Developing and adopting such a structure will necessitate modifying the
current land grant university approach where innovations often are
developed by research scientists at field stations and the results are taken to
farmers by extensionists. The diagnostic and design methodology for
agroforestry projects that was developed at ICRAF by Dr. John Raintree
and colleagues provides an effective approach to involving farmers and
professionals in a training activity that is also capable of identifying and
addressing research questions.
The complexity and multidisciplinary nature of agroforestry systems will
necessitate establishing team-teaching approaches. Successful farmers
should themselves be the trainers of other farmers as they will carry credibility
that researchers and extensionists often lack. This will mean decentralizing
training programs to involve a wide variety of professionals and practitioners
in as many real-world situations as possible. Effective interactions
between extensionists and researchers are needed to deliver information well
supported by accurate studies and to help identify informational voids
needing further investigation. Along these lines, the professional status of
extension workers needs to be upgraded and brought into balance with
respect to time and money dedicated to research.