Rapid industrialization and urbanization coupled with an ageing rural population pose serious challenges to agriculture in South Korea. More than 46% of farmers in Korea are 65 years old or older. International trade agreements related to agriculture concluded in the early 1990s made Korean agriculture more vulnerable as it opened intense competition to its agricultural produce. The Government recognized the need to deploy cutting-edge technologies (including mechanization and automation) and the importance of having highly competent professional agricultural managers to lead its agriculture and fisheries industries so as to enhance the competitiveness of Korean agriculture. Though the country has been producing agriculture graduates who have studied the discipline for four years, they have been reluctant to put their expertise to use in agricultural fields as they prefer laboratories and offices. The education system in the agricultural colleges have failed to foster a new generation that can practice agriculture.

The paper examined demand-driven agricultural extension education in Nigeria and emphasized the need for extension professionals to acquire soft skills in addition to their technical capabilities through the utilization of demand-driven extension education (DDEE) strategies. A review of demand-driven agricultural extension education in Nigeria as introduced by Sasakawa Africa Fund for Extension Education in universities was carried out to assess the concepts of demand-driven extension education, capacity development, skill, skill- mismatch. The reviews were analysed using themes and the findings were reported based on the themes identified from the review analysis.

This study analysed the perceived effects of professionalization of extension services by extension agents in South West Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was used to elicit data from three hundred and one (301) public agents and fifty-five (55) private agents that were selected through a stratified random sampling procedure. The public and private agents had basic knowledge about the concept of professionalization and exhibited a favourable attitude towards professionalizing extension services. Extension agencies should support continuous professional development of extension agents through trainings and acquisition of relevant higher degrees that will help to enhance their knowledge thus upgrading their professionalization-readiness status.

To serve farmers and agribusiness operators better, we need to prepare new generations of agriculture development professionals, change our extension curriculum and pedagogy and prepare competent extension professionals. To improve training of extension professionals, the editors of this manual conducted three comprehensive studies on essential competencies of extension professionals in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. These studies identified essential job competencies of extension professionals, assessed whether these key competencies were covered in current UG extension curriculum, determined the gaps in essential job competencies of extension professionals and recommended competency-based curriculum with 11 process skills and core competencies and 97 subcompetencies for their inclusion in the UG agricultural extension curriculum.

This training manual was prepared under the EU-funded project Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS), a global partnership (Agrinatura, FAO and 8 pilot countries) that aims to strengthen the capacity of countries and key stakeholders to innovate in complex agricultural systems, thereby achieving improved rural livelihoods. CDAIS uses a continuous learning cycle to support national agricultural innovation systems in eight countries in Africa (Angola, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Rwanda), in Asia (Bangladesh and Laos), and Central America (Guatemala and Honduras). CDAIS brings together key partners and actors to address commonly identified challenges and opportunities in specific regions or within particular value chains. Together they develop and implement national capacity development plans to strengthen agricultural innovation. This manual is a resource for the training of National Innovation Facilitators (NIFs) across all 8 countries. The objective of the training is to strengthen the NIFs’ facilitation skills and their ability to carry out Capacity Needs Assessments (CNAs) in agricultural innovation niche partnerships. The training is intended to be delivered by the Agrinatura Focal Persons (AFPs) and the Country Project Managers (CPMs) in each country, with the help of various other support personnel from Agrinatura and FAO. These trainers have themselves gone through a Training of Trainers process to familiarise them with the training manual, the interactive and participatory approach required and the use of the various facilitation tools that are contained within it.​

This document presents the final report concerning the research “Evaluation of Extension Reforms in Brazil”, which objective was to evaluate Brazilian federal government’s actions related to Technical Assistance and Rural Extension (ATER by its acronym in Portuguese). In order to do so, we have analyzed the implementation and execution of the National Policy of Technical Assistance and Rural Extension (PNATER by its acronym in Portuguese) from 2004 to 2015.

This report has been divided into five chapters. The first chapter presents a history of governmental actions related to ATER in Brazilian history. The objective of this chapter was to recover the main issues related to ATER 's Public Policies in Brazil based on documentary research and extensive literature review. It represents an attempt to understand the institutional arrangements and the behavior of different agents in the execution of rural development policies. The first chapter also presents a detailed explanation of the principles and guidelines in which the PNATER is based. In addition, it highlights its main innovations in comparison to previous ATER policies.

The document provides an overview and understanding of the GFRAS Capacity Assessment process. The Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) are meant to be a practical set of tools and templates available to support national and regional networks conducting capacity assessments.

This document has been developed for both practitioners and non-practitioners. Specifically, for practitioners the document can be used as a high level reference and guide including detailed supporting documents. For non-practitioners the document is intended to serve as a process overview, with an operational level of detail.

