Supply Of And Demand For Agricultural Extension Services In Malawi A Synthesis

Author : Ragasa, Catherine
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 7 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Download or read book Supply of and demand for agricultural extension services in Malawi – A synthesis written by Ragasa, Catherine and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2018-02-14 with total page 7 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are more than 120 organizations and programs in Malawi working on agriculture that include extension service provision among their main activities. However, extension service provision is largely "projectized" uncoordinated, and unmonitored. This Note synthesizes the main findings from the recent surveys and interviews of households, communities, and service providers about the status of access to these extension services, challenges on both demand and supply sides, and suggestions and reflections that can inform the ongoing development of the National Agricultural Extension Strategy.

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 : Ragasa, Catherine
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 47 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Download or read book The state of agricultural extension and advisory services provision in Malawi: Insights from household and community surveys written by Ragasa, Catherine and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2017-03-04 with total page 47 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is part of a series of descriptive reports and later in-depth analysis of the survey data. These series are aimed to provide an assessment of the state of agricultural extension and advisory services provision in Malawi in order to inform policy and reform processes and programming by the government and donors. These studies are in response to the re-quest by the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development (MoAIWD) to look closely at the state of extension services provision with the intent to further strengthen the contribution such services make to food security, economic growth, and achieving sustainable development goals. This report summarizes key findings on the state of agriculture and nutrition extension and advisory services in Malawi based on responses from household and community surveys conducted in Malawi between August and October 2016 that focused on the demand side of agricultural extension service provision and access to those services. Nationally representative samples of 3001 households and 299 communities in all districts of Malawi, except Likoma, were interviewed for the study.

Author : Ragasa, Catherine
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 12 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Download or read book Assessing and strengthening Malawi’s pluralistic agricultural extension system: Evidence and lessons from a three-year research study written by Ragasa, Catherine and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2019-11-20 with total page 12 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In July 2016, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and partners launched a three-year evidence-based policy support project to analyze demand for and supply of agricultural extension services in Malawi and help design activities to strengthen service providers’ capacity to address farmers’ demands for information. For this project, IFPRI partnered with Wadonda Consult and the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) to conduct the household survey and qualitative interviews. Funding came from the Government of Flanders, the U.S. Agency for International Development through the Strengthening Agricultural and Nutrition Extension (SANE), the German Agency for International Cooperation [GIZ]), and the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM). The project collected two rounds of nationally representative panel data of 2,880 households (2016 and 2018), two rounds of focus group discussions (FGDs), census of extension service providers in 15 districts, and a series of in-depth interviews. This note summarizes the main findings from 10 reports completed to analyze and draw conclusions from the stories behind these datasets.

Author : Catherine Ragasa
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.87/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Dynamics in Agricultural Extension Services Provision in Malawi written by Catherine Ragasa and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
Publisher : United Nations
ISBN 13 : 921004665X
Total Pages : 94 pages
Book Rating : 4.57/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Harnessing Agricultural Trade for Sustainable Development: Malawi written by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and published by United Nations. This book was released on 2020-11-03 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study is part of a series of UNCTAD publications that focus on upgrading and diversifying specific agricultural sectors of rural economies in developing countries with a view to raising living standards among of smallholder farmers in a context of sustainable development, female empowerment and food security. Malawi is a Least Developed Country (LDC) where 70 per cent of its population live below the international poverty line of US$1.90 per day. Tobacco has traditionally been its principal export earner, with maize as a subsistence crop. A decline in tobacco exports due to health concerns has made it imperative to identify other promising agricultural sectors as a means of increasing foreign exchange earnings to support development. In this context, the government has highlighted sunflower, groundnut and soybean as priority sectors. The three crops offer a range of practical advantages: in crop cultivation through intercropping which adds to soil fertility; in value addition, offering a potential to tap into markets of edible oils and livestock feed; and, in diversifying away from traditional crops such as tobacco and maize, it allows the country to reduce its exposure to market shocks and climate change. This study analyses the three sectors in terms of opportunities derived from exports of primary and processed products, within a context of regional integration and LDC preferential access to developed country markets. It provides detailed information on the current and evolving trading regime between Malawi and its close regional partners, with a focus on both formal and informal trade, given that the latter accounts for a significant proportion of the country’s overall trade and notably involves female traders.

Author : Davis, Kristin E.
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 14 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Download or read book Agricultural extension and rural advisory services: What have we learned? What’s next? written by Davis, Kristin E. and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2021-10-29 with total page 14 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural extension provides the critical connection from agricultural innovation and discovery to durable improvements at scale, as farmers and other actors in the rural economy learn, adapt, and innovate with new technologies and practices. However, lack of capacity and performance of agricultural extension in lower- and middle-income countries is an ongoing concern. Research on agricultural extension and advisory services (in short, extension) has been an integral part of the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) since its inception. This brief synthesizes key findings from research funded by and linked to PIM from 2012 to 2021, presenting lessons learned and a vision for the future of extension. A list of all PIM-related extension and advisory services research is provided at the end. Designing and implementing effective provision of extension is complex, and efforts to strengthen extension services often fall into a trap of adopting “best practice” blueprint approaches that are not well-tailored to local conditions. An expansive literature examines the promises and pitfalls of common approaches, including training-and-visit extension systems, farmer field schools, and many others (Anderson and Feder 2004; Anderson et al. 2006; Waddington and White 2014; Scoones and Thompson 2009). To understand extension systems and build evidence for what works and where, the “best-fit” framework, a widely recognized approach developed by Birner and colleagues (2009) and adapted by Davis and Spielman (2017), offers a simple impact chain approach (Figure 1). The framework focuses on a defined set of extension service characteristics that affect performance: governance structures and funding; organizational and management capacities and cultures; methods; and community engagement — all of which are subject to external factors such as the policy environment, agroecological conditions, and farming-system heterogeneity. To enhance extension performance and, ultimately, a wide range of outcomes and impacts, new and innovative interventions can be applied and adapted within this set of extension characteristics.

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 : Addison H. Maunder
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 284 pages
Book Rating : 4.8C/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Agricultural Extension written by Addison H. Maunder and published by . This book was released on 1972 with total page 284 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: