25 pages, Online journal article, Existen diferentes modelos para pensar la extensión rural. Con el fin de indagar las concepciones de extensión rural de los extensionistas que trabajan en diez diferentes países latinoamericanos se realizó una encuesta. La muestra fue no probabilística incidental (n=589). Se observa predominio de una concepción transferencista de la extensión rural en el promedio de las 10 muestras, con importantes diferencias entre países. La muestra uruguaya posee una orientación dialógica. No se observa presencia de concepciones asociadas al desarrollo local/territorial o a la noción de sistemas de innovación. Se recomienda implementar acciones para definir de manera crítica y consciente los modelos de extensión rural que se desea implementar.
12 pages., Article #: 1274944, via online journal., Agricultural extension is perceived as the primary mechanism through which farmers expand their ability to adopt and adapt new technologies and ideas. The use of Information and Communication Technology like videos in extension is being fronted as an alternative to the conventional Face-to face extension approach (F2FEA). A comparison of effectiveness of the Video-mediated extension approach (VMEA) and F2FEA among rice farmers in two districts of Uganda challenges the independent use of the two approaches. A cross-sectional survey of two nonequivalent groups subjected to VMEA in Kamwenge and F2FEA in Hoima districts was conducted with 196 farmers. The results indicate greater potential for integration of VMEA and F2FEA as the two are complementary in the various stages of the farmer learning framework developed. VMEA is significantly better in awareness creation and sharing of knowledge and experiences while the F2FEA is significantly better at enhancing knowledge acquisition and retention and application. The relative strengths of VMEA and F2FEA can best be harnessed through integration of the approaches. The integration will not solve the problem of large farmer to extension ratio common in developing countries but will rather make the extension workers more effective. The integration however calls for rethinking of institutional
arrangement, roles of the extension worker, and pragmatic retooling of the extension worker to embrace social learning principles that empower farmers to be more self-directed learners and innovators.
Ragasa, Catherina (author), Ulimwengo, John (author), Randriamamonjy, Josee (author), Badibanga, Thaddee (author), and International Food Policy Research Institution
Washington, DC office
Western and Central Africa Regional Office
Format:
Online journal article
Publication Date:
2016-04
Published:
Netherlands: Taylor and Francis
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 108 Document Number: D10953
32 pages, via online journal article, Purpose: As part of the institutional reforms and agricultural restructuring in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), this paper provides an assessment of the performance of the agricultural extension system as well as factors explaining it.
Method: This paper involves key informants’ interviews and surveys of 107 extension organizations and 162 extension agents in randomly selected 156 villages, analyzed using qualitative and logistic regression methods.
Findings and Practical Implications: Results show that despite having one of the highest extension agent-to-farmer ratio and a pluralistic extension system, DRC fails to deliver knowledge and technologies to rural areas due to lack of coordination, no unified and clear policy and mandate, lack of funding, aging and low competencies of agents, and lack of mobility and interactions of agents with key actors. This paper complements findings by other studies that number of agents is not a sufficient indication of performance, but an effective system needs to focus on the enabling environment for agents to be motivated to work as mandated. In this paper, enabling conditions that are found to be statistically significant are external funding, enforcement of performance targets, systems of rewards and sanctions, mobility to foster linkages, and skills development.
Originality: This paper contributes by: (1) analyzing a cross-section of various organizations and agents to identify factors that explain variations in performance in a statistical and systematic approach; (2) providing insights on how to prioritize investments and options for a fragile state like DRC, with weak infrastructure and institutional capacity and with a long history of neglect for their national extension system; and (3) illustrating how a rich and well-cited conceptual framework can be implemented empirically to provide policy options for a country like DRC.
10 pages, via online journal, As the agricultural industries of developed countries undergo an extended period of change, increasing numbers of farmers are leaving farming. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between intention to exit farming and farmer wellbeing, drawing on and adapting the conservation of resources theory of stress. In a quantitative analysis of 674 Australian farmers, we show that the more likely a farmer is to leave farming, the poorer their wellbeing; but this is moderated by smaller farm size, greater profitability, earning a larger proportion of income off-farm and older age, all of which attenuate the relationship between exit intention and poorer wellbeing. We conclude that it is important for policy-makers to consider the wellbeing of farmers when designing strategies to assist exiting farmers, as poor wellbeing at exit may reduce capacity to adapt successfully to life after farming.
