Publications

This workshop was a follow-up to the study, Georgia: ICT Infrastructure and Use in Agriculture, Agricultural Policy, Research, and Education Organizations (T. Temel, A. Maru, 2003), commissioned by the Sustainable Development Group (REUS) of the FAO Regional Office for Europe (REU). Ten presentations and discussions on information and communication systems (ICS) in their respective organizations showed relative strength in technologies and databases at institutional levels, but weak connectivity to the local user levels.

This new publication aims to provide a preliminary response to the question: How can developing countries encourage the various systems, organizations and producers concerned with agricultural research, education and extension, and operating in the public or private sector, to behave as one system with regard to the agricultural development component of rural development? In other words: what do developing countries need to establish and maintain an Agricultural Knowledge and Information System (AKIS) that targets agriculture – broadly conceived as crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry – as a main component of rural development (RD)?

This publication addresses the challenges faced by agricultural extension services in their provision of support to food security initiatives . The content of this booklet has been drawn from a major paper, “Agricultural Extension, Rural Development and Food Security Challenge”, written by William M. Rivera, Visiting Scholar, University of Maryland, College Park, USA and M. Kalim Qamar, Senior Officer (Agricultural Training and Extension), FAO Extension, Education and Communication Service. The authors address the dynamic role of agricultural extension services today.

Azad Jammu and Kashmir is located in the north of Pakistan. Male migration in the region has resulted in crop farming and livestock raising and management becoming increasingly women's domain. According to a senior administrator at Azad Jammu and Kashmir's Department of Agriculture, livestock care and management is entirely in the hands of women in almost 90 percent of households. Similarly, women's participation is significant in farming-related operations such as harvesting and the cleaning and storing of major crops (wheat, maize, fodder, etc.).

In view of the future trends in agricultural extension worldwide (pluralism, decentralization, etc.), the purpose of this study is primarily to review and analyze the national policy and strategy of the public extension system, the on-going programmes and the various approaches to provide farming communities with necessary assistance. Based on the innovations in agricultural extension identified in different states of the country, it was possible to draw some preliminary lessons and make suggestions for policy reform taking into consideration emerging support needs of farmers in India.