Relative Roles And Limits Of Extension Approaches In Promoting Sustainable Agricultural Management Practices Analysis Of Nationally Representative Panel Data From Malawi

Author : Ragasa, Catherine
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 64 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Download or read book Relative roles and limits of extension approaches in promoting sustainable agricultural management practices: Analysis of nationally representative panel data from Malawi written by Ragasa, Catherine and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2021-12-08 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Low-cost and sustainable agricultural management practices are being promoted in many countries but continue to face low adoption among farmers. We tracked the awareness and adoption among farmers of a number of practices―soil cover, minimum tillage, crop rotation, intercropping, crop diversification, crop residue incorporation, pit planting, water harvesting, and organic fertilizer―in two rounds of a nationally representative rural household survey in Malawi. Survey data and focus group discussions are used to understand the factors explaining the variations in farmers’ awareness and adoption of these practices. Results show a strong positive effect of extension services receipt on farmers’ awareness of these practices but no effect on farmers’ adoption of most of the practices being promoted, except for crop residue incorporation and organic fertilizer use. Receipt of input subsidy does not influence the adoption of these practices. Both survey data and focus group discussions highlight the need for intensive and iterative engagement between service providers and farmers to fully communicate, learn, and adapt to these management practices.

Author : Catherine Ragasa
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.89/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Relative Roles and Limits of Extension Approaches in Promoting Sustainable Agricultural Management Practices written by Catherine Ragasa and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Ragasa, Catherine
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 45 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Download or read book Modeling the effectiveness of the lead farmer approach in agricultural extension service provision: Nationally representative panel data analysis in Malawi written by Ragasa, Catherine and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2019-06-14 with total page 45 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The lead farmer (LF) approach has been implemented and heavily promoted nationwide in Malawi since 2009 to support government extension workers and accelerate technology dissemination. Earlier reports have shown that donor-funded projects in Malawi widely adopted the LF approach, indicating positive roles and contributions of LFs. However, national data show persistently low rates of adoption of management practices being promoted by the LFs, prompting this study to look closely at the nationwide implementation and effectiveness of the LF approach. Specifically, we model the effects of farmers’ interaction with and exposure to LFs and farmers’ access to LFs’ advice on farmers’ awareness of and adoption of several promoted technologies and management practices. We use data from 531 randomly selected LFs linked to panel data from 2,800 farming households and, using correlated random effects, model the effectiveness of the LF approach on technology awareness and adoption. This is complemented by 55 focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with agricultural extension development officers (AEDOs) and service providers. Our results point to two major conclusions. First, LFs support and assist AEDOs in their work, especially in organizing community meetings and farm demonstrations, and are also an important bridge between farmers and AEDOs. But LFs complement AEDOs’ work rather than substitute for it. In communities without strong AEDOs and community leaders to work with and monitor them, LFs were not active or performed at a substandard level. Second, results show limited coverage and weak implementation and effectiveness of the LF approach at the national level. Only 13 percent of farmers reported receiving agricultural advice from an LF in the last two years, and only 20 percent reported having interacted with an LF. Our econometric models also consistently show neither the farmers’ exposure or interaction with LFs nor farmers’ access to LFs’ advice had an effect on awareness of and adoption of the major agricultural management practices being promoted. When heterogeneity and types of LFs are unpacked, results show that quality of LFs, adoption behavior of LFs, and regular training of LFs have strong and consistent effect on the awareness and adoption of most agricultural practices promoted.

Author : Catherine Ragasa
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 45 pages
Book Rating : 4.91/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Modeling the Effectiveness of the Lead Farmer Approach in Agricultural Extension Service Provision written by Catherine Ragasa and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 45 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The lead farmer (LF) approach has been implemented and heavily promoted nationwide in Malawi since 2009 to support government extension workers and accelerate technology dissemination. Earlier reports have shown that donor-funded projects in Malawi widely adopted the LF approach, indicating positive roles and contributions of LFs. However, national data show persistently low rates of adoption of management practices being promoted by the LFs, prompting this study to look closely at the nationwide implementation and effectiveness of the LF approach. Specifically, we model the effects of farmers' interaction with and exposure to LFs and farmers' access to LFs' advice on farmers' awareness of and adoption of several promoted technologies and management practices. We use data from 531 randomly selected LFs linked to panel data from 2,800 farming households and, using correlated random effects, model the effectiveness of the LF approach on technology awareness and adoption. This is complemented by 55 focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with agricultural extension development officers (AEDOs) and service providers. Our results point to two major conclusions. First, LFs support and assist AEDOs in their work, especially in organizing community meetings and farm demonstrations, and are also an important bridge between farmers and AEDOs. But LFs complement AEDOs' work rather than substitute for it. In communities without strong AEDOs and community leaders to work with and monitor them, LFs were not active or performed at a substandard level. Second, results show limited coverage and weak implementation and effectiveness of the LF approach at the national level. Only 13 percent of farmers reported receiving agricultural advice from an LF in the last two years, and only 20 percent reported having interacted with an LF. Our econometric models also consistently show neither the farmers' exposure or interaction with LFs nor farmers' access to LFs' advice had an effect on awareness of and adoption of the major agricultural management practices being promoted. When heterogeneity and types of LFs are unpacked, results show that quality of LFs, adoption behavior of LFs, and regular training of LFs have strong and consistent effect on the awareness and adoption of most agricultural practices promoted.

