Agricultural extension by Mwangi Mumero
With a ratio of one agricultural
extension worker for 1,470 farmers, Kenya still fall short of the recommended
one worker to 400 farmers, a recent conference in Nairobi was told.
The conference brought together some
400 leading global experts in agriculture development from 75 countries
However, experts at the conference
agreed that technology that can disseminate information to farmers beyond
face-to-face interaction is crucial to filling this gap.
Farm extension and rural advisory
services occupy a strategic position in the agricultural production cycle.
They link farmers to information
about appropriate farming practices, when and what to plant, and how to use new
technologies like seeds and soil management techniques developed by
researchers.
Extension service providers also
pass on feedback from farmers to policy makers and help to ensure that
government policies are effectively meeting the needs of farmers.
“We are the link between new knowledge
and the farmers. Without extension officers, new ideas in farming, soil and
water conservation and agricultural economics will remain just abstract ideas.
We interpret these ideas into practical solutions”, observed Charles Njogu, an
agricultural extension officer in Murang’a County.
Over the years, agricultural
extension services have received lip service by government leading to a major
disconnect between researchers in organizations like KARI, ILRI, ICRAF and
others producing volumes of new research which were never implemented .
Seventy-five percent of the world's
poor live in rural areas, and most of them depend on agriculture for their
livelihoods.
Studies have shown that agricultural
growth reduces poverty by twice the rate of growth in other sectors.
It has therefore become imperative
that agricultural extension service be strengthened to boost food production as
global population soar.
"With the global population
approaching nine billion by 2050, we need widespread adoption of farming
practices that can sustainably increase yields in a changing climate to feed
more people, while also creating new job and market opportunities to address
high unemployment and poverty," said Michael Hailu, executive director of
CTA—the Netherlands-based Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural
Cooperation at the conference.
Mailu added "Smallholder
farmers—particularly women—produce the bulk of food in developing countries,
often under difficult circumstances. National governments and international
donors must redouble their efforts to boost smallholder agricultural production
if we are to reverse persistent food insecurity and rural poverty."
But for African farmers to fight
hunger and food insecurity, new ideas must be able to get to the grassroots
according to the speakers at the conference.
"To unlock the potential of
smallholder farmers to fight hunger and food insecurity, and to bring
prosperity, these innovations must reach farmers. Extension agents and advisory
services are critical in transforming Africa's agriculture," said Dr.
Namanga Ngongi, president of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa
(AGRA).
He added that new technologies and
access to seeds and inputs and better management practices are critical to
changing this dire food situation.
Availability of extension services
is slowly changing with the entry of better equipped players.
Recently, agricultural extension
systems in many countries have changed from under-funded, centrally controlled,
top-down programs to initiatives where many different entities are providing
information and advice to farmers—from NGOs to bulk commodity purchasers and
research institutes to state agencies.
These demand-driven reforms have
made them cost-effective, efficient and sustainable.
At the same time, ray of hope in
filling the gap in extension services across the African continent has come in
for of emerging technology.
The rise of community radio stations
across Africa, combined with the mobile phone revolution, have the potential to
transform the extension and advisory sector, according to experts at the
meeting.
Call-in programs have turned radio into
an interactive tool that gives a voice to farmers, and SMS services provide
farmers with timely market information.
“Radio has become a very vital way
of getting information on any aspect of agriculture. We only need to call or
text on a certain designated number and our queries are answered”, says Ngari
Maina, a Kirinyaga- based farmer who is a regular listener to Mugambo wa Murimi (Farmer’s Voice)- a
programme aired by a local vernacular radio station in Central Kenya.
In West Africa, there are several
projects that are testing the use of SMS to give farmers market prices,
extension advice, and even information on appropriate social and health-related
issues.
The Scientific Animations Without
Borders (SAWBO) project uses Bluetooth technology to transmit videos that
provide farmers with farming and health advice, such as control strategies for
insects that attack cowpea plants and cholera prevention.
"These communications
technologies are part of a new age of extension that serve farmers well. They
provide information to farmers when they need it; they give farmers a voice in
development," said Doug Ward, chair of Farm Radio International, a
Canadian-based organization working with hundreds of broadcasters across
sub-Saharan Africa to educate farmers on best practices and inform them of
innovations to improve their harvests.
While communications innovations are
extending the reach of advisory services, farmers themselves are also leading
the way in sharing information with other farmers.
"Farmers are able to see the
benefits firsthand on my farm. They know my advice is based on
experience," said Mary Gichuki, a farmer who has been working with the
East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) project to promote the use of fodder trees
to feed dairy cows.
Experts also noted that revitalizing extension
and advisory services is not simply a matter of allocating more money.
It about reforming the way these
services work and their systems of governance, and making sure that the reforms
that are already underway are effective and achieve the desired impact. (ends)
