A GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE EXTENSION METHODS FOR DIFFERENT SITUATIONSnafis.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/extension-methods.pdf · 2012-05-28 · A GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE EXTENSION METHODS

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APPROPRIATE EXTENSION METHODS

NATIONAL AGRICULTURE AND LIVESTOCK EXTENSION PROGRAMME (NALEP)

A GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE EXTENSION

METHODS FOR DIFFERENT SITUATIONS

© NALEP, June 2011

Compiled by: Mary Nduru

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FOREWORD

Agricultural extension provides the bridge between the research stations and the farmers, carrying and bringing back knowledge based upon local experience for further investigation. Essentially, it is rural teaching whose participation is purely voluntary with the total rural population as the potential class. This was clearly stated at the introduction of extension in Kenya, in the colonial agricultural policy of 1945, which stated that extension work consists of the supply of advice to all farmers, large scale and small scale through all the available extension methods. Agricultural extension is the term used to describe the process by which rural people are persuaded to adopt improved farming methods to improve crop and livestock productivity. There are several extension methods in use today geared at achieving this goal.

This document seeks to identify relevant extension methods in different situations for maximum impact, taking into consideration the diversity of needs by the whole spectrum of extension beneficiaries/clients.

I believe this document will enhance the work of extension service providers in imparting information and skills to the farming community..

Tom BonyoNALEP PROJECT COORDINATOR

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Acknowledgements are made to the Nalep Coordinators in Kilifi, Malindi, Nyeri, Nyandarua, Muranga, Garissa and Fafi districts for facilitating this process. The Provincial Coordinators and staff; Uzel Mzera, Ruth Mwangi and Peter Githunguri who accompanied the PCU team in group discussion with various respondents are hereby acknowledged.

Our gratitude goes to Nalep Coordinator, Mr. Tom Bonyo who facilitated the development of this important document by providing the necessary funds. The contributions of Coast Province Nalep Coordinators and SMS in pretesting and revising the data collection tool are greatly appreciated.

Appreciations go to Moses Kamau, Mary Mugo, Patrick Nkonge and John Ayere who diligently made sense of the data collected in seven districts and 14 respondent groups to come up with this document. All those who contributed directly or indirectly to the development of this document are highly acknowledged

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TABLE OF CONTENT

FOREWORD .........................................................................iiACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................... iiiABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS .....................................v

ABSTRACT ............................................................................vi

1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................... 1

2 STUDY METHODOLOGY. ............................................. 12.1 List of extension methods as suggested by staff and farmers

in the five districts ............................................................ 12.2 Data Collection ................................................................. 22.3 Findings. ........................................................................... 3

3 DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS .......................... 63.1 Field days.......................................................................... 63.2 Demonstrations ................................................................. 73.3 Individual Farm Visit .......................................................... 73.4 Courses ............................................................................ 73.5 Barazas ............................................................................. 83.6 On-Farm Trials .................................................................. 83.7 Educational tours .............................................................. 93.8 Farmer Field Schools ........................................................ 93.9 Mass media ...................................................................... 93.10 ICT .................................................................................. 103.11 Group visit ....................................................................... 10

4.0 RECOMMENDATIONS. .............................................. 10

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ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

ATC Agriculture Training Centre

GOK Government of Kenya

ICT Information (and) Communication Technologies

MOA Ministry of Agriculture

MOLD Ministry of Livestock Development

NALEP National Agriculture and Livestock Extension Programme

SIDA Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

SMS Subject Matter Specialists

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ABSTRACT

In the past NALEP has used several extension methodologies to diffuse innovations and technologies to the clients. Nalep carried out a study to evaluate these methodologies in Coast and Central provinces. The study endeavored to identify and evaluate viable methodologies in use, in order to understand when and where various methods are relevant and put more emphasis on the most effective ones in different situations

From the findings of this study, Individual Farm Visits are the most preferred extension methodology by farmers. The reason given by farmers for this is because of the opportunity offered by the method to ask questions and learn skills interactively on the farm. The study recommends that the Government of Kenya increases the extension staff strength. as a way of enhancing the number of farmers reached.

ICT as an extension methodology has huge potential. It therefore should be emphasized by enhancing the capacity of the extension officers and improving the requisite infrastructure like providing internet connectivity in field extension offices. Agricultural Training Centers should also be equipped with computer laboratories.

Other extension methodologies considered in this study include Field days, Demonstrations, Courses, Educational tours, On-farm trials, Barazas, Farmer field schools and Mass media with varying preferences by extension staff and farmers.

Pairwise comparison method was used as tool for this analysis. The study considered five evaluation issues i.e. effectiveness, efficiency, and adoption process, inclusiveness of participation and gender responsiveness. Every one of these five issues was evaluated through two indicators.

