EBookClubs

Read Books & Download eBooks Full Online

EBookClubs

Read Books & Download eBooks Full Online

Book Agricultural extension  Global status and performance in selected countries

Download or read book Agricultural extension Global status and performance in selected countries written by Davis, Kristin E., ed. and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2020-09-02 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural transformation and development are critical to the livelihoods of more than a billion small-scale farmers and other rural people in developing countries. Extension and advisory services play an important role in such transformation and can assist farmers with advice and information, brokering and facilitating innovations and relationships, and dealing with risks and disasters. Agricultural Extension: Global Status and Performance in Selected Countries provides a global overview of agricultural extension and advisory services, assesses and compares extension systems at the national and regional levels, examines the performance of extension approaches in a selected set of country cases, and shares lessons and policy insights. Drawing on both primary and secondary data, the book contributes to the literature on extension by applying a common and comprehensive framework — the “best-fit” approach — to assessments of extension systems, which allows for comparison across cases and geographies. Insights from the research support reforms — in governance, capacity, management, and advisory methods — to improve outcomes, enhance financial sustainability, and achieve greater scale. Agricultural Extension should be a valuable resource for policymakers, extension practitioners, and others concerned with agricultural development.

Book Agricultural extension and rural advisory services  What have we learned  What   s next

Download or read book Agricultural extension and rural advisory services What have we learned What s next written by Davis, Kristin E. and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2021-10-29 with total page 14 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural extension provides the critical connection from agricultural innovation and discovery to durable improvements at scale, as farmers and other actors in the rural economy learn, adapt, and innovate with new technologies and practices. However, lack of capacity and performance of agricultural extension in lower- and middle-income countries is an ongoing concern. Research on agricultural extension and advisory services (in short, extension) has been an integral part of the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) since its inception. This brief synthesizes key findings from research funded by and linked to PIM from 2012 to 2021, presenting lessons learned and a vision for the future of extension. A list of all PIM-related extension and advisory services research is provided at the end. Designing and implementing effective provision of extension is complex, and efforts to strengthen extension services often fall into a trap of adopting “best practice” blueprint approaches that are not well-tailored to local conditions. An expansive literature examines the promises and pitfalls of common approaches, including training-and-visit extension systems, farmer field schools, and many others (Anderson and Feder 2004; Anderson et al. 2006; Waddington and White 2014; Scoones and Thompson 2009). To understand extension systems and build evidence for what works and where, the “best-fit” framework, a widely recognized approach developed by Birner and colleagues (2009) and adapted by Davis and Spielman (2017), offers a simple impact chain approach (Figure 1). The framework focuses on a defined set of extension service characteristics that affect performance: governance structures and funding; organizational and management capacities and cultures; methods; and community engagement — all of which are subject to external factors such as the policy environment, agroecological conditions, and farming-system heterogeneity. To enhance extension performance and, ultimately, a wide range of outcomes and impacts, new and innovative interventions can be applied and adapted within this set of extension characteristics.

Book Supply of and demand for agricultural extension services in Malawi     A synthesis

Download or read book Supply of and demand for agricultural extension services in Malawi A synthesis written by Ragasa, Catherine and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2018-02-14 with total page 7 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are more than 120 organizations and programs in Malawi working on agriculture that include extension service provision among their main activities. However, extension service provision is largely "projectized" uncoordinated, and unmonitored. This Note synthesizes the main findings from the recent surveys and interviews of households, communities, and service providers about the status of access to these extension services, challenges on both demand and supply sides, and suggestions and reflections that can inform the ongoing development of the National Agricultural Extension Strategy.

Book COVID 19 and global food security  Two years later

Download or read book COVID 19 and global food security Two years later written by McDermott, John and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2022-03-07 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the health, economic, and social disruptions caused by this global crisis continue to evolve. The impacts of the pandemic are likely to endure for years to come, with poor, marginalized, and vulnerable groups the most affected. In COVID-19 & Global Food Security: Two Years Later, the editors bring together contributions from new IFPRI research, blogs, and the CGIAR COVID-19 Hub to examine the pandemic’s effects on poverty, food security, nutrition, and health around the world. This volume presents key lessons learned on food security and food system resilience in 2020 and 2021 and assesses the effectiveness of policy responses to the crisis. Looking forward, the authors consider how the pandemic experience can inform both recovery and longer-term efforts to build more resilient food systems.

Book Impact of Uganda s National Agricultural Advisory Services Program

Download or read book Impact of Uganda s National Agricultural Advisory Services Program written by Samuel Benin and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Uganda, agricultural extension has been hotly debated since the implementation of the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) program in 2001. Conceived as a demand-driven approach and largely publicly-funded with services provided by the private sector, the NAADS program targets the development and use of farmer institutions. It is a key strategy in the government’s poverty reduction and national development plan. Due to methodological challenges arising from the complex ways that many factors influence the relationship between extension inputs and outcomes, as well as data-quality issues, the effectiveness of agricultural extension in raising agricultural productivity and incomes and reducing poverty is often viewed with skepticism among policymakers and development practitioners. The NAADS program has been no exception. Some initial evaluations, mostly qualitative in nature, indicate the program has had a favorable effect on increasing the use of improved technologies, marketed output, and wealth status of farmers receiving services from the program. However, the program does not appear to be promoting improved soil-fertility management, raising concern about the sustainability of potential productivity increases. Now that the first phase of the program has ended, this study rigorously assess the outcomes and impacts obtained thus far, in order to help inform the current second phase and offer lessons for others implementing or planning to implement demand-driven agricultural advisory services in developing countries. The findings presented here are useful to policymakers of central and local governments, farmer groups, advisory service providers, donors, and others seeking to improve agricultural extension services in Uganda and elsewhere. Program evaluators and policy analysts will find the methods instructive.

Book The role of extension and advisory services in building resilience of smallholder farmers

Download or read book The role of extension and advisory services in building resilience of smallholder farmers written by Davis, Kristin and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2014-05-04 with total page 4 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although there is an increasing base of literature on extension and advisory services, their role in building resilience in particular has not yet been explored empirically. The literature on resilience in general is itself only in the nascent stage. However, past intervention efforts that attempt to move from emergency responses to long-term development indicate that without well-capacitated systems for implementing interventions, such a transition could be difficult. This brief explores the sustainable-livelihoods framework to conceptualize the capacity needs of resilience-focused extension and advisory services. It indicates where to move the policy and research agenda forward with regard to the role of extension and advisory services in building resilience.

Book National extension policy and state level implementation  The case of Cross River State  Nigeria

Download or read book National extension policy and state level implementation The case of Cross River State Nigeria written by Ogunniyi, Adebayo and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2020-07-15 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural extension plays a number of important roles in the growth and transformation of the agricultural sector, including improving agricultural productivity and food security and reducing hunger and malnutrition. Extension programs and interventions that will achieve significant impacts in terms of behavior and practice changes, as well as agricultural productivity increase, will succeed as a result of suitable policy formulation and an effective implementation process. Ultimately, agricultural extension reform requires policy vision and determination and a state-level strategy that can be implemented. This paper documents issues, challenges, constraints, and potential solutions and opportunities in implementing the national extension policy (NEP) at the state level in Nigeria, using Cross River State as a case study. We use both quantitative and qualitative methods, in the form of descriptive statistical analysis and an inclusive consultative process with a focus on the multistakeholder participatory model, respectively. The descriptive results show that, generally, there is low access to agricultural extension service across commodities and their respective values chains in Cross River State. We also document interesting insights from the multistakeholder consultative process. We find that collaboration and partnership between private and public extension service providers is key to developing a sustainable extension, advisory, and support service in Cross River State. We also found that coordination and standardization of the activities of the extension service providers is a way to avoid pollution of the agricultural innovation system in the state. Funding of extension services is another important factor affecting the effective implementation of the NEP. We therefore suggest that agricultural extension services can be funded through decentralization, involvement of farmers’ associations and nongovernmental organizations, contracting out of extension services, public-private partnerships, privatization, and embedding advisory services in other types of contracts. The results of this study further validate our approach of using multistakeholder engagement at the state level as an effective and insightful method of implementing the NEP at the state level.

Book Agricultural extension in transition worldwide

Download or read book Agricultural extension in transition worldwide written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2020-04-01 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This publication contains twelve modules which cover a selection of major reform measures in agricultural extension being promulgated and implemented internationally, such as linking farmers to markets, making advisory services more demand-driven, promoting pluralistic advisory systems, and enhancing the role of advisory services within agricultural innovation systems. The reform issues consider the changing roles of the various public, private and non-governmental providers, and highlights the collaboration required to create synergies for more efficient and effective high quality services responding to the needs and demands of smallholder farmers. The modules draw on reform experiences worldwide and provide an introduction, definitions and a discussion for each specific reform measure, as well as case studies, tools, exercises and a reference list. The reform topics are envisaged for policy-makers, management and senior staff of institutions providing agricultural and rural advisory services. It can also be very useful for students studying agriculture, rural development, and extension in particular. This is a substantially updated version of the 2009 publication of the same title, but with only nine modules. These nine modules were restructured and up-dated, and three modules were added. The layout of the modules changed to allow a better overview for the reader.

