16 pages, Lack of access to agricultural extension and advisory services has been identified as one of the major challenges facing emerging farmers in South Africa. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of access to these services by emerging livestock farmers in uThungulu District Municipality of KwaZulu-Natal. A survey design was used with face-to-face interviews to collect data using a semi-structured questionnaire. A sample of 1 437 was randomly selected from 4 792 emerging livestock farmers in the district. Descriptive statistical analyses were performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 software. The results show that more than 90% of emerging livestock farmers in the district had high access to public extension and 14% had access to private extension, in addition. About 32% of the respondents also had access to extension and advisory services from agricultural cooperatives. There was an improvement in access to these services by emerging farmers compared to the past. The involvement of the private sector and cooperatives in rendering extension and advisory services to emerging livestock farmers shows that various stakeholders are involved in improving emerging livestock farmers in the province.
8 pages, Agricultural extension can be defined as the entire set of organisations that support and facilitate people engaged in agricultural production to solve problems and to obtain information, skills and technologies to improve their livelihoods and well-being. Extension officials should ensure that farmers are engaged and capacitated so that they can make production decisions that are not in conflict with nature, yet such decisions ensure that their well-being is improved. With 75% of the world’s poor living in rural areas, the topic of improved agriculture through agricultural extension is viewed as central to poverty reduction. There have been questions posed by stakeholders (communities, policy-makers and politicians) about the non-visibility and accountability of agricultural extension in the communities that it is supposed to help. There are however a number of factors (perceived or real) that make agricultural extension less or not visible nor accountable. Therefore, this paper investigates and proposes a theoretical framework or model to ensure that agricultural extension is visible and accountable to all stakeholders. This will in turn ensure that there are noticeable increases or improvement of the lives of the resource poor farmers and communities.
14 pages, The study assessed the agricultural extension agents' climate change training needs in Abia state. Eighty-three extension agents were chosen for the study using a simple random sampling procedure. Questionnaire was used to collect data, which was then summarized using percentages, frequency counts, and the mean. The findings indicated that male agricultural extension agents comprised a majority (53%) of the state's agricultural extension agents. The average household contained between one and five members (60%). Only 10% have a master's degree, while the majority (69%) have a bachelor's degree. The average length of employment was 15 years. The study's findings indicated that there are still extension agents who are unaware of climate change (1%). Agricultural extension agents in the study area have a limited understanding of all six climate change statements. Extension agents provide significant climate change services to farmers, including technical advice on climate change ( =2.0), the establishment of Small Plot Adaptation Techniques (SPAT) to monitor the impact of climate change (=2.1), and educating farmers on appropriate agrochemicals for climate change adaptation (weed and pest control) ( =2.2). Additionally, the results indicated that understanding fundamental climate change concepts ( =3.7), utilising cultural practises to mitigate and adapt to climate impacts ( =3.4), and environmentally friendly management practises to mitigate and adapt to climate change ( =3.4) were the primary areas of need for climate change training among extension agents. Inadequate funding for training (=3.4), a lack of financial support from organizations ( =3.3), and an inability to access financial support from funders (=3.3) were the major barriers to attending climate change training for extension agents. Regular climate change seminars and training workshops for agricultural extension agents at the federal and state levels will help to improve their overall knowledge of climate change issues. The Agricultural Development Program should utilize Forth nightly training (FNT) meetings to educate extension agents about climate change issues.
16 pages, Agricultural extension is one of the essential services that are offered by the South African Department of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development (DALRRD), to facilitate agricultural development in rural communities. The significance of agricultural extension is that it offers new knowledge to farmers and allows space for growth through various interventions such as agrarian transformation and improving livelihoods through the promotion of agriculture as a vehicle for ‘pro-poor’ economic growth. However, there is a concern that extension services are invisible in resource-restricted and previously marginalised rural communities. The study presented in this paper examined farmer’s experiences with extension practitioners and the impact of a lack of extension services on the development of impoverished rural communities. The researchers adopted a qualitative design wherein six focus group discussions were held to gather data from the farmers. Data were analyzed using ATLAS.ti22, a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS). Four themes of extension services that have a direct linkage to livelihood development, namely, the impact on rural livelihoods, production challenges, marketability, and economic impact, and the invisibility of extension services, were the central point of discussion.
15 pages, This study presents a designed ICT based extension service delivery system for the sugar industry of Eswatini. The model is an improvement of the current system and it presents a delivery system that is void of many limitations. This model emanates from findings of a survey which involved all smallholder sugarcane farmers (N=172) and their extension officers (N=17). The survey investigated how information and knowledge are currently managed within the sugar industry. Basically, the model revolves around the use of mobile phones to relay information among the sugar industry stakeholders in a timely, more organised, productive and cost-effective ways, without contravention of the COVID-19 pandemic protocols. Sugarcane stakeholders can now be able to exchange information using the model without having to meet physically, which is what most of the traditional approaches required. The exchange of information can be in a form of voiced, pre-recorded information in the form of texts, audio, or audio visuals. This would go a long way in enhancing smallholder farmer’s productivity as it has the potential of empowering more rural sugarcane farmers with crucial information for improved productivity. The model has the potential to sustain itself as the participation of the stakeholders is promoted.
