Systemic Evaluation of Advisory Services to Family Farms in West Africa

Abstract

In West Africa, advisory services for family farms have been promoted to better address producers’ needs. The paper aims to show that these services can be understood as a system whose functioning is strongly determined by the financing mechanisms, the governance mechanisms put in place, the quality of human resources delivering advice, and the characteristics of the advisory method. The study is based on an analysis of two case studies in Benin and Burkina Faso using a common framework derived from an agricultural advisory system approach. The study highlights the strong interaction between the different components of the system. It shows that (i) the intervention method needs to be continuously adapted to take into account changes in financial capabilities and human resources available for providing advisory services, (ii) the nature and the quality of advisory activities are closely related to the skills of advisors and managers of advisory services, (iii) the governance mechanisms steering advisory services reveal the social relations between the stakeholders and influence the content of the advice, and (iv) the funding mechanisms are pivotal in defining the rules of governance. Lessons learned are drawn from this analysis that may serve to support advisory services.     

Learning and Innovation Competence in Agricultural and Rural Development

Abstract

Purpose: The fields of competence development and capacity development remain isolated in the scholarship of learning and innovation despite the contemporary focus on innovation systems thinking in agricultural and rural development. This article aims to address whether and how crossing the conventional boundaries of these two fields provide new directions for developing learning and innovation competence in international development.

Design/methodology/approach: Using mixed methods research, this article assesses work environments for experiential learning and innovation, and investigates effective ways of enhancing core competence in agricultural research, education, extension and entrepreneurship.

Findings: Findings suggest that while the focus on input and output indicators are relevant for technological innovation competence development, outcome indicators, such as measures of changes in cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains of learning and innovation, would better serve the purpose of developing organisational and institutional learning and innovation competence.

Practical implications: This research concludes that crossing the conventional boundaries of competence development and capacity development serves as a way to renew the role of education within the innovation systems thinking. However, such an attempt to enhance human capabilities and functionings through education should integrate theory-based, competence-based and experiential learning components as a coherent whole.

Originality/value: This article demonstrates the value of crossing the conventional boundaries of the two seemingly unrelated fields—competence development through education and capacity development through extension—to provide new directions to operationalise innovation systems thinking in agricultural education and extension.     

Ethnicity and education for democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa

This article reviews recent global political changes and describes how they have helped to recreate interest in a democratic agenda in Africa. In the past, two of the major obstacles to democracy in post-independence Africa have been ethnic conflict and the resulting authoritarian political systems. However, there have been exceptions to this and neither authoritarianism nor democracy have become fully institutionalised. If, in the future, democratic political institutions in Africa are going to be sustained by a supportive political culture, then schools will have to consciously educate for democracy rather than support authoritarianism as they tend to do at the moment. In particular they will need to educate for ethnic tolerance and mutual respect and this will require changes both in classroom and whole school organisation.     

New Challenges in Agricultural Advisory Services from a Research Perspective: A Literature Review,Synthesis and Research Agenda

Abstract

Purpose: Agricultural advisory services are perceived by many actors involved in rural development as a key driver behind innovation processes in agriculture. However, changes in national and global contexts cause dramatic changes in the orientation of advisory services, their organisation and their methods of intervention. This article aims to analyse the major research topics related to agricultural advice.

Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on an extensive review of literature produced over a ten-year period that is accessible through the CAB, ECONLIT and Web of Science citation indexes. Using keywords related to extension and advisory services, we selected published articles according to the relevance of the results provided in relation to advisory services and the quality of the discussion on past or current controversies.

Findings: The results show that the ongoing scientific debates are shaped by the diversity of disciplines, methods, topics and schools of thought. The scientific community largely has focussed on five main themes: (1) the institutional environment of agricultural advisory services; (2) the structures necessary for the operation of an advisory system; (3) the actors providing advisory services and the skills deployed in advisory activities; (4) the approaches, methods, tools and content of advisory activities; and (5) the assessment and impacts of advisory systems.

Practical implications: This literature review is useful for researchers and practitioners to better understand research results in the field of advisory services. It paves the way for future research.

Originality/Value: Although many articles have been written in recent decades on agricultural advisory services, few studies provide an overview of the contributions of, and debates in, the international scientific community.     

