Module 4: Theory & Practice of Agricultural Extension

The Universe of Extension

Extension Paradigm

How extension is viewed

Extension Approach

How extension is organized

Extension Strategy

How to operationalize the extension approach

Extension Method

What teaching or communication techniques to apply in each extension strategy

• Technology Transfer

• Non-formal Education

• Human Resource Development

• Facilitation for empowerment

• Knowledge Management

• Provision of Advisory Services

Extension Paradigms (6) 

R → Research
D → Development
E → Extension
Continuum

What does RDE stands for in the RDE Continuum?

Research Phase

Technology Transfer:
- Knowledge/technology generation & development.

Extension Phase

Technology Transfer:
- Knowledge/technology transfer & utilization

1. SMS – Subject Matter Specialists

2. AEWs – Agricultural Extension Workers

3. LFTs – Lead Farmer Technicians

4. Small Farmers/Fishers – End-users

Key Intermediaries in the Technology Transfer chain (4)

Research → Translation → SMS → AEWs → LFTs → Small Farmers/Fishers

the Technology Transfer flow in order.

1. Formal 

2. Non-formal (extension, village-level classes)

3. Informal (education at work setting, etc.)

(3) Types of Education

Formal

Primary, Secondary, University, polytechnic, ITEs

Non-formal

extension, village-level classes

Informal

education at work setting, etc.

It represents non-formal education activities that continue learning beyond formal schooling.

What does the “extension” in the education continuum represent?

Lifelong learning

timeline of birth to death represents?

Human Resource Development

• Generally, building the social capital of clients.

• Specifically, capability building of the agriculture, fisheries and natural resources and rural sectors.

  • Technical/technological

  • Business

  • Organizational

Facilitation for empowerment

• Extension employs participatory approach.

• Extension facilitates knowledge interaction where participants make their own decision

Knowledge Management

• To make the best use of knowledge by generating, capturing, sharing, and applying it effectively.

1. Generate

2. Capture

3. Share

4. Apply

(4) Stages of Knowledge Management

Efficient use of

1. People

2. Processes

3. Technology

4. Networks

(4) Elements that need for effective Knowledge Management

Generate Stage

Knowledge Management:
- New knowledge is created through research and innovation.

Capture Stage

Knowledge Management:
- Knowledge is recorded, organized, and stored for future use (e.g., in databases or reports).

Share Stage

Knowledge Management:
- Knowledge is communicated or transferred to others through meetings, trainings, or publications.

Apply Stage

Knowledge Management:
- Knowledge is used in practice—to make decisions, improve methods, or create new technologies.

Provision of Advisory Services

• Dissemination of information about technologies, markets, inputs and financial services.

• Development of farming and management skills.

• Brokering interactions between farmers, the private sector, research, education, and government.

• Coaching different actors to improve market access, deal with changing patterns of risk, and protect the environment

Provision of Advisory Services

• Strengthening capacities

• Empowering rural people

• Promoting innovations

Agricultural Innovation System (AIS)

Role of advisory services in the AIS: Broker of knowledge

Extension Approach

• encompasses the philosophy and style of action which informs, stimulates, and guides the extension system, its nature/ type of structure, leadership, programs, resources and linkages.

• the dominant guide and style of an extension system or organization to achieve the system’s goals and objectives most effectively.

• an organized or coherent combination of strategies and methods to make rural extension more effective (Haverkort and Roling, 1991).

1. General Extension Approach

2. Commodity Specialized Approach

3. Training And Visit Approach

4. Agricultural Extension Participatory Approach

5. Project Approach

6. Farming Systems Development Approach

7. Cost-sharing Approach

8. Educational Institution Approach

(8) Extension Approaches: 
- Based on Axinn (1988)

1. Scheme Approach

2. Commodity Approach

3. Technical Change Approach

4. Target Category Approach

5. Functional Group Approach

6. Farmers’ Organization Approach

(6) Extension Approaches: 
- Based on ICRE (1991)

Extension Approach:
GENERAL EXTENSION APPROACH

Basec on Axinn, 1988

• assumes that technology and knowledge that are appropriate for local people exist but are not being used by them.

• usually fairly centralized and government-controlled.

  • success measures: adoption rate of recommendations and increases in national production.

• It can interpret national government policies and procedures to rural people.

• Usually covers the whole nation. Relatively easy to control by central government.

• There are officers and staff in every political division, ensuring continuity of extension programs.

• When it works well, it provides for rapid communication from department level to rural people

(4) General Extension Approach ADVANTAGES

• It lacks “two – way communication.”

• Communication about farmers’ problem, needs and interest tends not to flow up through the extension channels.