Author : Ragasa, Catherine
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 50 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Download or read book Dynamics in agricultural extension services provision in Malawi: Insights from two rounds of household and community panel surveys written by Ragasa, Catherine and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2019-08-01 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Government of Malawi is in the process of developing its National Agricultural Extension Strategy. Two rounds of national household and community surveys (2016, 2018), coupled with in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, were implemented to provide research evidence supporting the Strategy’s development. This paper summarizes emerging trends from these surveys and monitors progress in extension services provision, players and actors in extension services provision, and evidence on the coverage and effectiveness of extension approaches. Positive trends include (1) improvements in the percentage of men and women farmers accessing extension services; (2) consistently high ratings in the perceived quality of extension services; (3) more diversity in extension messages, including more information regarding market access and nutrition; (4) greater use of cost-effective tools, such as radio programming and community or group meetings, as sources of agricultural information; and (5) greater crop diversification, although diversification outside of agriculture remains low. Four areas remain weak and need further improvements. First, information sharing among farmers, friends, and neighbors is frequent, and the coverage of those officially trained “lead farmers” (those trained specifically to promote technologies to other farmers) remains low, with only 7 percent of households reporting getting relevant advice from them. Second, while there are more “model villages” and “village agricultural committees” present, we see decreasing participation and ratings for these. Third, we observe greater awareness of promoted technologies, including conservation agriculture, pit planting, and sustainable land practices, but adoption remains very low. Fourth, we observe greater crop diversification, but farm productivity and commercialization remain low. Although we have investigated many dimensions and factors in this paper, there remain challenges and puzzles that could be further addressed in future research. These include constraints on the adoption of minimal expensive inputs and low-cost management practices, constraints on the role of intensive training and labor, and understanding the drivers and factors affecting commercialization and diversification.

Author : Davis, Kristin E., ed.
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 : 0896293769
Total Pages : 4 pages
Book Rating : 4.62/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Agricultural extension: Global status and performance in selected countries: Synopsis written by Davis, Kristin E., ed. and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2020-09-02 with total page 4 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural transformation and development are critical to the livelihoods of more than a billion small-scale farmers and other rural people in developing countries. Extension and advisory services play an important role in such transformation and can assist farmers with advice and information, brokering and facilitating innovations and relationships, and dealing with risks and disasters. Agricultural Extension: Global Status and Performance in Selected Countries provides a global overview of agricultural extension and advisory services, assesses and compares extension systems at the national and regional levels, examines the performance of extension approaches in a selected set of country cases, and shares lessons and policy insights. Drawing on both primary and secondary data, the book contributes to the literature on extension by applying a common and comprehensive framework — the “best-fit” approach — to assessments of extension systems, which allows for comparison across cases and geographies. Insights from the research support reforms — in governance, capacity, management, and advisory methods — to improve outcomes, enhance financial sustainability, and achieve greater scale. Agricultural Extension should be a valuable resource for policymakers, extension practitioners, and others concerned with agricultural development.

Author : Piñeiro, Valeria
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 4 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Download or read book Achieving sustainable agricultural practices: From incentives to adoption and outcomes written by Piñeiro, Valeria and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2021-02-06 with total page 4 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sustainable agricultural practices enable more efficient use of natural resources, mitigate the impact of agriculture on the environment, and strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change and climate variability. Because these practices usually require substantial effort or resource allocation from farmers, incentives are necessary to support farmer adoption. Despite growing interest, there has been little systematic evaluation of the incentives–adoption–outcome chain—that is, which incentives best promote adoption and which lead to desired sustainability outcomes. This brief presents the results of a literature review that examined (1) uptake agricultural practices under three kinds of incentives, market and nonmarket, regulations, and cross-compliance, and (2) the impact on productivity, profitability, and environmental sustainability. Based on this review, it offers a set of seven tested principles to follow in designing and implementing incentives for sustainable agriculture.

Author : Department of Economic & Social Affairs
Publisher : United Nations Publications
ISBN 13 : 9789211045871
Total Pages : 295 pages
Book Rating : 4.78/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Achieving Sustainable Development and Promoting Development Cooperation written by Department of Economic & Social Affairs and published by United Nations Publications. This book was released on 2008 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents an overview of the key debates that took place during the Economic and Social Council meetings at the 2007 High-level Segment, at which ECOSOC organized its first biennial Development Cooperation Forum. The discussions also revolved around the theme of the second Annual Ministerial Review, "Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to sustainable development."--P. 4 of cover.

Author : George Harold Axinn
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 158 pages
Book Rating : 4.19/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Guide on Alternative Extension Approaches written by George Harold Axinn and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author :
Publisher : ILRI (aka ILCA and ILRAD)
ISBN 13 : 9291462179
Total Pages : 270 pages
Book Rating : 4.79/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Concepts and Practices in Agricultural Extension in Developing Countries written by and published by ILRI (aka ILCA and ILRAD). This book was released on 2008-01-01 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: