5. GUIDELINES FOR STRENGTHENING AKIS/RD

The world is largely ruled by ideas. Ideas are approved or rejected because they are held to be good or bad. Ideas are not a mere intellectual conception, but contain the dynamic power to move individuals and nations. Institutions and entire societies can be changed by certain ideas. AKIS/RD is one of these transformative ideas because it promises to improve the ways in which agricultural knowledge and information are generated, exchanged and utilized, thereby catalysing the emergence and diffusion of ideas that transform rural livelihoods. Even more important is the fact that it proposes an improved and more profitable relationship among the institutions, the different for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, the sector producers and other stakeholders engaged in agricultural development.

The idea of AKIS/RD is the first step toward its development. The importance of AKIS/RD for the agriculture sector and the socio-economic system as a whole needs to be understood. The AKIS/RD idea of viewing how the main actors (agricultural educators, extensionists, researchers, the private sector and farmers) interact with each other and how they could complement one another needs to be understood and promoted. The most viable way of doing this is through accepting AKIS/RD as central to the context and philosophical foundation of agricultural policy and plans. A new impetus to promote linkages, technology transfer, knowledge sharing and the exchange of relevant information is sorely needed.

Five broad priority areas, as presented in this study, condition the development of AKIS/RD. The findings of the ten country case studies reviewed in the study suggest a number of guidelines that are applicable to all the countries concerned with improving the operations and efficacy of their agricultural research, education and extension systems and with advancing those systems towards more effective and efficient - because integrated - AKIS/RD.

Policy environment

Formulate a national AKIS policy, plan or formal agreement

Government’s formulation of a policy, plan or formal agreement for implementing AKIS/RD is the first and necessary, but not sufficient, step in developing more effective use of a country’s public sector agricultural research, extension and education institutions; promoting their alliance with the private sector; and fostering the active and meaningful participation of rural agricultural producers. Once such a plan has been formulated, government must ensure that there is interministerial support for AKIS/RD through central planning and the treasury. Political commitment is even more important than a formulated policy, as noted in the cases of Chile, Cuba and Lithuania.

Direct AKIS policy towards public goods issues

Only government - national, state (provincial/district/governorate) and municipal - can assume the responsibility for ensuring that research and extension services deliver needed public goods. Public policy should seek to deliver those services that are necessary to maximizing public welfare, especially those that the private sector cannot or will not deliver on its own. Only governments are well placed to promote increased institutional pluralism in extension service provision and to oversee the quality enhancement and assurance necessary for rural development.

Assess the economic efficiency of the agriculture sector, given AKIS

Government investments must be maximized. Therefore it is imperative that sustainable economic impact prevails in the agriculture sector and that government and other investments are made in the most cost-effective ways to foster AKIS/RD. Given the present lack of attention to the issue of economic efficiency and the incipience of the idea and practice of AKIS/RD, long-term economic studies need to be initiated.

Institutional structure for supporting innovation

Establish AKIS/RD units

AKIS/RD units are needed for purposes of oversight, coordination and accountability. The establishment of AKIS/RD units will depend on how government thinks it can best coordinate its research, extension and agricultural education activities and align them strategically in order to accomplish common goals. For example, each subsystem of the public sector agricultural institutions might have an AKIS/RD unit aimed at overseeing and reporting on coordination in its own institution in relation to other public sector agricultural institutions, as well as tracking developments towards similar goals among relevant private sector organizations. In another scenario, an AKIS/RD unit external to the relevant institutions and organizations might be established for the oversight and evaluation of accomplishments throughout the agricultural knowledge systems - both public and private. Decisions about establishing AKIS/RD units will depend at least in part on whether countries are at the stage of catching-up, falling behind or forging ahead with support of their knowledge systems.

AKIS/RD require recognizable authority that is responsible for promoting and enforcing the policy mandate. A responsible authority at the national level in the form of an oversight AKIS/RD unit is certainly needed to oversee the development and results of AKIS institutions. Such a unit should be dedicated to creating and facilitating linkages among research, education and extension institutions, as well as with private sector entities and agricultural producers and their organizations. These units should continually review, examine and report on the efforts of the AKIS institutional structures, the conditions for expressing demand for agricultural innovation, the advancement of partnerships and networks, and the financing of AKIS/RD for agricultural innovation and rural development.

