Concepts and practices in agricultural extension in developing ...

The environment of agricultural extension has been changing with more focus on food and nutritionsecurity, poverty alleviation, entry of new actors such as the private sector and NGOs in the deliveryof extension services, changed R&D paradigms and bottom–up approaches for end user involvementin decision-making. However, while the public spending on extension has been shrinking, the role ofgovernment in extension services delivery is also being examined, sometimes separating the financingof extension programs from the delivery of extension services. Alongside a new approach has beenemerging: considering extension as facilitation and producers (farmers) as clients, sponsors andstakeholders rather than beneficiaries. The key trends reflect global socioeconomic change and drivenby key concepts such as participation, client orientation, decentralization as well as developments inmodern information and communication technology.The design of agricultural extension programs in developing countries has been the subject of heateddebate. Guided by these debates, extension services have undergone several transformations in the pastfew decades (Byerlee 1994). In this part of the source book an attempt is made to trace the historicalevolution of extension system/services. Then the generic problems of extension and the steps undertakento address these problems are discussed. The following section reviews the various approaches usedin disseminating information and knowledge. Finally, the changing roles and emerging challenges arediscussed.2.2 Historical evolution of agricultural extensionAlthough agricultural extension has roots as far back as 1800 BC, formal extension in most countriesdid not start until the late 1800s AD. The first modern extension service was started in Ireland during thepotato famine in 1845 (Swanson et al. 1997). In the United States and Canada, formal extension startedduring the late 1800s. France began a national service in 1879 using itinerant agriculturists; Japan andmany of the British colonies also started extension services during this time.The word extension derives from an educational development in England during the second half ofthe nineteenth century. Around 1850s, discussions began in the two ancient universities of Oxfordand Cambridge about how they could serve the educational needs of the rapidly growing populationsin the industrial, urban area, near their homes. It was not until 1867 that a first practical attempt wasmade in what was designated as ‘university extension’ but the activity developed quickly to becomea well-established movement before the end of the century. The dissemination of relevant informationand advice to farmers however has a long chequered history prior to the emergence of modern formsof agricultural extension in the nineteenth century.In the early years of this century, extension services in their formative stage were relatively small inscale and limited in the scope of their work and contact with farmers, and their organization wasoften somewhat haphazard even though based on legislation. They were organized predominantlyeither by central or local governments, or by agricultural colleges, usually in close association withexperiment stations, or by farmers’ organizations, or combinations of these parent bodies. As thecentury has progressed, the organizations have matured in that changes have often occurred to theirparent affiliations, government funding has become broader, especially in ‘the north’ and the extensionworkers have become better trained and more professional.Fifty years ago, agricultural extension organizations in developing countries mirrored the administrativetraditions of the former colonial powers (Axinn and Throat 1972). Like other agricultural support services,32