Knowledge Driven Development: Private Extension and Global Lessons

280 Pages·2015·4.018 MB·English

by  Yuan Zhou, Suresh Babu

KNOWLEDGE DRIVEN
DEVELOPMENT
Public Food Policy and Global Development series
Edited by Suresh Chandra Babu
Providing expert insights from around the world into the key questions
for effective policy development.
For a full list of volumes in the series visit www.store.elsevier.com
KNOWLEDGE DRIVEN
DEVELOPMENT
PRIVATE EXTENSION AND GLOBAL LESSONS
Edited by
YUAN ZHOU
Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, Basel, Switzerland
SURESH CHANDRA BABU
International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA
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ISBN: 978-0-12-802231-3
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LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
Kolawole Adebayo
Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management, Federal University of
Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria
Safiul Islam Afrad
Banga Bandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, Bangladesh
Suresh Chandra Babu
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, DC, USA
Kristin Davis
Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS), Pretoria, South Africa; International Food
Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, DC, USA
Tran Tri Dung
Centre for Creativity and Innovation, Boise State University, Boise, ID, USA; DHVP Research
and Consultancy, Hanoi, Vietnam
Vinod Gupta
Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of
Jammu, Jammu, India
G.D.S. Kumar
Directorate of Oilseeds Research, Rajendranagar, Telangana State, India
Rakesh Nanda
Division of Agricultural Extension Education, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural
Sciences and Technology of Jammu, Jammu, India
Pham Hoang Ngan
Vietnam Inclusive Innovation Project, Hanoi, Vietnam
Natarajan Ramesh
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, DC, USA
S.V. Ramana Rao
Directorate of Oilseeds Research, Rajendranagar, Telangana State, India
Rahman Sanusi
Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management, Federal University of
Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria
Raj Saravanan
Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology, Central Agricultural University, Pasighat,
Arunachal Pradesh, India
Cristina Sette
Institutional Learning and Changes Initiative (ILAC), Bioversity International, Rome, Italy
xi
xii List of Contributors
Rakesh Sharma
Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of
Jammu, Jammu, India
Caitlin Shaw
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, DC, USA
Motunrayo Sofola
Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management, Federal University of
Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria
Gaytri Tandon
Sarveshwar Organic Foods, Jammu, India
K.S. Varaprasad
Directorate of Oilseeds Research, Rajendranagar, Telangana State, India
Fatema Wadud
Directorate of Agricultural Marketing, Ministry of Agriculture, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Yuan Zhou
Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, Basel, Switzerland
ABOUT THE EDITORS
Yuan Zhou is the Head of Research and Policy Analysis at the Syngenta Foundation
for Sustainable Agriculture, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. She advises and sup-
ports the Foundation and its partners on policy development in agricultural extension,
food security, biodiversity conservation, sustainable land and water management, and
payment for ecosystem services. Before joining the Foundation, Yuan was a researcher
at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), working
on water and environmental policies, integrated analysis of water/food/environment
relations, and rural development issues. Yuan holds a PhD in Environmental Economics
from University of Hamburg in Germany and an MSc in Water and Environmental
Resources Management from UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education in the
Netherlands. She has published in academic journals on a range of topics related to
environmental economics, farmer decision-making processes, agricultural extension,
agricultural water management, and the economics of desalination and water transport.
Suresh Chandra Babu is a Senior Fellow and a Program Leader for the Capacity
Strengthening Program at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI),
Washington, DC. He has held several positions before joining IFPRI, includ-
ing Research Economist, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; Evaluation Economist,
United Nations Children’s Fund; Senior Lecturer, University of Lilongwe, Malawi.
He has been a coordinator of the policy research program for Central Asia. He has
held or currently holds visiting honorary professorships at the American University,
Washington, DC; Indira Gandhi National Open University, India; University of
Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa; and Zhejiang University, China. He currently serves on
the editorial boards of several academic journals including Food Security, Agricultural
Economics Research Review, African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Journal
of Sustainable Development, Food and Nutrition Bulletin, and African Journal of Food,
Nutrition and Development. He received his PhD and MS in Economics from Iowa State
University, Ames, Iowa.
xiii
PREFACE
Agricultural transformation is closely linked to rising farm productivity. This process
requires continuous adoption of new technologies, adjustment to changing institutions,
and responses to government policies and programs designed to help farming commu-
nities. Agriculture is therefore heavily knowledge driven, in both developing and more
developed countries. The main conduit for knowledge sharing is extension.
