This article discusses an innovative extension training initiative being implemented in selected universities and colleges in sub-Saharan Africa. The authors argue that African agricultural universities and colleges must strengthen their capacities to develop and deliver responsive extension training programmes in order to train extension staff to become critical thinkers and reflective practitioners. A framework is proposed to guide universities and colleges interested in developing and launching responsive agricultural extension training programmes.

  A FAO Expert Consultation on "Strategy Options for Higher Education in Agriculture" urged that special efforts be made to recruit and support female students from rural areas who could become extension agents, agricultural researchers, teachers and policy-makers. One of the reasons why there are few women extension workers, researchers and other agricultural professionals is the small number of female graduates from intermediate and higher level agricultural education institutions.

  What can you show employees if you can't show them the money? The answer sounds almost simple-minded: Improved job performance and satisfaction. The poor performance of African national extension systems is often linked to the low educational level and dwindling motivational levels of most frontline extension personnel.

  Extension, as an educational input, can make an important contribution to sustainable agricultural production and rural development. A definition of extension indicates the need for agents who have knowledge of the teaching/learning process and can effectively communicate information to clients.

  The article is based on case study research method conducted on the experiential methodology followed by the Indian National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management.

  The management practices necessary for effective operation of extension services in Central and Eastern Europe have been reviewed. The difference in operational requirements between public extension and commercial consultancy services has been recognised.

  There is widespread recognition of the need to improve both agricultural education and extension work with rural women. This article outlines the activities undertaken by the Extension, Education and Communication Service in the area of women in agricultural education and extension.

  The Heads of State and Government, or their representatives, gathered at the World Food Summit held in Rome in 1996, reaffirmed in the Rome Declaration on World Food Security the right of all people to have access to safe, nutritious and adequate food, consistent with the fundamental right to be free from hunger. The resulting Plan of Action emphasizes the importance of human resources development.

  The participants of the first Informal Consultation of the International Supporters of Agricultural Extension Systems in Africa, held at Neuchatel, identified a common problem of extension services in African countries: low level of education and inadequate training of extension staff at all levels.

  This book describes FAO's pioneering approach in integrating environment education concerns into agricultural education and training programmes. It reports the process, achievements and lessons learned from the actual experiences in planning and implementing such programmes in eight agricultural education, training and extension organizations in six countries.

  The FAO HIV/AIDS Programme has produced a series of fact sheets for extensionists and fieldworkers to support families in HIV/AIDS affected areas. These fact sheets answer common questions about HIV/AIDS and allow extension workers to provide advice on areas such as nutrition, small livestock production and labour-saving technologies.

  The very survival of rural human resources development aimed at improving agricultural production, both within the extension organization and among the clientele, is currently at stake due to the HIV/AIDS menace.

  This study examines the extension and training needs of disabled farmers in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

  This publication from the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP) addresses the experiences of a training programme for disabled farmers in the poor north eastern region of Thailand.

   If farmers are to increase production, more attention needs to be paid to the fact that their output must be marketed at a rewarding price. Commercialization of the small farm sector requires the development of market-orientated production, as opposed to the occasional sale of subsistence surpluses.

  Male migration in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir region of Pakistan has resulted in crop farming and livestock raising and management becoming increasingly women's domain.

  Current trends and perspectives were used in preparing this manual. In the view of the editors, agricultural research and extension must become more demand driven if these institutions are to maintain or regain the public trust and to compete effectively for public funds.

  The report is based on a study that was carried out in 2001 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) in Uganda. PDF

  This paper argues that a large part of the problems plaguing agricultural workers in Latin America could be solved by those same workers if provided with appropriate technical and entrepreneurial capacity building skills.

  While women play important and ever-increasing roles in rural economies throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, most agricultural extension services are directed at programmes for men. In order to reach more female farmers, the barriers, including working conditions, social barriers, discrimination and policy limitations, that keep more women from working as agricultural extension agents must be addressed.

  It was produced in response to the Government of Malawi’s need to successfully increase the number of smallholder farmers engaged upon irrigated agriculture. The aim is to help field assistants and development officers to promote, encourage and support individuals and groups of smallholders to gain the benefits of irrigated agriculture.

  The objective of this study, conducted in July 2003, was to identify the special agricultural extension and training needs of farmers living in small island countries, using Samoa as a specific case. A participatory rural appraisal approach (PRA) is used to identify farmers' needs in different geographic locations of Samoa.

  It is a meeting point for both, people in search of capacity development opportunities for water in agriculture and those offering courses/events in this area. The database contains relevant information on course/event provider, duration, target group as well as contact information in order to obtain further details.

  The Web site makes available a set of guidelines, procedures and relevant material for the development of a participatory training and extension programme for technical staff, extension workers and other stakeholders, to assist farmers to take charge of water management at field and scheme level and adopt, in a sustainable manner appropriate water technologies.

  FAO's focus on HIV/AIDS is on the prevention of the further spread of the epidemic and on the mitigation of its effects through a concerted response from the agricultural sector. FAO recognizes that HIV/AIDS is a determining factor of food insecurity as well as a consequence of food and nutrition insecurity.