May I attempt a historical perspective and question one of the basic premises of Extension programs. I think the cooperative extension system originated in the USA as a means of educating farmers living in isolation in remote areas. I think this goes back to the Homestead Act that provided each farm family a 1/4th section of land (1 mile sq.), or 160 ac (65 ha) with a homestead in the middle. The result was people averaged a half mile (0.8 km) from their nearest neighbor. Thus the extension program was set up to establish a clear documentable administrative link from the research/extension program to the individual farm family. Now when this is applied to developing countries and smallholder communities don't most people live in villages in easy contact with their neighbor. In this case is this documentable administrative link still necessary? Desirable perhaps but really necessary? Certainly the T & V (training and visit system) attempted this, but didn’t that fairly quickly become "talk and vanish"? Given the financial limits of most host countries, and the overly ideal message that beneficiaries most likely don't have the means to fully accommodate without some massive compromises as I mentioned earlier, Wouldn't it be more effective to look at mass media for to deliver the basic extension message, and then do some follow up to see how well it is received, the compromise people make to optimize the message to their individual situation?
Just something to think about.
Dick
Dr. Dick Tinsley