AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION AND

GENDER (EEE 3209)

Lecture 3:
Part 1: Future of agric Extension
Part 2: Introduction to models of Agricultural
Extension Service Delivery

Mubangizi Narisi (PhD)

Semester 2: 2017/2018

23rd February 2018

Part 1: Future of agric Extension
 The future of ag extension
Need for information and advise for agricultural and rural
dev’t is likely to increase in the near future. Why????

Agriculture still faces a challenge of keeping pace with the

rapidly increasing population with consequent reduction in
cultivable land.

Farmers need to be more efficient (More tendencies

towards specialization, intensification and market
orientation)

Extension will still remain a key policy tool for promoting

ecologically and socially sustainable farming practices.
 The future of ag extension
The agent is no longer seen as the only expert with all the
useful information and technical solutions; the farmer’s
indigenous knowledge is also recognized as a major
resource.

Since the scale at which extension support is often larger

than the individual farm, extension workers need new skills
of negotiation, conflict resolution, and the nurturing of
emerging community organizations.

There is likely to be less bureaucratization within

hierarchical extension services and a reduction in the levels
of public funding.

There is expected increase in the use of ICT in support of

extension.
Factors likely to shape the future of ag extension
Climate change and climate variability (determines nature of
technologies)

Economic and policy climate economic diversification, reduced

funding to agric)

Social context in rural areas including such phenomena like

Rural urban migration, improved infrastructure, natural
resource degradation, improved literacy levels e.t.c)

Innovation systems arising from complexity of challenges,

increasing number of actors)

Information Communication Technologies (ICT)

 Part 2:
Introduction to extension service
delivery models
 Meaning of extension model
Model is a simplified representation of a complex issue
or system

Shows the components of the system and how they work

together for the system to properly function

In the context of agric extension, the components

include; different human actors (agric extension agents,
funders & farmers), approaches, methods and the
broader context.

The model shows how the above components interact for

extension to deliver the expected results
 Models of extension services
Models of extension services mainly categorized based on the
providers and funders of extension services.

Traditional supply-driven: Provided and financed by government &

donors. This is closely similar to the technology transfer model

Demand-driven, participatory & pluralistic extension services:

Financed by government, donors & other funders and provided by
public, NGOs & private providers

Private extension services: Provided by private extension agents &

financed by cooperatives; farmers, NGOs, etc

NGOs: Financed by NGOs, provided by private or public agricultural

extension agents (AEA)

A combination of models e.g. Public-Private Partnerships e.g.

National Agric Advisory Services (NAADS) which was funded by gov’t
but delivered by private sector.
Traditional supply-driven extension services
Traditional extension services have been evolving over time
but still remain largely;
Financed and provided by government

Supply-driven and use top-down approach

Poorly funded with weak human capacity

Limited access by women & people in remote areas

Low morale of providers

Major focus is on production

Potential for the traditional supply-driven model

Remains the most widely employed in SSA

Evolving due to the emerging participatory development

approaches, donor orientation, and decentralization

Provides services on a wider array of technologies

regardless of their demand –but still focused on production
Constraints of the traditional supply-driven model
Limited impact due to possible mismatch between needs
and actual services offered and less of accountability to
clients

Poorly funded and equipped

Does not take advantage of farmers’ indigenous

knowledge.

Access by women is more limited than is the case under

demand-driven approaches

Coverage in remote areas is limited.