La charte de GFRAS en français.

The charter of GFRAS in english, revised version 2016

La carta del GFRAS en espanol.

The Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS) has commissioned the Natural Resources Institute to develop a toolkit for the evaluation of extension (projects, programmes, tools and initiatives). This commission has a number of components:

• A meta-evaluation of 15-20 evaluation case studies(presented here)
• A meta-review of the literature relevant to extension evaluation methods
• A workshop with practitioners and experienced evaluators to discuss the findings of a) and b) and to identify an initial set of tools
• A proposal for testing the proposed tools in a second phase of the project
• A brief of the toolkit for policymakers.

The overall purpose of this project is to identify methods for better evaluation of extension through the development of a toolkit for extension evaluation. The meta-evaluation and meta-review will also provide an in-depth basis for the selection of the approaches, methods and tools in the toolkit.

This review of literature on evaluation methods, in combination with a meta-evaluation of extension evaluation case studies, is intended to be a resource for extension evaluation. It is envisaged that this review will be of interest to those involved in managing and implementing evaluations of rural advisory services as well as to extension and evaluation specialists

The literature review focuses specifically on approaches and methodologies in evaluation which are relevant for evaluating initiatives in extension or rural advisory services.

The materials reviewed include academic papers, existing evaluation toolboxes and major evaluation guidelines and frameworks. After an introduction and information on the changing orientation of both extension and evaluation, the context and scope of the review are discussed. This is followed by sections addressing the purposes, users and uses of evaluation, evaluation standards and criteria, approaches, rigour, and attribution. The final three sections discuss the principles for evaluation of rural advisory services in highly complex situations; the strengths, weaknesses, and gaps in existing approaches; and the ways forward.

Ha surgido una renovada atención hacia el papel tan importante que desempeñan los servicios de asesoría rural (extensión) en los procesos de desarrollo. Este documento resume la publicación titulada ‘Cómo movilizar el potencial de la extensión agraria y rural’ que se elaboró para la Conferencia Mundial sobre la Investigación Agrícola para el Desarrollo (GCARD, por sus siglas en inglés), la cual se celebró en Montpellier en marzo del 2010*. Los servicios de asesoría rural son esenciales para situar las demandas de los/las pequeños/as productores al centro del desarrollo rural, velando así por la seguridad alimentaria y abordando la incertidumbre y los riesgos existentes. Este resumen informativo se centra en cinco oportunidades para movilizar el potencial de los servicios de asesoría rural

Il y a un intérêt renouvelé pour le rôle important que jouent les services de conseil rural (vulgarisation) dans le processus de développement rural. La présente note est un résumé du document «Mobilisation du potentiel de vulgarisation rural et agricole» préparé à l’occasion de la Consultation mondiale sur la recherche agricole pour le développement (GCARD) qui s’est tenue en mars 2010* à Montpellier. Les services de conseil rural sont indispensables pour mettre les demandes des petits exploitants au coeur du développement, assurer la sécurité alimentaire et faire face aux risques et aux incertitudes. La note se concentre sur cinq possibilités de mobiliser le potentiel des services de conseil rural.

A 4-page brief that describes Prolinnova partners' experience in facilitating farmer-led joint research as an approach to agricultural development, and draws lessons for policy in research, extension and education.

Contents

1. The context of poverty and extension reform
2. Policy challenges in supporting pro-poor extension
3. Suggestions for making extension more pro-poor
4. Recommendations: A shift of perspective from agricultural production to livelihood extension
5. Donor options for supporting pro-poor extension