New demands on the public extension system include helping farmers cope with
climate change and other threats to their natural resources such as soil and water. These
challenges require extension officers to go beyond traditional technology transfer to
other forms of knowledge sharing. That pressure generates innovations in the way they
provide extension.
Service provision is, however, increasingly pluralized; the public sector is not the
only source of extension. Companies that sell inputs or buy produce have a particu-
lar interest in two-way sharing of knowledge with farmers. Extension not only brings
new knowledge to farmers, but also takes their challenges back to solution providers,
innovators, and researchers.
Whichever extension model they choose, private enterprises either directly or indi-
rectly charge farmers for the services. So far, though, observers have lacked a deeper
understanding of the motivation, cost, benefits, efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainabil-
ity of private-sector extension. This book aims to present a comprehensive assessment.
It covers a wide range of agroecological conditions, crop choices, and institutional
mechanisms worldwide. We present 10 case studies conducted using similar meth-
odologies and seeking to answer similar questions in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Although their insights are diverse, they point to a common set of challenges and solu-
tions emerging across developing countries. Our findings are supplemented by a survey
of the literature on private extension and a historical overview of its development. We
suggest several resulting lessons for scaling up private extension models, and we offer
guidance for policymakers intending to support the development of public–private
partnerships in extension.
The idea for this book originated in discussions at the Beijing Roundtable in
Agricultural Extension in Asia, held in March 2012. Organized by the Syngenta
Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, the event enabled extension experts and
practitioners from four Asian countries to share experience and foster learning.
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) contributed strongly to the
Roundtable, and this collaborative book builds on the two organizations’ longstand-
ing interest in extension. The authors deeply appreciate the financial support of the
xv
xvi Preface
Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, and acknowledge the additional
funding from IFPRI and the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services. We are also
very grateful for the support of a wide range of individuals and groups, without whom
publication of this volume would not have been possible. These include the staff inter-
viewed at various companies in order to develop the case studies, extension workers
in the field, and the farming communities that shared their knowledge and gave feed-
back. In particular, the authors thank employees of Syngenta (Latin America North)
working on the Frijol Nica program, as well as at Jain Irrigation, EID Parry, Marico,
and Sarveshwar Organic Foods in India, PRAN in Bangladesh, AGPP Joint Stock
Company in Vietnam, Kenya Horticultural Exporters in Kenya, Rio de Una of Brazil,
and Multi-Trex of Nigeria.
Finally, we thank Elsevier Academic Press and its staff for excellent editing and
publishing support during the preparation of this volume.
Yuan Zhou
Suresh Chandra Babu
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
Yuan Zhou1 and Suresh Chandra Babu2
1Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, Basel, Switzerland
2International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, DC, USA
Contents
Rationale and Aims of the Book 3
Key Research Questions 4
Research Methodology 5
Overview of Content 6
References 6
The economic growth of nations depends on the growth of their key productive sectors.
Most developing countries, where poverty is at the highest levels, rely on the agricul-
tural sector for growth. The productivity of the agricultural sector in turn depends on
how farmers use appropriate technologies. Technological change is primarily knowledge
driven. Moreover, increasing the productivity of farming systems continues to be the
main prerequisite for agricultural transformation. A major constraint to enhancing small-
holder productivity is the availability of information and knowledge to address current
and emerging challenges at the individual farm level. Thus, agricultural extension systems
have played a crucial role in increasing productivity in several developing countries, par-
ticularly during the Green Revolution period. Because of recent concerns about global
food security resulting from high and volatile food prices, there is now renewed interest
in agriculture and support services. Extension figures prominently among those services,
along with credit, access to inputs, crop insurance, and links to markets.
The role of extension in enhancing productivity has been well recognized. The
major purpose of extension services is to disseminate advice to farmers on a timely
basis. Advisory services along with quality inputs are essential tools to enhance pro-
ductivity. But their optimal use requires knowledge based on research. Knowledge
gaps contribute to yield gaps. In addition to technological solutions, farmers also
need information on prices and markets, post-harvest management, produce qual-
ity requirements, and safety standards. There is increased evidence that large-scale
farmers access knowledge through a variety of sources, whereas the “resource-poor”
farmers who constitute the majority in rural areas of developing countries continue
to have poor access to extension services delivered by governments or other providers
Knowledge Driven Development. © 22001154 Elsevier Inc.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-802231-3.00001-2 All rights reserved. 1