The purpose of this module on marketing and value chain development is to help extension agents, who are new to working with markets, understand the basic components of marketing and value chains. This module will also focus on the way in which extension agents can work with farmers and other key chain actors to target market opportunities and to develop an action plan that farmers can use to engage with markets successfully. 

In this practical part of the module, you will be familiarised with the use of market analysis tools and value chain upgrading strategies, as well the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in value chains services.

The purpose of this module is to help extension agents, who are new to working with markets, understand the basic components of marketing value chains and the way in which extension agents can work with farmers and other key chain actors to target market opportunities and to develop an action plan that farmers can use to engage with markets successfully. 

In the theoretical part of the module the focus is on the importance of agricultural marketing for farmers, the analysis of the agricultural market and the value chain, as well as market linkage methods. 

This module will provide basic guidelines to extension agents on how to help farmers form strong organisations that are able to effectively provide services to their members. Specifically, the module will discuss the definition of a farmer organisation (FO) and how different formations of farmers play different roles in the agricultural sector. Various factors influence the successful operation of FOs and this module will discuss several of these internal and external challenges, as well as suggestions on how to address them. This module will also look at issues that affect the sustainability of FOs and will help you as an extension agent guide farmers in forming and managing sustainable organisations. Lastly, the module will discuss the most important functions that FOs fulfil in the agricultural sector.

During the last decade, extension and rural advisory services have been increasingly recognised as professions. This module will briefly discuss the concept of ethics and the importance of professional ethics and codes of behaviour in the workplace. This module will look at the meaning of a profession and professionalism and what it means to be a professional. You will learn what qualities and characteristics define a profession and a professional and the importance of professional development. The final part of this module will look at what competencies you will need as a professional extensionist to perform your duties effectively.

The world urban population is expected to double in 30 years leading to a growing number of urban poor. The urban population expansion is more pronounced in developing countries as result of the immigration from rural areas, as people flock to the cities in search of food, employment and security.. The trend is accelerating, and by the year 2030, it is expected that about 60% of the world’s population will be living in cities. Such rapid urbanization and the harsh reality of urban poverty require ad hoc strategies to ensure adequate food supply and distribution systems to address escalating levels of urban food insecurity. Besides the growing demand for food, there is a rapid increase of poverty, unemployment, hunger and malnutrition in the urban and peri-urban environment around the world - issues that are of great concern to central and municipal authorities.

This brief summarises the results and recommendations of a scoping study that examined the current levels of professionalism in the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS) regional networks. The aim was to provide evidence that would guide the future activities and tools offered by GFRAS as well as to promote inter-regional learning and information exchange.

Businesses and other institutions around the world are increasingly using the term ‘professionalism’ to describe their level of service provision. While some professions, for example medicine and engineering, have been well known and recognised through standard qualifications for many years, others – such as rural advisory services (RAS) – have only recently begun to aspire to a high level of professionalism.

In 2016, the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS) commissioned a scoping study to examine the current levels of professionalism in its 11 regional networks. The aim was to provide evidence that would guide the activities and tools offered by GFRAS as well as to promote inter-regional learning and information exchange with a specific focus on training, talent and career development, performance incentives, certification and registration, mentoring and standards.

A growing variety of public and private rural advisory services (Box 1) are available today, leading to increasingly “pluralistic service systems” (PSS), where advisory services are provided by different actors and funded from different sources (Wongtschowski et al., 2013). This is generally regarded as an important step forwards, away from reliance on monolithic, mostly state-led service systems. 

PSS have the potential to overcome constraints related to funding, staffing and expertise, and to make advisory services more demand-driven. But are they really able to reach the hundreds of millions of small-scale farmers in need of services? 

Reality seems to indicate that too many farmers still fall through the cracks between service providers and remain without any services at all. The inclusive aspect of PSS thus warrants closer attention.

Female farmers, who make up on average 43 percent of the agricultural labour force, face gender-specific barriers which limit their agricultural productivity compared with that of men. These constraints include lack of access to rural advisory services (RAS) and producers’ organizations. Improving women’s access to RAS can help close the gender gap in agriculture by making information, new technologies, skills, knowledge, and other productive resources more accessible to female farmers. The GRAST provides: • A methodology for assessing the gender-sensitiveness of RAS and organizations; • feedback on areas of the RAS provision that need improvement or that are working well. The tool focuses on three areas of inquiry (the enabling environment, the institutional level, and the individual level) and is expected to help systematize good practices and lessons learned to provide targeted policy advice and capacity development to member countries working towards gender-equitable rural advisory services.