Institute central and branch supervision of AKIS activities

A multidisciplinary oversight agency, or each agency individually, at the central and provincial (state, governorate, regional) levels needs to be responsible for supervising AKIS/RD activities and ascertaining the extent to which they are operating collaboratively with other relevant agencies, sectors and producers. This requires strong leadership and good management: poor leadership is a serious problem. Organizations work the way they do because of the way the people in them work, which is often a reflection of their leadership (Heaver, 1982). People expect leaders to show personal commitment to the organization’s vision and to provide conceptual clarification regarding the direction of the organization - where are we going and why? To be truly effective, leadership involves all leaders: not only executive leaders, but also networkers (front-line workers, in-house consultants, trainers and professional staff who spread ideas throughout and outside the organization) and local line leaders (branch managers, project team leaders and other front-line performers). Each has an essential role in advancing AKIS/RD.

Take initiatives to build AKIS institutional capacity

Human resource development (HRD) is key to the present and future success of AKIS/RD. People, their skills and motivation make the difference in an institution’s performance. Each agency must take the initiative to train and upgrade continually its leaders and administrative and field staff in best management practices and new agricultural technologies. The development and maintenance of core capacities for AKIS/RD has been a challenge in many small countries, owing largely to instable funding. With present constraints on government budgets and new financing mechanisms that rely on client financing and competitive funding schemes for discrete project activities, the challenge to sustain core capacity is likely to increase.

Decentralize decision-making to lower levels of government and relevant local organizations, while training people at these levels in the processes of management and administration

Of the various processes of decentralization (including but not limited to deconcentration of central government authority to branch offices and centres, devolution to sub-governments, and delegation to other, usually private, entities), the international community especially advocates subsidiarity, i.e. decentralization to communities and local organizations.

Development is increasingly viewed as a process in which people learn to participate constructively in solving their own problems. Subsidiarity suggests bringing local people into the decision-making process, but more than that it also implies preparing people to take meaningful development decisions - and some of these people have perhaps never had the responsibility or developed the skills for managing and administering programmes. For decentralization to succeed and be effective and efficient, government needs to promote local-level training in processes such as bookkeeping, accounting, planning, M&E and impact assessment.

Augment the functional performance of AKIS entities

The functional performance of AKIS institutions is central to developing an AKIS/RD based on joint planning and a plurality of partners agreeing to undertake common goals for agricultural and rural development. In line with rational policies for AKIS/RD, the AKIS institutions involved need to review and improve their performance, with specific targeted goals to be met both within the framework of their functional goals and in cooperation with other agricultural agencies, sectors and stakeholders.

Institute systems for monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment

Determining the impact of soft systems^[11] (discussed in Section 2), such as agricultural research, extension and education, is already difficult, but it becomes even more complex when considering a large, soft system such as AKIS/RD. M&E of each system and of their combined efforts is required, along with periodic impact assessment. While each organization will carry out its own M&E, the overall monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment of AKIS/RD is likely to be the ultimate responsibility of AKIS/RD units in one or more government ministries. These units can collect, analyse and disseminate composite information on the progress of each institution involved in AKIS/RD performance, the conditions supporting or hindering the system, the effectiveness of its partnerships, the usefulness of its networks, and its financial realities.

Ensure coordination and joint planning among AKIS institutions

Planning should be a formal activity involving all interested stakeholders at the various levels of government and society. It should involve a clear vision for agricultural and rural development, ensure minimum conditions for success, define the situation to be developed, define the actors and their responsibilities, ensure training and participatory planning at the government, private sector and community levels, facilitate the allocation of funds to the community level, and evaluate with an eye to scaling up successful projects from the local to the regional and national levels.