Book Guide for monitoring and evaluation of the public agricultural extension and advisory service system

Download or read book Guide for monitoring and evaluation of the public agricultural extension and advisory service system written by Yang, P., Ou, Y. and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2023-03-24 with total page 125 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This guide is aimed to propose a holistic, systemic, and easy-to-use methodology that is multiscalar, multisectoral, and multidimensional for the M&E of public EAS systems to help identify gaps and pathways to strengthen and reform the public EAS system. It starts with analyses of the common objectives, subject, challenges, lessons learned, and prospects of the existing M&E systems and expounds on the logical framework, rationale and objectives of the proposed M&E methodology from a multistakeholder perspective. Then it proposes M&E frameworks at the national and grassroots levels following such order as the introduction, key M&E elements, indicator framework, and operational framework. Next, it looks at the issues of data sources, data collection, and capacity building, focusing on the institutionalization of the M&E system in the public EAS. Finally, it introduces the commonly used tools and methods of data analysis, focusing on the weighting of indicators, scoring methods, and integrated analytical frameworks.

Book A decision guide for rural advisory methods

Download or read book A decision guide for rural advisory methods written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2018-05-18 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This decision guide is intended to help extension professionals and their organizations make informed decisions on methods and approaches for providing information, technologies and services to rural producers and to facilitate interactions and knowledge flow. Expected users include field-based rural advisors, extension managers and programme planners.

Book Comprehensive assessment of national extension and advisory service systems

Download or read book Comprehensive assessment of national extension and advisory service systems written by Sulaiman V, R., Chuluunbaatar, D., Mroczek, Z.K., Alexandrova, N., Holley, A., Mittal, N. and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2022-04-05 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Extension and advisory services (EAS) play a key role in facilitating innovation processes, empowering marginalized groups through capacity development, and linking farmers with markets. EAS are increasingly provided by a range of actors and funded from diverse sources. With the broadened scope of EAS and the growing complexity of the system, the quantitative performance indicators used in the past (for example related to investment, staffing or productivity) are no longer adequate to assess the performance of EAS systems. This operational guide meets the longstanding demand for guidance on undertaking such a comprehensive assessment of national EAS systems. It provides detailed directions on how to organize the entire process, from preparation to implementation and consolidation. Its use will help identify gaps and entry points for targeting investments and realigning policies for transforming EAS.

Book N power Agricultural Extension Advisors Training Manual

Download or read book N power Agricultural Extension Advisors Training Manual written by M. K. Othman and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Selected Bibliography on Agricultural Extension and Community Development Programs with Emphasis on Developing Countries

Download or read book Selected Bibliography on Agricultural Extension and Community Development Programs with Emphasis on Developing Countries written by University of Wisconsin. National Agricultural Extension Center for Advanced Study and published by . This book was released on 1962 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Framework to assess performance and impact of pluralistic agricultural extension systems

Download or read book Framework to assess performance and impact of pluralistic agricultural extension systems written by Faure, Guy and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2016-11-11 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Extension and advisory services (EAS) are well recognized as a key factor in contributing to agricultural productivity and growth. However, rigorous evaluation of EAS approaches and assessment of complex national or subnational pluralistic EAS systems are rare. This working paper examines the literature on experiential and empirical insights and explores methods to assess complex pluralistic EAS systems. The authors present conceptual thinking on innovation systems and EAS, and review the IFPRI “best-fit” framework. This framework remains relevant because it is based on a holistic perspective with an impact pathway orientation. The paper aims to operationalize and improve the best-fit framework to guide the evaluation of complex EAS systems. The authors draw on and summarize existing literature to illustrate methods and tools used to analyze each component of the framework. The review pays close attention to the literature and methods for assessing the diversity of service providers and their various delivery tools and learning approaches. The discussion also pays close attention to the interaction of each component and how it affects the performance and impact of EAS from a systems perspective. This paper adds key points and considerations on how to operationalize the best-fit framework to carry out evaluations of pluralistic EAS.

Book Rural Extension Services

Download or read book Rural Extension Services written by Jock R. Anderson and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 42 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Agricultural Extension Reforms in South Asia

Download or read book Agricultural Extension Reforms in South Asia written by Suresh Chandra Babu and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2019-06-27 with total page 410 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural Extension Reforms in South Asia: Status, Challenges, and Policy Options is based on agricultural extension reforms across five South Asian countries, reflecting past experiences, case studies and experiments. Beginning with an overview of historical trends and recent developments, the book then delves into country-wise reform trajectories and presents several cases testing the effectiveness of different types (public and private) and forms (nutrition extension, livestock extension) of extension systems. Further, the book provides a comprehensive overview of challenges and constraints faced in formulating and implementing reforms, tying the results into a concrete set of lessons and highlighting areas that require further research. In addition, the book discusses how a major aspect of agricultural development is the productivity increase from the knowledge base of farmers, and how translating research results into a knowledge base for farmers requires designing and implementing well-functioning extension programs. Presents the current challenges and solutions by region, and provides insights for application in global settings Provides key foundational information for the effective and efficient design of future intervention programs Includes workshops and presentations based on real-world research of specific aspects of extension systems and provision of advisory and consultation services to various governments