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1 INTRODUCTION

NALEP uses the focal area extension approach to reach its clients and stakeholders in agricultural production. Several extension methodologies have been used to diffuse innovations and technologies to the clients since inception of the programme in July 2000. The programme endeavors to identify and evaluate viable methodologies in use, in order to understand when and where various methods are relevant and put more emphasis on the most effective ones in different situations. This is on the premises that phase II of NALEP will end in December 2011 and this study will inform the next phase of the programme which is in the process of conceptualization to be implemented in January 2012.

2 STUDY METHODOLOGY.

The study was carried out in Kilifi and Malindi in Coast province and Nyandarua, Nyeri and Muranga South in Central province and Fafi and Garissa in NEP. The first activity was to take an inventory of all extension methodologies in use in the districts and pick the six most used based on the farmers and staff preferences for further evaluation.

2.1 List of extension methods as suggested by staff and farmers in the seven districts.

Individual farm visit1. Educational tours2. Demonstrations3. Field days4. Courses 5. Farmer Field Schools6. On-farm trials7.

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Barazas 8. Mass media9. ICT10. Group visit11.

EVALUATION ISSUE INDICATORS

1 EFFECTIVENESSNumbers reached•Content •

2 EFFICIENCYTime•Cost•

3 ADOPTIONNumber of technologies.•Skills acquisition.•

4PARTICIPATORY/INCLUSIVENESS

Other extension service •providers’ participationFarmers’ ability to participate •actively

5GENDER RESPONSIVENESS

Men preferring the method•Women preferring the method•

The six chosen extension methodologies were evaluated on the basis of the following five issues and their corresponding indicators. Pairwise comparison tool was used to evaluate these methods in each of the five districts. The evaluation team did a pretest with the NALEP coordinators and subject matter specialists (SMS) in Coast Province who gave valuable input to the tool.

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2.2 Data Collection.

The extension methodologies were evaluated by two respondent groups- one for farmers and another for extension staff in each district. For each group the six methods were paired and compared on each issue and its corresponding indicators. The groups discussed and based on consensus agreed on preferred methodologies. Scores were recorded for each methodology.

2.3 FindingsThe following matrix shows the scores for each extension method based on the five issues and their corresponding indicators.

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FarmersFarmersStaff Staff FarmersFarmersStaff FarmersFarmersStaff StaffStaff Farmers Staff Farmers Staff Farmers Staff FarmersFarmersStaffStaffFarmersFarmersStaff Staff FarmersFarmersStaff FarmersFarmersStaff StaffStaff Farmers Staff Farmers Staff Farmers Staff FarmersFarmersStaffStaff

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FarmersFarmersStaff Staff FarmersFarmersStaff FarmersFarmersStaff StaffStaff Farmers Staff Farmers Staff Farmers Staff FarmersFarmersStaffStaffFarmersFarmersStaff Staff FarmersFarmersStaff FarmersFarmersStaff StaffStaff Farmers Staff Farmers Staff Farmers Staff FarmersFarmersStaffStaff

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3 DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

All the evaluated extension methods had their varying strengths and weaknesses. It is noted that extension officers and farmers had different choices of the six most important extension methods. Staff in Nyeri and Kilifi did not include individual farm visit among these, yet this method scored highest with farmers in 4 out of the seven sampled districts and was chosen by farmers in all 7 districts.

It is clear that some methods like Barazas and Mass Media are good for creating awareness whereby many farmers are reached within a short time. These methods are however very poor on content and skills acquisition.

Mass media and ICT were only picked in one district each (Nyeri and Kilifi respectively) and only by extension staff. Group visit was selected as an important extension method in Fafi and Garissa districts of NEP.

Below is a detailed discussion on each of the extension methods.

3.1 Field days

Field days scored high both from the farmers and staff •perspective on numbers reached (92%, 88%). This method scored very low on content (16%, 24%) for both •farmers and staffStaff indicated that field days are cost effective (84%).With •a limited budget and time an extension officer can reach a sizeable number of farmers through field days.Field days are not effective in imparting skills.•When there are many technologies to be passed to farmers •

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field days are ideal.Field days are also the ideal method for involving many service •providers in a single extension event.

3.2 Demonstrations

This method ranks high on content, skills acquisition and •beneficiary participation by both farmers and staffFemale farmers prefer demonstrations compared to male •farmers.Demonstrations are not appropriate for promoting many •technologies in a single event.

3.3 Individual Farm Visit

Individual farm visits are the most preferred extension •methodology by farmers .The reason given by farmers is the opportunity offered by this method to ask questions and learn skills interactively on the farm. This method has no financial cost and is time efficient to the farmer as it is demand driven.

The method however is not popular with staff because of low time and cost efficiency considering scarcity of extension staff.Beneficiary participation and skills acquisition rated high at 96% •for both farmers and staff.Individual farm visit does not encourage participation of other •service providers who would prefer an event that has a large number of clients for time and cost efficiency.

