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Innovations in Agricultural Extension
What can Ethiopia learn from global experiences?
Dr Ranjitha Puskur, IPMSDr Ponniah Anandajayasekeram, IFPRI (ISNAR) - ILRI
Ms Sindu Workneh, IFPRI (ISNAR)
Presented at MoARD Workshop on “Improving Agricultural Extension Service Delivery Approaches”
22 June 2006, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Why do we need innovative extension?
Changing demands on extension.. better linking of farmers to input and
output markets reducing the vulnerability and enhancing
the voice of the rural poor development of micro-enterprises poverty reduction and environmental
conservation strengthening and support of farmer
organizations
Changing paradigms..
From NARS to AKIS to AIS..
What is innovation?
“the transformation of an idea into a new or improved product introduced on the market or a new or improved operational process or into a new approach to a service”
involves more than research and development,
also entails the workings of the marketplace agriculture knowledge system success
depends on innovations being disseminated, adopted and practiced by farmers
What are innovative extension systems?
recognition and utilization of multiple sources of knowledge
focus on capacity to solve problems rather than just training for technical capacity building
adopting an interactive communication function
viewing extension as a co-learning process and
institutional pluralism
From Extension to Extension-plus
From To
Form/content Tech dissemination Supporting rural livelihoods
Improving farm productivity
Improving farm and non-farm income
Forming farmer groups Building networks
Providing services Enabling farmers to access services from other agencies
Market information Market development
M&E Input & output targets Learning
Planning & Implementation
Doing it alone Partnerships
Sources of innovation in extension
Centrally generated Locally evolved (through experimentation)
From Extension to Extension-plus
From To
Approaches Fixed/uniform Evolving/diverse
Staff capacity development
Training Learning by doing, facilitated experimentation
Capacity dev of extension system
Personnel and infra Dev of linkages and networks
Policy approach Prescriptive/blue prints
Facilitating evolution of locally relevant approaches
Introducing new working practices
Staff training Changing organisational culture through action learning
Underpinning paradigm
Technology transfer Innovation system
Making extension systems more efficient - Six principles
A sound agricultural policy is indispensable Extension consists of ‘facilitation’ as much if
not more than ‘technology transfer’ Producers are clients, sponsors and
stakeholders, rather than beneficiaries of ag extension
Market demands create an impetus for a new relationship between farmers and private suppliers of goods and services
New perspectives are needed regarding public funding and private actors
Pluralism and decentralized activities require coordination and dialogue between actors
Some elements of innovation..
delinking public funding for extension from private delivery
decentralization empowering farmers to advance consensus
approaches to development promoting demand-driven services broad stakeholder participation in the control,
support and implementation of the agricultural technology agenda
public sector alliances with the private sector enabling the private sector interconnecting rural people
Current challenges for the Ethiopian extension system
Significant increase in use of farm technologies and credit But resulting performance enhancement of
farmers too low to improve living conditions Lack of access to credit Low output price Limited profitability of packages(EEA/EEPRI study)
Need for extension to forge stronger links with credit and market systems
Current challenges for the Ethiopian extension system
Increasing number of Female Headed Households Farm women not reached out to 71% of DAs and 90% of extension
experts are male Limited use of mass media
52% individual methods 39% group methods 9% mass methods
Current challenges for the Ethiopian extension system
Farmers not involved in planning process
Operational constraints for DAs Transport and budgetary constraints No on-job training High farmer-DA ratio Farmers problems beyond their capacity
to address Dealing with ineffective technologies
Current challenges for the Ethiopian extension system
Lack of clarity in policies – both of extension and agencies and agents
No longer term strategy, vision and plan Limited role of farmer organizations Decentralization not matched with capacity and
accountability Poor financial, administrative capacity/autonomy
of woredas extension offices Only technology shopping and delivery M&E indicators lacking ICT underdevelopment Skill development lacking for problem solving with
focus now on technology transfer
Seeking lessons from experiences..
