Focus on... Extension

The provision of training, advice and information to farmers is a sector that is seeing many changes. Traditionally the task of government departments, many extension services are now provided by other bodies; farmer organisations, research institutes, NGOs and commercial companies. Extension methods are also changing. The success of Farmer Field Schools, initially in Asia and now increasingly in Africa, has shown that many farmers learn more from observation, experimentation and discussion than demonstrations and talks. If the trend towards 'discovery learning' continues, Farmer Field Schools could become a more widespread and inclusive form of extension, for both crop and livestock farmers. Serving the diverse extension needs of farming communities raises many challenges, illustrated by several articles in this edition of Focus on. Reaching remote mountain communities, nomadic groups or even deaf school children will always require extension workers to 'walk the extra mile'.

Targeting extension to a moving target

Picture an extension agent on his bicycle or motorbike, visiting farmers who work land much like his own. He gives them advice, perhaps invites them to a nearby training event, and goes home. Now imagine that the extension agent returns the following month only to find that the farmers and all their animals have departed in search of fresh pasture and water...

Extension strives for dizzying heights

If extension is about out-reach then the agricultural advisory service in Bhutan has one of the furthest reaches in the world. High in the Himalayas, the Renewable Natural Resources Extension Service has to scale great heights to get to its target farmers...

A growing connection for Ghana's deaf children

At Cape Coast School for the Deaf, there's excitement in the air. One of the sows on the school farm has just given birth to nine piglets. What's more, the other six sows on the farm are also pregnant. The farm club members have also been busy in refining their crop production...

Lifelong learning for livestock farmers

With lack of information shown to be a major constraint to improved milk production in Kenya, a collaborative project supported by FAO and DFID's Animal Health Programme was undertaken to determine whether the Farmer Field School methodology could be adapted for smallholder dairy farmers...

Taking CARE in Mozambique

In Inhumbane province in Mozambique it is not uncommon to find fields of several hectares with only one crop, grown in neat lines and evenly spaced. In this particular region of Mozambique, government extension is not available so CARE is the 'partner of choice'...

Bridging the rural digital divide

The speed of technological change offers many people a 'fast-track' to information, self-improvement and enhanced status. For many others though, deprived of access to modern communication networks, the prospect is not a fast-track but a cul-de-sac...