Mphahlele ck.pdf - University of Limpopo Institutional Repository

are the ones who can afford and access information; the remaining majorities rely on
the extension service from the ministry of agriculture which cannot cater for all the
needs of all small-scale farmers in the Province due to budget and other constraints,
for example, extension officers knowledge, which influence the methods of service
delivery. This leads to low use of techniques used in agricultural production such as
inputs, mechanization and minimal application of appropriate management practices.
Most improved varieties of crops and livestock breeds’ are barely accessible to small-
scale farmers. Marketing processes are starved of information, from research
institutions and from numerous other sources, that is expected to be useful to a wide
range of people engaged in agriculture. This relevant information and advisory
services during the entire chain of agricultural production to inform choices of
appropriate inputs, seeds, chemicals and technology is limited (Agricultural Research
Information Service; Undated). Despite these difficulties, small-scale farmers are
known to produce the greater proportion of food consumed in the Third World,
especially in sub-Saharan Africa (Odulaja and Kiros; 1999). If they only have the
much-needed information then they would take agricultural production to greater
heights.
2.10.1 Information dissemination
Extension, as the organized exchange of information and the purposive transfer of
skills, is a rather recent phenomenon. Obviously, transfer of information and skills
has existed since the emergence of permanent agriculture by farmers exchanging
their own practices with fellow farmers. Today's practice is different in that the
process is dominated by organizations, and its scope has extended from
disconnected local events to a complicated and even worldwide process. Hence the
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