18 pages, Assessing farmers’ satisfaction with the quality of agricultural-extension services is essential for developing extension programs that comply with farmers’ needs and agroecological conditions. This study aimed to determine factors influencing farmers’ satisfaction with extension services. Data were collected through a questionnaire from a random sample of 393 farmers in the Kafr El Sheikh governorate. Farmers assessed the quality of extension services by five main indicators: (1) availability, (2) accessibility, (3) diversity, (4) relevance, and (5) effectiveness. Descriptive statistics and a logistic-regression model were used to analyze the data. Results showed that farmers had lowly participated in the provided extension services. The accessibility of services was ranked first with regard to satisfaction, while diversity of services was the lowest-ranked quality attribute. Results also revealed that factors significantly influencing farmers’ satisfaction included farm size, diversity of farming activities, annual income, and participation in extension services. Results provide practical implications for policy makers to support smallholder farmers by providing high-quality extension programs.
33 pages, A key factor in determining the future of agricultural extension efforts is ensuring that the voices of those who need to be heard are represented at all stages of the decision-making process. As agricultural extension becomes increasingly globalized, it is critical that the diversity of voices represented within capacity assessments likewise increases. Using two distinct approaches, the present study attempts to address a current gap within the extension literature specifically related to extension assessment respondent groups. First, 97 extension related assessment manuscripts were identified during a literature review and analyzed for respondent group. The results indicated most studies included only one respondent group. Among these assessments clientele and Beneficiaries and Formal Power Roles were the respondent group categories most frequently examined. Next, a primary study was conducted to identify which respondent groups should be represented in capacity assessment according to agricultural extension experts. The panelists had the highest level of agreement regarding the inclusion of extension clientele and beneficiaries within capacity assessments. However, panelists agreed that representation from outside influences and formal power roles were also important to include in the capacity assessment process. The results indicate extension networks should purposively include a diverse set of respondents when conducting assessments to ensure a comprehensive perspective is represented.
19 pages., Advancing information and communication technologies (ICTs) has become central to international agricultural and extension development efforts. ICTs are crucial in facilitating information transfer, ensuring stakeholder access to information, and increasing the decision-making capacity of smallholder farmers. The research presented here introduces an instrument developed to quantify perceptions of ICT use capacity within international extension networks. The aggregate scale was verified for content validity, response process validity, internal structure validity, and consequential validity informing its use. The instrument was administered to network members (n = 122) associated with the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted with measures of correlation and reliability analyzed. Six factors were extracted and analyzed further. The resulting Perceptions of ICT Use scale and factors can be used as reliable instruments for quantifying perceptions of ICT use capacity, enhancing international extension network needs assessments, and informing policies and practices which maximize ICT capacity.
35 pages, Mozambique remains predominantly poor. The official statistics show that poverty incidence barely changed from 54% in 2002–03 to 55% in 2008–09, which stands way above the government's target of 45% by the year 2009. This places the country off-target to cut hunger and poverty by half by 2015, despite an annual economic growth of about 7% in the period 1994–2010. In rural areas, poverty levels have slightly increased, due to the underperformance of the agricultural sector. Extension services can have a significant impact on poverty reduction through stimulating growth in agricultural productivity. Based on a nationally representative household survey from Mozambique, this paper uses three econometric models, namely an OLS regression, the doubly robust estimator and matching and regression to estimate the economic impact of receipt of extension. The results suggest that the receipt of extension increases farm incomes by 12%. However, rather than crafting resource-poor technologies, extension services tend to target wealthier households who are relatively more likely to adopt the existing technologies. This might increase income inequality. The impact of extension, and therefore its contribution to poverty reduction, can be enhanced through several mechanisms (e.g., programme design and the number of staff).
12 pages, Rural farmers account for the greater part of the population of any developing country such as Nigeria. Governments of developing countries have a major responsibility of ensuring that there is adequate rural development in their various communities and local governments which would lead to effective and efficient agricultural systems that will not only supply food and animal protein but also foster the utilization of natural resources in a sustainable manner (CGIAR, 1995). When the rural farmers lack access to knowledge and information that would help them achieve maximum agricultural yield, they are not only grope in the dark but are driven to the urban centres in search of formal employment, as the only option for survival (Munyua, 2000). Blait (1996) pointed out that the least expensive input for improved rural agricultural development is adequate access to knowledge and information in areas of new agricultural technologies, early warning systems (drought, pests, diseases etc), improved seedlings, fertilizer, credit, market prices etc. There have been short-comings of traditional print and library based methods (Van and Fortier, 2000) of providing such agricultural information to rural farmers who are generally illiterate and relatively remote from formal sources of information (e.g. extension stations, libraries). Aina (2007) also, was of the opinion that farmers would benefit from global information, if information centres, are cited in rural areas complete with all information and communication gadgets.
Rural farmers in Nsukka local government area of Enugu state are not noted to produce enough food, probably due to some constraints that lead to lack of access to timely and up-to-date information which would have enabled them to achieve optimal yield from their farmlands. Such information is highly desired by these farmers and can only be made available to them via extension workers, community libraries, state and local government agricultural agencies (ADP, ENADEP etc), e-mail or the World Wide Web (WWW) in a telecentre (Telecommons Development Group, 2000). In this modern day of information technology, telecentres provide the rural farmers with prompt and reliable information about what is happening in areas of improved seedlings, better methods of cultivation and fertilizer application, pest and weed control/eradication, new advances in livestock production and disease control etc. Where rural farmers are not faced with constraints in accessing agricultural information, traditional media such as rural radio, has been used in delivering agricultural messages to rural farmers (Munyua, 2000). Other ways of delivering these messages or information to the rural farmers include print, video, television, films, slides, pictures, drama, dance, folklore, group discussions, meetings, exhibitions and demonstrations (Munyua, 2000).
The lack of access to basic agricultural knowledge and information by rural farmers in Nsukka local government area of Enugu State which may be as a result of certain constraints has made these farmers to stick to their old traditional methods of farming system and animal husbandry practice, hence resulting in poor crop and livestock productivity. Information and knowledge are very vital in agricultural development of any community and where they are poorly disseminated as a result of certain constraints, the community’s agricultural development becomes highly impeded. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the constraints of the rural farmers in Nsukka local government area of Enugu State in accessing agricultural information.
12 pages, Smallholder farms are complex systems, constantly adapting to context and rely on local, place-based knowledges. The vital role of local knowledge in smallholder farming systems has seen attempts throughout low- and middle-income countries to entwine local knowledge with scientific knowledge to improve outcomes from agricultural extension. Using a systematic review and exploratory meta-synthesis of selected literature, this research explored the use of local knowledge in agricultural extension. The synthesis found local knowledge plays a vital role in the adoption of new technologies or practices because as the dominant form of knowledge in communities they give learners confidence and they provide a context upon which new information can be introduced. However, effective use of local knowledge requires a realistic perspective which recognises that some combination of local and scientific knowledge, developed in a participatory process, will likely result in extension delivering greater outcomes to farmers.