3.4 Courses

This method scored well with farmers in giving detailed content •of technologies, number of technologies passed in an event

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and high number of service providers’ participation. However the number reached is low because of the cost implication and complicated organizational logistics.Residential courses are popular with women farmers but from •staff respondents more men than women attend the training. The women indicated that they would like to attend but are constrained by household chores and some are not allowed to attend by their husbands.Farmers do not find courses time efficient as it keeps them •away from their farming activities.

3.5 Barazas

This method is ideal for creating awareness in a short time on •sensitization issues such as disease outbreaks, input availability weather forecasts and other emergencies.

It scored very poorly in content, skills acquisition, number of •technologies and beneficiary participation. Barazas are more popular with male than female farmers •because they are also used as platforms for current affairs.

3.6 On-Farm Trials

This method is not widely used in extension but where it is •applied, it was highly regarded especially by farmers in Kilifi. The method was picked in three out of the five districts where the survey was done. These were Malindi, Kilifi and Nyeri. On farm trials did well on skills acquisition and content of •extension technology. The method is relatively poor in beneficiary participation.•

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3.7 Educational tours

The method is low in numbers reached because the tours are •mainly self sponsored by farmers and even when programmes sponsor them only a few benefit. It is therefore inefficient on cost and takes farmers away from their farms.Men are generally more interested in tours than women •farmers. Women however are limited by their gender roles and permission from their spouses.

3.8 Farmer Field Schools

This method did well on content, skills acquisition and •beneficiary participation. The beneficiaries are able to move with the enterprise through all the stages of production.The method is more popular with women farmers as compared •to men.It is weakest on number reached and service provider •participation and number of technologies covered as it is enterprise based.

3.9. Mass media

The method scored high on number reached, time efficiency •and it is favored by male farmers compared to women.Mass media especially radio is an effective method in creating •awareness within a short time because of its wide coverage.The method is weak in content; cost efficiency, skills acquisition, •number of technologies passed, service provider participation and beneficiary participation.The method was picked as important in Nyeri only out of the •seven districts.

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3.10 ICTThe method scored high in content, number of technologies, •service provider and beneficiary participation.It is more popular with female than male farmers.•The method is weak in number reached, time efficiency and •skills acquisition. This is because of low computer literacy and poor ICT infrastructure.

3.11 GROUP VISIT

This method was only applicable in group farm of North Eastern Province where beneficiaries of extension services are members of irrigated group farms. Group visits are organized when extension officers have information to pass on to the whole group.

It scored high on time and cost efficiency where staffs are •concerned in Fafi and Garissa districts.The method ranks fairly well with farmers on handling many •technologies and skill acquisition

4 RECOMMENDATIONS.

The Government of Kenya should increase the extension staff i. strength as a way of enhancing the use of individual farm visits methodology of extension which proved to be the most popular with farmers from this study

There is need to exploit the opportunity of using the Agricultural ii. Training Centers for technologies that require more content such as training farmers on agronomy of new crop varieties like Nerica rice .

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Field days as a methodology are very effective in passing many iii. technologies as well as involving many service providers in a single extension event. The study recommends up scaling of the use of field days to increase farmer coverage and participation of more service providers.

Demonstrations are appropriate for passing technologies iv. that need skills acquisition e.g. value addition and fodder preservation. It is recommended that this method be used for targeted technologies.ICT as methodology has huge potential but has been grossly v. underutilized. This situation should be reversed by enhancing the capacity of the extension officers to use ICT as a tool by improving the requisite infrastructure like providing internet connectivity in field extension officers. Agricultural training centers should be equipped with computer and requisite ICT equipments.Mass media especially radio has high potential to reach farmers. vi. It is recommended that extension programmes make use of this methodology to give messages that are sensitization in nature like crop varieties, weather predictions and farm inputs availability.

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OVERALL SCORE FOR THE SELECTED METHODS

Method FD D IFV TR B T OFT FFS MM ICT GV

Total score 416 414 356 304 181 113 103 115 14 24 23

IFV - Individual farm visitT - Educational toursD - DemonstrationsFD - Field daysT - Training/ Courses FFS - Farmer Field SchoolsOFT - On-farm trialsB - Barazas MM - Mass mediaICT - Information communication technologyGV - Group visit

Field days, demonstrations and individual farm visit ranked the first 3 methods overall considering both staff and farmers’ preferences. Training ranked fairly well at position 4, followed by barazas, FFS and tours. It’s worth noting that each method has its place even though they rank poorly in this survey because respondents selected them among their 6 most important ways of accessing extension services for farmers; and passing on agricultural technology by extension officers. They are relevant in different situations.

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Documents

A GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE EXTENSION METHODS FOR DIFFERENT SITUATIONSnafis.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/extension-methods.pdf · 2012-05-28 · A GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE EXTENSION METHODS