Coordination needs to take place both formally and informally. The structure and management of linkages between agricultural research and different agricultural extension systems may have a significant affect on those systems’ relative success or failure in achieving their objectives. Agricultural extension can be characterized as falling into four categories of linkage structures with agricultural research. Research and extension can be: 1) housed together; 2) administratively integrated; 3) coordinated through a council; or 4) part of integrated on farm research and extension. The best example of research and extension being housed together is the university-based, United States Cooperative Extension System. Two major types of extension systems appear to be administratively integrated with research: commodity-focused systems, and most conventional developing country systems. Research and extension in Taiwan, Province of China, and in several other countries is coordinated through research review councils. Farming Systems Research and Extension (FSR/E) and On-Farm, Client-Oriented Research (OFCOR) can be defined as being systems of integrated on-farm research and extension (Wheeler, 1990).

Conditions for expressing demand for innovation

Promote demand-driven orientation in public programmes

In principle, AKIS/RD should be producer-oriented and demand-driven. Future investments in agricultural research, education, extension and training must emphasize the development of clients’ capacity to organize and express their demand for services, increase their influence over or active participation in programmes, and enhance their ability to finance services. Such investments can be a springboard for introducing inclusive participatory approaches, accountability mechanisms and self-governing producer organizations.

Government boards or other oversight entities, involving directors of AKIS/RD units, should pay keen attention to whether agricultural producers and their organizations are involved in programme decision-making. It is common sense to include producers in the development of programmes for their betterment.

Invest in agricultural market development

To promote agricultural development as an aspect of rural development, government needs to facilitate the development of efficient, competitive agricultural markets, thereby providing an avenue for buying and selling produce. Market development, bolstered by concomitant financial support for physical infrastructure, is an essential step towards improving agriculture in the rural sector.

Improve the availability of and access to agricultural inputs

Agricultural credit and supplies are the lifeblood of farming enterprises. Both need to be available and timely if agricultural producers are to meet the needs of their farming systems. However, this is not to suggest that credit be subsidized or that non-price credit arrangements be allowed to develop. When policy-makers turn to non-price kinds of rationing, personal influence tends to determine who receives credit. This means that recipients are likely to be the large rather than the small producers (Schuh, 1987). Technically, competitive supply systems should result in inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides being delivered in ways and packaged in containers that suit the needs and resources of the small farmer.

Invest in rural physical infrastructure

Investment in rural physical infrastructure - roads (including feeder roads), clean water and sewage systems, electricity, telecommunications, etc. - is necessary to make rural areas attractive and safe, and provides the sine qua non of rural development. Rural infrastructure tends to be underdeveloped. Long-term agricultural and rural development strategies must aim to transform education, research and information institutions into an effective AKIS/RD.

Mandate joint planning among AKIS agencies

Joint planning is an important means of promoting cooperation, coordination and collaboration among AKIS/RD institutions, and is a necessary step towards creating effective linkages. A high-level government council or board should be established at the national and regional levels, involving both institutional officials and representatives of producers and producers’ organizations in order to ensure that a mandate for joint planning is not only implemented but also effectively pursued.

Invest in the education and training of agricultural producers to enable them to demand services effectively

As agriculture undergoes rapid change, the farming and rural populations that provide seasonal labour for agriculture need new and additional training and retraining to cope with modern technologies and change. This guideline adheres to the notion of bottom-up because the human skills development of agricultural producers is a significant key to advancing technologies in agriculture and to providing the knowledge needed to create profitable small farm enterprise.

Promote gender equality and vulnerable groups’ access to services

Women (in particular) need to be recognized and reimbursed for their contributions to agricultural and rural development, which should be calculated in all statistics relating to agricultural operations. While there is an increasing understanding and appreciation of the roles, rights and responsibilities of both men and women in agricultural production, and of the greater constraints faced by women, there is still much to be done to promote gender equality.

Partnerships and networks

Design structures for effective institutional cooperation

There are no perfect designs for creating effective institutional cooperation, especially between the public and private sectors. In addition to a national AKIS/RD oversight unit with regional branches, also needed are rural development boards or councils that include public and private sector participants. These can be valuable in coordinating government and non-governmental institutions involved in AKIS/RD.

