What is Agricultural Extension?
A study of the literature generates a perception that the meaning of agricultural extension has changed with time and in relation to the social environment within which the author is operating. Definitions developed in the 1960s-1980s, tended to focus on what extension practitioners could do for their "clients" rather than for their funders:
"… a service or system which assists farm people through education procedures in improving farming methods and techniques, increasing production efficiency and income, bettering their levels of living, and lifting the social and educational standards of rural life"
(Farquhar 1962 cited in Scrimgeour et al. 1991 p. 2);
" …To educate farmers in the principles and practices of improved management systems"
(Walker 1982);
‘…a professional communication intervention deployed by an institution to induce change in voluntary behaviours with a presumed public or collective utility.’
(Röling, 1988, p.49).
These definitions indicate a changing perception about the role of extension –shifting from concerns about the individual farmer "client" to organisational outcomes and public benefits. Activities traditionally referred to as "extension" are the result of an organisation wanting to meet a policy goal, employing people who have the knowledge and skills to facilitate change, and providing the appropriate resources for them. The facilitators then use their knowledge and skills to put in place the extension programmes and activities, which will help to meet the funder’s goal (Figure 1). When there is no funding (by the New Zealand Government, for example) then there is no extension. Where governments still do fund extension, the nature of the policy being promoted and the government commitment to invest in that policy has changed. Extension may be used in conjunction with other policy instruments such as legislation/regulation or price differentiation.
Some organisations have specific goals to be met such as a processing company specifying the quality of farm produce, or the local authority specifying water quality standards. The extension activities that are conducted to meet these goals have a specific purpose, and the outcomes required are largely non-negotiable. This is extension being used to bring about a change on behalf of the funding organisation.
The notion of "farmer-first" or "bottom-up" change, on the other-hand, implies that the farmers require a change. It implies that there is an issue about which they want solutions. This is more of a research or a technological learning issue. In increasingly complex systems, individuals often want to develop their own solutions on their own farm, and as quickly as possible. In New Zealand, this is being addressed in part by the Foundation for Science and Technology (the body which invests the Governments research and development funds) working with sector organisations to fund their R&D priorities - rather than funding science organisations per se. Facilitating technological learning implies a more global, less easily defined requirement of individuals wanting to improve their productivity and profitability through improving their knowledge, skills and ability to improve and innovate. Extension skills are still required here, but the questions of who benefits and who pays are not so clear-cut.
Figure 1. Linking the facilitation of change to the funder’s goals.
In the past, extension organisations have often bundled together a number of roles, such as facilitating change, consultancy, data collection and disaster response. In the future, these roles are likely to become distinct, and could be contracted out to different organisations.
Discussions about the role and purpose of extension tend to neglect the issue of extension as a community in itself. This aspect of extension is more concerned with the way extension organises itself to represent its own identity and relates to other professions. Extension people align themselves with their own (technical) industry sectors like horticulture (or even more specifically viticulture), while also identifying themselves as extension practitioners (not scientists, teachers or social workers). Members of the extension community therefore have multiple roles. Extension requires a multitude of competencies to be a valued participant in collective efforts to manage change, particularly the ability to mediate between different professional groups, such as: education; policy; scientists; farmers; and agribusiness professionals. It often involves building bridges between and within professions and requiring a working knowledge of each of the different professions to actively facilitate discussion and reflection.