INTERPAKS, Reports the summary and recommendations of a document published by the Economic Commission for Africa under E/CN.14/AGRIP/10.A. Makes a comparative analysis of agricultural extension organization and administration in Ethiopia, Malawi, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
23 pages, Increasing doctoral degree holders in Sub-Saharan Africa may significantly impact the quality and quantity of undergraduate and graduate programs. Research capacity is crucial to successfully completing a thesis or dissertation and obtaining a graduate degree. Unfortunately, in Sub-Saharan Africa, many students abandon or delay their degrees at this stage due to limited research and writing skills. This study aimed to identify the most critical thesis and dissertation (TD) research needs of masters and PhD students from Sub-Saharan Africa. Thirty-eight skills were identified from the literature and presented to agricultural education and extension/leadership students. Borich (1980) and Witkin (1984) needs assessment models were used to ascertain the perceived importance and extent of students' knowledge of TD topic areas. The top identified needs were extracting a manuscript from a thesis, writing a journal article, choosing inferential statistics, deciding the descriptive statics, and what to review in the literature. A total of 15 items were identified as critical needs using the Witkin model. The findings identified challenges and opportunities for improving Sub-Saharan African graduate students' research knowledge and TD performance, implying that combining the two models to identify training needs may produce more comprehensive results than using only one methodology.
7 pages, Agricultural extension is the medium through which external agricultural technologies have been transferred to and transplanted in Africa to improve agricultural performance. Over a period of close to a century, different agricultural extension models have been proposed but their structure and content has virtually been the same: top-down, linear, non-participatory transfer of technology with no feedback loops for reverse diffusion. This presumably explains the poor performance of Africa’s agriculture and the scale of food security challenges facing the continent. In this review paper, we trace the history of agricultural extension and examine various agricultural extension delivery models to identify their major strengths and weaknesses, using Ghana and Burkina Faso as case studies. We then review the most recent literature in the field about the philosophy, scope, content, delivery, and outcomes of agricultural extension. The conclusion that agricultural extension has consistently remained out of sync with the needs and aspirations of stallholder farmers was reached. Smallholder farmers are now calling for new agricultural extension delivery models that are truly farmer-led, indigenous knowledge-based, context-specific, culturally-relevant and environmentally-sustainable to guarantee efficient farming systems into the future.
Foti, Richard (author), Nyakudya, Innocent (author), Moyo, Mack (author), Chikuvire, John (author), and Foti, Richard (author)
Format:
Paper
Publication Date:
2006-05-21
Published:
Zimbabwe
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 151 Document Number: C24489
Notes:
Retrieved July 5, 2006, Conference sponsored by the International Association for Agricultural Information Specialists (IAALD) in Nairobi, Kenya, May 21-26, 2006. Via Livelihoods Connect. 10 pages., Conference theme: "Managing agricultural information for sustainable food security and improved livelihoods in Africa."
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 154 Document Number: C25055
Notes:
Retrieved December 9, 2006, Presented at ICT Observatory 2003: ICTs - transforming agricultural extension, Wageningen, The Netherlands, September 23-25, 2003. 29 pages., Author uses case studies to describe some potentials being explored, such as telecentres, multi-purpose community centres and citizen post offices as well as radio, television and video.
Review of John F.A. Russell, "Essential ingredients of an effective extension service and some issues arising from World Bank experience in sub-Sahara Africa." Presented to Zimbabwe's Annual Project Review Conference, May 1985.