Promote public-private partnerships (and institutional pluralism)

Institutional pluralism is an advantage to most countries for various reasons. A strong private sector can assume responsibilities previously shouldered by government, such as post-harvest storage and the marketing of produce. The private sector can also provide alternative sources of delivery and production services. Public sector programmes should avoid competing with private sector research and extension systems; on the contrary these systems should provide technical support to private providers, develop public-private partnerships for service delivery, share information and coordinate activities with private service providers, and establish financing mechanisms to co-finance some instances of private service delivery, especially to poor farmers.

Insist on programme participation by agricultural producers and rural producer organizations

Agricultural producers and rural producer organizations are an important component of institutional pluralism and are central to agricultural development. Research and extension institutions can encourage greater producer participation in the functioning of their activities by: focusing programmes of research and development on the needs of producers or their organizations; introducing participatory diagnostic methods to identify the real needs of producers; decentralizing research and extension institutions closer to producers; establishing consultative fora among researchers, extension agents and producer organizations; and providing incentives to encourage researchers to listen more carefully to producers and their organizations, and to respond promptly to their needs (Rondot and Collion, 2001).

Promote effective use of traditional communication technologies

Traditional communication technologies, such as radio, brochures, audiovisual videotapes, magazines, etc., continue to be important means of networking with agricultural producers. Radio is an especially important means of communication in many rural areas. Some (FAO, 2003c) consider radio "the one to watch" because it is still the most portable communication medium, the most widespread and the most economical.

Invest in computer/Internet and other modern technologies

Computers (and perhaps eventually cell-phones, whose potential is not mentioned in any of the case studies) promise improved means of connecting institutions and agricultural producers to sources of agricultural knowledge and information. People working in development and development communication are increasingly turning to the Internet to improve their knowledge, gain valuable information and update their skills. Unfortunately, the application of these technologies is often very limited in developing countries owing to logistic reasons, low literacy and poor infrastructure.

Financing systems for innovation

Ensure adequate funding for AKIS/RD

Lack of adequate funding for AKIS institutions tends to be the main complaint and the main constraint mentioned in the case studies. Agriculture and rural development depend on investing in improved quality of life in rural areas and on developing knowledge and information systems. Options for alleviating public sector financial constraints (Beynon., 1998) are illustrated in Figure 5.

Figure 5
Options for alleviating public sector financial constraints

As Figure 5 illustrates, the options for alleviating financial constraints may be classified into two groups: 1) reducing the scope of state financing in those areas where the private sector may be willing to participate or beneficiaries may be willing to pay; and 2) improving cost-effectiveness of remaining services by enhanced priority setting procedures, by making services more user-oriented and responsive to demand, and by improving both the management of existing resources and the efficiency of service delivery (Beynon, 1998).^[12]

Promote repartition of costs

The "user pays" principle for knowledge and information is generally well accepted, but end-users are not all in agreement about paying for services and training. Repartition of costs will presumably take time, as many rural people have not seen effective AKIS/RD services for which they would be willing to pay. The increased commercialization of agriculture, and pressures to maximize competitive advantage are likely to force profitable producers to change in this regard. However, other producers may simply be unable to pay for services because they live on the edge of subsistence. Experience shows that they too will pay for effective services in some cases, but continued subsidies and government support will probably be necessary. Commodity-based repartition of costs can often profitably involve a cess on marketed products. In some cases payment in kind may replace cash payment for services.

Explore various types of investments to develop stakeholder capacities

Government investments are needed to improve users’ access and help them to express their demand for innovation services. A prime example is funding to strengthen RPOs. Competitive grants from donors are valuable for catalysing AKIS programmes, as evidenced by the World Bank Eastern Europe and Central Asia Grants Programme (2003). Contracting with the private sector for service provision may be more effective and efficient than public sector delivery of services. Community demand-driven funds can open up opportunities for AKIS systems to strengthen stakeholder involvement and control over programmes and to enhance effectiveness in the use of funds. Improving the overall performance of the agriculture sector and its contribution to rural development will necessitate fundamental reforms in national AKIS. These reforms require various types of investments to develop stakeholder capacities.