The basic recipe for boosting performance is well known: more investment, better access to financial services, improved seeds, and a lot more fertiliser (appropriately applied).
What is less appreciated is the key role played by agricultural extension workers. They link small-scale farmers to new research, helping to improve their knowledge and skills so they can take advantage of market opportunities. In African countries prone to climate shocks, these extension workers have an increasingly important role to play if farmers are to learn to adapt and build their resilience.
There’s just one big problem: governments have tended to ignore extension work.
“The extension service provider’s role is enormous and urgent, especially as [the unpredictability of] climate change has brought a new dimension to agricultural research and development,” Max Olupot, of the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services, told IRIN. More
This story was written by Sophie Mbugua
Comments
There is a problem in the section of Extension. The demand is low and yet highly required.Our farmers really need information but the extensionists become rare to reach to the household levels