Policy environment –agricultural policy/development strategy and objectives of the extension system
Governance structures –decentralization, privatization, and pluralism (including partnerships/linkages)
Management approach –Monitoring and Evaluation Extension techniques –mass communication using
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) Performance – demand-orientation Impact –Gender and HIV/AIDS
Government strategy/policy for Agricultural extension and policy process
Bangladesh - Agricultural Extension Policy 1999 a Strategy to implement Policy Role, goal and key components of Ag extension
defined Policies favouring privatization and increased role of
NGOs All providers agreed on implementation strategy Agricultural Extension manual published
India - Policy Framework for Agricultural Extension 2000 ‘policy environment will promote private and
community driven extension to operate competitively, in roles that complement, supplement, work in partnerships and even substitute for public extension’
Mozambique – Extension Master Plan 1999-2004
India- structural changes
Formation of new organisations with less bureaucracy, more flexibility and wider expertise
Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) an autonomous body at the district level focal point for integrating research and extension
activities and for de-centralising day-to-day management of public
agricultural technology system A R-E unit within each district includes KVKs, key line
Departments and farmers State Agricultural Management and Extension Training
Institute (SAMETI) created to provide training to state extension functionaries on innovative areas of project management, participatory planning, HRD and information technology
Agri-clinics and agri-business centres
operated by private entrepreneurs main aim is to provide accountable extension
services to farmers through technically trained agricultural graduates at the village level
financed through bank loans, 25% of the cost subsidised by the central government
provide testing facilities, diagnostic and control services and other consultancies on a fee-for service basis
Reform processes – China and India
India centrally devised and driven initiatives lock extension into long-cycle extension
paradigmsChina extension innovations emerging
continuously from the extension practice extension policy providing an enabling
environment
Roles for public and private sector actors in extension
Farm families
Medium
Large-scaleCommercial
Small scale, marginal and women
Educational programmes-NRM-Farm management-Marketing-Leadership training
Technical programmes-Crop management-Livestock management-Farming Systems
Inputs and Services-Machinery & equipment-Seeds/breeding stock-Fertilizers/feed-Chemicals/drugs
Organizing and empowering-Credit societies-Self-help groups-Farmers associations-Livestock co-operatives-Poverty alleviation
Human Resource
Development
Social Capital
Development
Technology
Transfer
Non-Governmental
organizations
Public extension
Private S
ector
Public Private Partnership
Cameroon- A good practice example partnership between the government extension
service and private agro-input supply companies The private suppliers provide the new technologies the national extension service shares its
experience in testing new technologies with farmers through small-scale demonstration plots
key to success ability to leverage the comparative advantage
of each party without compromising the efficiency, objectivity or the principles of the extension services.
Challenges..
Co-ordination of linkages Bangladesh- NGO Liaison committee India – ATMA Uganda – Res-Ext Liaison Unit (RELU) Zimbabwe – National Level Committee Kenya – National FS Co-ordinating
Committee and National Res-Ext Liaison Committee (NRELC)
Demand orientation
Case of Philippines The (Philippine) National Agricultural and Fisheries
Council (NAFC) an inter-sectoral and inter-agency body having
representation from peoples organisations and NGOs engaged in agriculture and fisheries sector
facilitates regular consultations and dialogues between government and the private sector
Agricultural and Fishery Councils at the sectoral, regional, provincial and municipal levels involving farmers, fishers, traders, rural bankers and
agri-business entrepreneurs provides inputs on major programmes and policy
decisions and help plan and monitor programmes
Monitoring and Evaluation
only about one half of all national extension systems have some type of monitoring and evaluation (M & E) capacity - FAO
M & E units are weak and are limited to ad hoc studies M&E has a negative image because these units may
concentrate on problems, exposing weaknesses and failures
M&E should be used in a positive manner to improve extension's performance and increase its efficiency
attitudes about and uses of M & E must be changed if this capacity is to be used to advantage in strengthening extension's performance and impact
Several approaches available All advocate simplicity and timeliness
Bangladesh – a good practice example
self-assessment processes carried out by the thana (sub-district level) and district staff
system includes both assessment of outcome and assessment of process
assessment of outcome review of Block Supervisor diaries Seasonal Extension Monitoring System (SEMS) Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) survey
system
Interconnecting rural poor using appropriate media
“Interconnectivity” refers to the use of appropriate IT
Application should be considered along with more traditional extension methods
Address the problem of scale, complexity, and fiscal sustainability Print with graphics and radio – appropriate and
cost-effective for developing countries Modern ICTs need significant initial and
operating cost Suitability depends on the message, target
audience, and social environment
Gender - constraints
women's legal and cultural status property rights and inheritance laws gender-determined responsibilities such as
feeding the family, which trade off basic household self-provisioning goals and care of the family against production for the market
the way that agricultural services are staffed, managed, and designed
less mobility and time availability lack of formal education which hampers
them from taking part in extension activities requiring formal reading and arithmetic skills
Low coverage
In Zimbabwe – 40-60% of HHs are Female-headed, only slightly more than 10% participate in extension training
Staffing pattern Design of trainings Hierarchical information flow
Special programmes
Bangladesh - Home stead gardening component to make new technology available to women, to augment
production of vegetables, fruit and livestock and introduce better ways of processing and using food
way of diversifying the diets of the rural poor, attacking malnutrition, using underutilized homestead space and, boosting family income through the sale of surplus homestead production
under contract, NGOs would work with women to improve homestead gardening practices
NGOs organized women into groups to encourage then to take up intensive homestead cultivation and improve food handling and preparation
building on their success, women have used these groups to obtain group loans to start micro-enterprises
the most significant benefit - solidifying the NGO-department partnership, which will long outlast the project
Ethiopia
a 2-year Pilot Project at MoARD supported by FAO in 1994 in three Regions
Paper on women by the TGE (1993) -policy addressing women’s strategic and practical gender needs provided a conducive environment
involved training extension staff in PRA and gender analysis to ensure client-oriented extension planning
A guide for field level workers (in Amharic) was developed entitled “How to make your extension program more client-oriented’, which included the use of gender-analytical framework in planning
Four major challenges faced difficulty of institutionalizing the process necessity of involving policy makers at all stages and levels need to raise gender awareness amongst rural men and women importance of addressing women’s lack of decision-making
power
India - ‘Cafeteria for Women’.
