Expertworkshops

The project “Knowledge systems in rural areas” has organised international workshops on sustainable financing of extension services, the use of media in rural development, communication between research, extension services and farmers, and management of service providers in West Africa. Partners were the human resources and organisational development agency InWent (Capacity Building International) and the FAO (see also “Cooperation”). The workshops analysed practical examples, identified crucial success factors, and developed action strategies. In the international workshop on “Effective Communication between Agricultural Research, Extension and Farmers” in Laimburg, in October 2004, the participants identified the following success factors:

• favourable markets and policies for communication
• using participatory methods in working with farmers
• creating communication capacities
• basic partnership attitude in research and extension
• producer organisations as partners in communication
• strategic use of various media
• results monitoring.

The factors and strategies are accessible under the menu item “Further information”.

Trainingworkshops

Since 2000, together with the “Sector Network Rural Development, Africa” (SNRD), the project has run annual courses on managing extension in Anglophone Africa. The courses are offered to managers of district-level extension services. The basis was the concept on developing service delivery systems that provides for interventions at political level (sector policy, financing of services, privatisation, harmonisation, etc.), at service organisation level (coordination, training, quality management, demand orientation, monitoring, etc.), as well as at demand /client level (qualified demand, organisation of the clients, representation of the producer associations). The project has also produced modules for other GIZ training courses, such as development of value added chains.

Working groups in sector networks

The project takes part in working parties on the themes of extension and promotion of agricultural economies. In the sector network “Rural Development Africa” (SNRD) the working party developed a methodology for reforming rural service providers and a concept for development of rural service providers (see above).

Participation in international donor initiatives on harmonisation of extension approaches

The project is a member of the Neuchâtel Initiative, an influential group of rural extension experts from the major donor organisations. The group publishes official concepts on extension developed from the experience gained by its members. So far four concepts on participatory extension, monitoring and evaluation, financing, and pro-poor extension have been published. A publication on rural services is in preparation. A new theme being addressed by the Neuchâtel Initiative is special extension for market-oriented agriculture (national markets).