• Field staff tend to be not accountable to the rural people: may ignore priorities of local people while trying to satisfy supervisors.

• It is expensive and inefficient since messages are inappropriate, the impact is low and cost of personnel is very high.

(4) General Extension Approach DISADVANTAGES

Extension Approach:
COMMODITY SPECIALIZED APPROACH

Basec on Axinn, 1988

• key characteristic: groups all the functions for increased production - extension, research, input supply, marketing and prices - under one administration.

• fairly centralized and is oriented towards one commodity.

• managed and financed by commodity organization.

• agent has many functions.

• Messages are appropriate as technology is “fit” the production problems

• Efficient, timely and effective delivery due to better coordination with research, input supply and marketing of output.

• Focus on narrow range of technical concerns, closer management and supervision, fewer farmers per AEW.

• Easier to monitor, evaluate and relatively more cost effective.

(4) Commodity Specialized Approach ADVANTAGES

• Farmers’ interest may have less priority

• Usually difficult to handle conflicts

• Fails to provide advisory services to other aspects of farming when farmers produce more commodities

• Farmers are confused with several extension workers from different agencies, with competing advice or demands.

• With narrow focus, environmental factors may be ignored

(5) Commodity Specialized Approach DISADVANTAGES

Extension Approach:
TRAINING AND VISIT APPROACH

Basec on Axinn, 1988

• fairly centralized based on a rigorously planned schedule of visits to farmers and training of agents and subject matter specialists.

• close links maintained between research and extension.

• agents are only involved in technology transfer.

• success measures: increases in the production of particular crops or commodities.

• Government is forced to organize a number of agricultural extension units into one integrated service

• AEWs are forced to get out of their offices and meet with farmers.

• With regular training, AEWs are more up to date with information and technology.

• Field staff receives greater technical supervision

• Logistical support to extension staff are more available

(5) Training and Visit Approach ADVANTAGES

• Technology is not enough to increase production

• Often bias in favor of the rich or more powerful in selecting contact farmers.

• Top-down and supply driven.

• Recommendations are not prompted by farmers’ expressed needs

• High long term cost to the government.

• Change from place to place and from time to time

(6) Training and Visit Approach DISADVANTAGES

Extension Approach:
AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION PARTICIPATORY APPROACH

Basec on Axinn, 1988

• Focus: expressed needs of farmers' groups

• Goals: increased production and an improved quality of rural life.

• decentralized and flexible.

• Success measures: numbers of farmers actively participating and sustainability of local extension organizations.

• Failure of previous models

  • Simplistic measures of success and corresponding under-estimation for institution building

  • Lack of ownership by intended beneficiaries

  • Unresponsiveness to variation in farmer needs and priorities

  • Failure to reach poor and women farmers

• Fiscal Reasons

  • High and unsustainable public cost

  • Shrinking public sector budget and resources to support extension

• Governance related concerns

  • Emergence of active civil society

  • Decentralization of government authority and control

  • Search for more responsive models

(3) Why Participatory Extension

• Mutually supportive relationship develops among participants

• Increase confidence, awareness, and activity among farm people

• Greater empowerment resulting from a bottom up decision making approach

(3) Agricultural Extension Participatory Approach ADVANTAGES

• Difficult to manage

• Central reporting and accounting

(2) Agricultural Extension Participatory Approach DISADVANTAGES

Extension Approach:
PROJECT APPROACH

Basec on Axinn, 1988

• concentrates efforts on a particular location, for a specific time period, often with outside resources.

• purpose: often to demonstrate techniques and methods that could be extended and sustained after the project

• success measure: change in the short term

Exntension Intervention

• It can give quick results

• Novel techniques and methods can be tested and experimented

(2) Project Approach ADVANTAGES

• Time is too short, ends when budget ends

• Tend to consume large resources on baseline surveys and the establishment of temporary logistic base.

• Staff both local and expats tend to become the immediate beneficiaries

• Pressure to show immediate results leading to fictitious reporting

• Innovations introduced are quickly abandoned once external funding ceases

(5) Project Approach DISADVANTAGES

Extension Approach:
FARMING SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT APPROACH

Basec on Axinn, 1988

• key characteristic: systems or holistic approach at the local level

• close ties with research are required and technology for local needs is developed locally through an iterative process involving local people

• success measures: extent of local people adoption and continue to use technologies developed

FSR/E Model

AKIS & AIS models

• Farmers can easily see the results in the application of technology in the field

• Strong linkages between extension and research personnel

• Farmers are committed to use the technologies they helped to develop

(3) Farming Systems Development Approach ADVANTAGES

• Only one farmer cooperator benefits

• The farmer cooperator cannot continue the operation after the end of the project.

• Little adoption of the technology packages due to failure in addressing farmers’ socio-economic and institutional environments

• Costs can be high, and results can be slow

(4) Farming Systems Development Approach DISADVANTAGES

Extension Approach:
COST-SHARING APPROACH

Basec on Axinn, 1988

• assumes that cost-sharing with local people will promote a programme that is more likely to meet local situations and where extension agents are more accountable to local interests.

• Purpose: to provide advice and information to facilitate farmers' self-improvement.

• Success measure: willingness to pay

• Local program planning increases the relevance of the program content and methods to the needs and interests of clientele

• Higher adoption rates

• Local influence on personnel selection, contributes to their ability to communicate effectively and win the confidence of rural people

• Lower cost of central government

(4) Cost-sharing Approach ADVANTAGES

• More difficult for central government to control either program or personnel

• Reporting financial management, and other aspects of administrative concerns tend to be more complex and difficult

(2) Cost-sharing Approach DISADVANTAGES

Extension Approach:
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION APPROACH

Basec on Axinn, 1988

• uses educational institutions which have technical knowledge and some research ability to provide extension services for rural people

• implementation and planning: often controlled by those who determine school curricula.

• Emphasis: transfer of technical knowledge.

• It can help the schools in providing real world relevant examples to their academic teaching materials (build practical into classroom)

• Good training for scientists and field extension personnel

• More efficient use of human resource due to borrowing personnel from educational institution , instead of maintaining AEWs as part of their own professional staff

(3) Educational Institution Approach ADVANTAGES

• Instructors as trainers of field extension staff tend to speak too academically

• Lectures and demonstration may not be as practical and useful from a farmer’s perspective

• Competition between the LGU extension workers and extension staff of the university

(3) Educational Institution Approach DISADVANTAGES

GENERAL EXTENSION APPROACH

Extension Programs of the Agricultural Training Institute

COMMODITY SOECIALIZED APPROACH

Rice Extension Program of RCEP

TRAINING AND VISIT APPROACH

National Extension Program during the Green Revolution

AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION PARTICIPATORY APPROACH

Farmers Field School

PROJECT APPROACH

Development of Farm Business School

FARMING SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT APPROACH

Techno Gabay Program of ATI and DOST

COST-SHARING APPROACH

Collaborative Extension Programs among Extension agencies

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION APPROACH

Farmer Scientists Training Program of UPLB

Extension Approach:
SCHEME APPROACH

Based on ICRE, 1991

• Organized and coherent combination of extension strategies and methods which aims at the reinforcement of the rules and regulations of a scheme

• Communication is used to instruct and/or convince the tenants of the scheme to abide to the rules

Example: Extension to support the enforcement of an Irrigation Scheme.

Extension Approach:
COMMODITY APPROACH

Based on ICRE, 1991

• Extension approach that facilitates the production of one specific crop (commodity).

• The extension content is limited to technical and administrative or commercial aspects of the production of the commodity ❑ Extension is managed by the society or board which frequently has monopolized the markets

Example: Extension support for banana for export.

Extension Approach:
TECHNICAL CHANGE APPROACH

Based on ICRE, 1991

• The most common extension approach that aims at the maximum adoption of a number of innovations

• Technical information is diffused indiscriminately within the rural society – first to a small number of ‘progressive farmers‘ in the hope that autonomous diffusion processes will multiply the impact of the intervention

Example: Extension intervention for massive adoption of biotechnology, organic agriculture, etc.

Extension Approach:
TARGET CATEGORY APPROACH

Based on ICRE, 1991

• Extension approach which provides carefully selected information, and other support for the specific needs of deliberately chosen categories in the population based on the similarities of their needs and/or opportunities

Example: Extension Programs for RICs, IPs, etc.

Extension Approach:
FUNCTIONAL GROUP APPROACH

Based on ICRE, 1991

• Extension approach where one of the prime targets is to form groups who join the efforts to mobilize the necessary resources to be able to achieve a shared goal

• The change in behavior of the participants is carried out through mobilization, organization, training, technical and resource support, and special efforts to consolidate and replicate the results

Example: Extension programs for rural reconstruction

Extension Approach:
FARMERS’ ORGANIZATION APPROACH

Based on ICRE, 1991

• Extension approach where independent, self-management, and in most cases permanent organizations are formed with the objective to propagate some kind of social or economic development for the members

• The organization seeks their objective by setting up social and/or economic activities, for which they sometimes hire professionals or technician.

Example: Extension programs for farmers’ organizations

1. Client-oriented approaches

2. Farm-family approach

3. Demand-driven approach

4. Private extension approach

5. Farmer-led extension approach

6. Agri-tourism approach

Alternative Approaches (6)