging, face language barriers, and have few to no means to leave information behind for the users' continued learning. Accordingly, dramatic cost reductions, increased accessibility, increased accuracy, and ways to foster continued learning are needed to make such educational approaches scalable and sustainable. Scientific Animations Without Borders (SAWBO), a university-based research and scaling program, has developed an "encyclopedia" model for scaling content to provide learning with a high degree of fidelity in local languages and ongoing access to content materials for reinforcement and continued learning. Here, we describe this systems approach that includes scalable "last mile" delivery strategies for IPM and other R4D educational content.

  PublisherDOI

• Increasing Lifelong Learning Using Video Animations: The Case of an Agriculture WhatsApp Group in Kenya

  Education and human development · 2024-03-25 · 3 citations

  book-chapterOpen accessSenior author

  Developing new ways of providing information and knowledge for lifelong learning to those on the margins of society with low literacy and access is complicated. Using a case study, this chapter generally demonstrates how smallholder farmers in Kenya engage in opportunities for lifelong learning offered by video animation programs in agriculture in their WhatsApp groups. The definitions of lifelong learning, affordances that technology provides for lifelong learning, and its relationship with Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) are offered. Moreover, African philosophies and practices such as Palaver, Harambee, Umuganda, Ubuntu, and Omoluabi and how they relate to and increase lifelong learning are discussed. The successes and challenges of the WhatsApp groups and video animations as sites for lifelong learning are also addressed.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Leveraging Organizational Change in Attaining Sustainable Development Goals During the Pandemic in Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria

  Implementing the UN sustainable development goals - regional perspectives · 2024-01-01

  book-chapter
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Barry R. Pittendrigh

  63 shared

• Anne Namatsi Lutomia

  41 shared

• John William Medendorp

  23 shared

• Olufemi Ibiremo

  Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria

  12 shared

• Manuele Tamò

  6 shared

• Tolulope A. Agunbiade

  Northwestern University

  5 shared

• Jane Payumo

  Michigan State University

  5 shared

• Clémentine L. Dabire-Binso

  5 shared