provides guiding principles and an approach to develop projects and programmes with gender issues in consideration
essentially guidelines, and allows the implementing agency (who will be developing the programme or project), at the district/block level, to choose an approach that fits into their specific situation (based on local problems, socio-economic conditions of women, nature of primary occupations, availability of suitable organisations to partner with etc)
Nigeria
Experimented with different agricultural development strategies with varying implications for rural women
A Women in Agriculture (WIA) unit, with female extension staff, was established in every Agricultural Development Project (ADP) throughout the country, to identify the technical and information needs of
rural women assisting them to become more productive through
training and technology dissemination meeting their needs through trained and qualified
female agents working with women's groups The WIA units today are fully integrated into the ADPs.
Some dos and don’ts..
Do not view rural women as a homogeneous social classification or to derive policies and services for “women in agriculture”
Avoid a centrally generated blueprint for tackling issues related to farm women
It is important to recognise the various categories of women farmers that exist and their needs in the agriculture sphere and from there to develop appropriate strategies to assist them
Extension related strategies to face the challenge of HIV/AIDS
Formulation of a national policy on AIDS and extension Preparation of extension staff
Revision of pre-service and in-service training curricula Fast-track training of extension staff Revision of extension strategies and technical
messages Preparation of multimedia extension materials on
HIV/AIDS Possible actions in the field
Institutional partnerships Anti-AIDS extension campaigns Preparation of rural leaders for collaboration Extension-HIV/AIDS specific studies Inter-country extension networks on HIV/AIDS
The way forward..
Need for a national/regional agriculture extension policy/framework and a strategy to institutionalize the changes Changes in organisational cultures and
professional attitudes – through action learning
“Change agents” within the system and political commitment at a high level
Clear definitions of mandates and roles of functionaries at various levels
Review of incentive structures
The way forward..
Making extension services/training demand-driven Participatory Extension and market-oriented
approaches need to be mainstreamed Needs capacity development - integrate into TVET
curriculum
Capacity development – staff and system Social science skills Not only training - but learning by doing,
facilitated experimentation Not only personnel and infrastructure –
but development of linkages and networks
Farmer capacity building
Capacity building of farmers should be aimed at helping them respond to constantly evolving markets, in addition to improving production and productivity..
Organize commodity based farmer interest groups and build their capabilities to bargain, negotiate and understand market functions, stakeholder strategies and, price formation
Enhance interactive and communication skills of individual farmers to exchange views with customers and other market forces
Support to entrepreneurship
FTCs as knowledge centres – nodes for experiential learning Stimulate a diversity of extension innovations that
respond adaptively to local and evolving circumstances
Recognise value of diversity of approaches and arrangements – flexibility
Learn from experiences to distill principles for scaling up
Important to pilot innovative approaches in few FTCs and scale up based on experiences and lessons learnt
No blue prints even for market-oriented extension support
The way forward..
Optimal use of FTCs
Depends on.. Quality and relevance of services and training
offered – ensured through community consultations
Technical and financial support to DAs Effective linkages of FTCs with woreda level
marketing and co-operative experts Continuous upgrading of skills of DAs Provision of adequate and relevant training
and demonstration materials, both related to production and marketing and, their continuous updating
Effective inclusion of gender and HIV concerns in extension activities
Critical role of M&E
Review the current M&E plan Revise it to make it more learning
oriented - move towards more innovative targets Outcome monitoring and responsibility
Mainstream planning, implementation and M&E tools
Accountability to farmers or FAs - farmer control over R&E resources
Equity..
Integration of HIV and gender concerns Incorporate into TVET and university
curricula Incorporate short awareness sessions
into all training programmes/courses
Organizational culture changes
Rigid patterns of control and centralized modes of planning, stifle innovation
Tradition of assessing performance in terms of technology adoption and not outcomes or impacts
History of regarding only successes and reluctance to report and analyse reasons of failure
Tradition of working independently and mistrust of other agencies
Up-ward accountability for resource utilization rather than output achievement and client satisfaction
Finally..
Crafting institutional reforms is a pragmatic, exploratory and social learning process that unfolds over years and decades
Pilot a few studies (learn by doing) Experiment with institutional innovations
Learn from experiences of others
Approach less important than its ingredients
Thank you..