One of the major priorities identified during the first meeting of the AESA (Agricultural Extension in South Asia) network was capacity development of EAS  providers. The first step in this direction was to assess the capacity gaps among the EAS through undertaking a capacity needs assessment at the national level in select countries in the region. 

A synthesis report

About 80% of South Asia’s poor live in rural areas. Most depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Agricultural and rural development is the key to eradicating poverty and creating conditions for sustainable and equitable growth in the region. South Asian agriculture faces several new challenges ranging from  eteriorating natural resources base, climate change and increasing de-regulation of trade. Moreover, the sector is dominated by small farmers often with weak bargaining powers and limited political voice. 

One of the major priorities identified during the first meeting of the AESA (Agricultural Extension in South Asia) network was capacity development of EAS providers. The participants agreed that much more needs to be done to strengthen the capacities and deal with the rapidly evolving challenges in agriculture (AESA, 2014). The first step in this direction was to assess the capacity gaps among the EAS through undertaking a capacity needs assessment at the national level in select countries in the region.

A Guide for Facilitators

About 80% of South Asia’s poor live in rural areas. Most depend on agriculture for their livelihood. A pluralistic and demand driven extension provision, that offers a much broader support to rural producers, is critical for agricultural development and poverty reduction in South Asia. One of the major priorities identified during the first meeting of the AESA (Agricultural Extension in South Asia) network was capacity development of EAS providers. The first step in this direction was to assess the capacity gaps among the EAS through undertaking a capacity needs assessment at the national level in select countries in the region. 

This guide can be used as a standalone document /procedure for assessing the capacity needs of the extension and advisory service providers. However, using this guide for CNA has greater value if the outputs of this exercise are linked to a capacity development process. Moreover, this process also needs to be organised from time to time to identify new capacity gaps. 

 The 41 partners of the Tropical Agricultural Platform agreed to develop a Common Framework on Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CD for AIS). The objective of the TAP Common Framework is to harmonize and coordinate the different approaches to CD in support of agricultural innovation. Such harmonization would promote optimal use of the resources of different donors and technical cooperation agencies. The development and thus the validation of the Common Framework is supported by the Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS) project, funded by the European Commission (EC) and jointly implemented by the European agricultural research alliance AGRINATURA and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The present volume “Guidance Note on Operationalization” complements the volume “Conceptual Background”. The “Synthesis Document”, separately published for ease of consultation, summarizes the content of both volumes.

One of the key problems of public extension services in developing countries is the well-known incentive failure by extension services to respond to clients’ needs and be accountable to them (World Bank and IFPRI, 2010). This is largely caused by the bureaucratic structure of extension administration, offering only few rewards, poor facilities, meagre prospects of promotion based on performance, and low recognition for extension agents (EAs), leading to a general lack of motivation and morale.

Against this backdrop, governments and donor agencies have in the past decades attempted to advance structural, financial, institutional, and managerial improvements to agricultural extension services. Since the 1980s, increasing emphasis has been placed on introducing changes that follow so-called ‘New Public Management’ approaches, which promote different aspects of private sector involvement in extension services, outsourcing and cost-sharing or cost-recovery approaches, a shift from input to outcome performance, and resulted-oriented management (e.g. Anderson and Feder, 2004).

Participation of farmers in all steps of SRI trials and demonstrations help to re-shape the technology. Extension workers working together with farmers in diversified farming and agro-ecological conditions enhanced some of the SRI recommendations/practices according to soil type and other conditions, in particular varieties and farmers' socio-economic situation. These modifications proved to have good results and SRI has been disseminated to several districts of the country. These results emphasized that such partnership and modification can be helpful to increase technology acceptance, especially for those farmers who have poor resource and living far from modern agriculture development.

It was an afternoon of 2002 when I first read about SRI. As an extension officer in the District Agriculture Development Office (DADO), I started promoting SRI in the following years in the district of Morang, Nepal. Over this time I observed hundreds of attractive SRI fields and spent some years as a SRI activist. Looking at the results, I’ve learnt that different farmers face different problems, and that they adapt all techniques to suit their diverse circumstances and needs.

The U.S. Land-Grant Model and Other Examples

Summary of an International Seminar/Webinar
November 7, 2014

This year’s Centennial Anniversary Celebration of the U.S. Cooperative Extension System (CES) highlights the important outreach and service function that the CES continues to provide through the auspices of U.S. Land Grant Universities. With the growing interest in extension around the world – and in keeping with the Centennial Celebration - USDA/NIFA and GFRAS held a webinar to explore the future and potential role of a country’s higher education institution(s) in providing extension/advisory services. Presenters and participants in the webinar were asked to consider:

• What is the unique and critical role that your country’s universities can play in providing extension advisory services?
• How can your universities contribute to the sustainability of extension advisory services?
• What are the key challenges may face university-linked extension services in your country? How can they be overcome? What are the opportunities?