CONCEPT
For those policy-makers who would like to refresh their knowledge of the concept of extension, this is a function of providing need- and demand-based knowledge and skills to rural men, women and youth in a non-formal, participatory manner, with the objective of improving their quality of life. The function of extension may be applied to several subjects, both agricultural and non-agricultural, such as health; when it is applied to agriculture, it is called agricultural extension.
IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION
Extension is an essential pillar for research and development. However, unfortunately, a somewhat unhealthy perception of extension prevails in many developing countries, caused by a weak extension lobby, faulty initial organizational set-up, an inherent lack of trust in extension by most of the research organizations, and traditionally poor career development conditions in the profession of extension. Agricultural research agendas remain largely academic unless extension workers provide input in terms of the identified and as yet unsolved field problems of the farmers. Research focuses on the technical aspects for generating useful technologies, while extension focuses on the acceptance and adoption of those technologies by users. Applied research institutions need strong extension services to work in a field problems-oriented mode, and the extension services need the backstopping of strong applied agricultural research institutions to effectively serve the farming communities. Countries like the United States of America, Canada, Australia and Denmark, which have very advanced agriculture, have always enjoyed strong extension services, first public, and now public and/or private.
EXTENSION FUNCTION VS. EXTENSION ORGANIZATION
Like many other important functions in daily life such as education and health, the extension function is also important for the welfare of farmers, no matter who performs it as long as it is done satisfactorily. The players in the extension function, besides government extension departments could be private extension service companies, private extension advisors, NGOs, universities, farmers’ associations, research institutes, and possibly others as we have seen in recent years. Extension organization, on the other hand, means how the agency or department which is responsible for extension function organizes itself for performing this task. This is what differentiates the term “extension function” from “extension organization”. If an extension service shows poor performance because of its poor organization, it should never lead to the wrong conclusion that the function of extension is not important.
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS NECESSITATING REFORMS IN EXTENSION
The main global developments include globalization, market liberalization, privatization, pluralism, decentralization and devolution, client participation in decision-making, natural and man-made disasters, rural poverty, food insecurity, HIV/AIDS epidemic, and emphasis on integrated, multi-disciplinary, holistic and sustainable development. These developments are creating new learning requirements for both subsistence and commercial farmers in developing countries. These requirements, especially when seen within the context of the revolution in information technology, are challenging decades’-old mandates and operations within traditional extension systems.
The time is indeed ripe for policy-makers in developing countries to challenge and revisit the discipline of extension within a global context, so as to let the extension function be performed with excellence in line with the global challenges to their economies and especially to their agriculture sector. Cosmetic changes to the existing national extension systems will be of little benefit, as will be the repeated training of staff in stereotyped agricultural subjects. Just as well beat a dead horse.
FRAMEWORK FOR DETERMINING THE NEED FOR EXTENSION REFORM (FDNER)
The modernization and reform of national agricultural extension systems is a major undertaking requiring careful analysis of the situation, comprehension of national policy on rural and agricultural development and food security, the leadership’s vision of development for the country over the next 20 years or so, and finally taking bold policy decisions – some of which may have political implications, cost considerable amounts in terms of time, money and energy, and require effective monitoring of progress. It is therefore of paramount importance that the policy-makers first have a look at the existing national agricultural extension system to determine whether the system needs to be reformed or not. This paper presents a simple framework for reviewing the aspects of policy and organizational structure, financing, staffing and field operations of the present extension services.
GUIDELINES FOR MODERNIZING NATIONAL EXTENSION SYSTEMS
The following guidelines are presented along with necessary key actions:
Assess the existing extension organization against farmers’ needs and determine whether to strengthen or restructure it.
Decentralize extension but not before capacity-building of the staff and orientation of relevant elected officials.
Broaden the technical mandate of extension to aim at broader development of rural human resources.
Formulate national policy on extension in order to ensure political and financial commitment.
Give extension profession a long overdue status similar to other agricultural disciplines.
Bring pre-service education in agricultural extension in line with the modernizing of the national extension system.
Promote pluralism in extension by involving public, private and civil society institutions.
Privatize extension partially or fully where it is socially and economically feasible.
Develop and apply information technology tools to facilitate the work of extension workers.
Develop original, location-specific, participatory, gender-sensitive and inexpensive extension methodologies and materials instead of applying those methodologies which are promoted as universally suitable.
Orient extension staff to major food security related global developments that could eventually affect rural livelihoods.
Encourage the extension services to empower farmers through organizing them into legal associations to constitute a strong lobby for themselves and for extension.
Encourage bottom-up, grassroots extension programme planning by farmers in order to make extension demand-driven, but also exercise supply-driven, top-down modality for promoting common public good practices such as conservation of natural resources and environment protection.
If the extension function is to be performed with relatively small number of extension staff, follow appropriate strategies for getting maximum output.
Ensure effective operational linkages between extension and research and other key relevant institutions.
NORMATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR EXTENSION REVIEW AND REFORM (NFERR)
The paper presents a normative framework for the convenience of policy-makers. This framework has been developed for one main purpose: to review the present rural and agricultural extension systems of developing countries, with the main objective to reform them on the basis of the many normative principles, interventions and lessons that have been drawn from worldwide extension experiences and observations. These normative principles and interventions cut across all regions, but their application must be done according to the “situational context”, which asks for consideration of prevailing political, institutional, economic, social, cultural, religious, agricultural, geographical, infrastructure and technological conditions. Such considerations are necessary for a realistic application of the principles and interventions, but without making too many concessions and compromises.