From Best Practice to Best Fit: A Framework for Designing and Analyzing Pluralistic Agricultural Advisory Services Worldwide

Abstract

We assess the long-term effectiveness of outreach and education efforts associated with a water quality improvement project in a watershed located in northern Utah, USA. Conducted 15 years after the original project began, our research examines the lasting impacts of different extension activities on landowners’ motivations to participate and their awareness and understanding of the water quality problem. Data were gathered by reviewing annual project reports, interviewing project staff about outreach and education efforts, and conducting in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a majority of the farmers and ranchers who participated in the project. The findings suggest that landowners were motivated to participate in the programme more by practical farm and household considerations and available cost-share opportunities than by particular environmental concerns. Previous relationships between farmers and government programme staff and one-on-one visits with landowners played an important role in their decisions to participate, while demonstration projects and peer-to-peer social diffusion processes played a much smaller role than expected. Although participants had a good grasp of the project goals, they did not have a strong sense of ownership of the water quality problem. These results suggest that education and outreach approaches centred only on the environmental dimensions of conservation projects may be insufficient to motivate changes in conservation behaviour. The results also suggest that conventional outreach strategies often did not have their presumed impact on landowners.     

Affording the Unaffordable: Cost Sharing in Higher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa

The purpose of this article is to discuss some financial aspects of the future development of higher education in Africa entering the 21st century. Two main aspects can be distinguished: first, problems that concern the economy as a whole, the macroeconomic problems; second, questions that apply to the individual institutions of higher education. The former group includes questions such as: How much will the future expansions of higher education in Africa cost? How large is the capacity of African economies to finance this expansion and to what extent can tuition be applied? The article makes three recommendations to Africa's higher education: flexible tuition fees; a well-designed loan scheme; and a proactive measure to promote access and quality.     

农村金融服务对新型农业经营主体支持研究——以安徽省为例

基于安徽省2004—2015年的农业发展相关数据,使用主成分分析方法与VAR计量模型,探究以农业财政支出、农业总贷款额、农业总保险额为代表的农村金融服务水平对新型农业经营主体经济效益的影响。研究结果表明,农村金融服务水平会对新型农业经营主体经营效益产生正向影响,而新型农业经营主体经营效益对农村金融服务水平基本不产生影响。研究结果不仅为安徽省新型农业经营主体的发展提供参考依据,也为发展安徽省农村金融服务提供指导。     

西方矿业公司与英属撒哈拉以南非洲殖民统治的瓦解

西方矿业公司在英属撒哈拉以南非洲殖民体制中占据重要地位,在殖民统治瓦解过程中发挥了各自的影响力。从西方矿业公司对英属中非联邦所产生的作用显示,尽管各国公司影响当地政府、英美政府和非洲民族领导人的措施、步伐不一致,但能够共同维护集体利益,有效施加影响。矿业公司要实现的目标和历史结果之间存在差异,联系列宁帝国主义论,可以揭示出其所反映的时代特征。     

The AIDS Epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa: are teachers a high-risk group?

This article assesses the extent to which teachers in Sub-Saharan Africa are a ‘high-risk’ group with respect to HIV infection and AIDS-related mortality. The main conclusion that is drawn from this review is that little hard evidence exists to support the contention that teachers are more vulnerable to the epidemic than other occupational groups.     

When Farmers Don't Want Ownership: Reflections on Demand-driven Extension in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze the demand-driven extension approach based on empirical evidence of a case study of the National Agricultural Advisory Service in Uganda. This research found several problems rooted in differences between the assumptions of demand-driven extension and the perspectives of farmers. Many farmers did not place high value on advisory services and were ambivalent towards the programme concepts of farmer ownership and empowerment. Although long-term capacity building was a core part of the programme strategy, farmers were reluctant to invest their time in attending these trainings, whilst political pressure and budgetary constraints made it difficult for programme managers to commit the necessary resources to this activity. The programme adapted to popular and political pressure by putting more emphasis on technological support to farmers. The demand-driven extension model has gained favour amongst donor agencies in their discussions of extension reform. This paper presents evidence and argumentation that suggest demand-driven extension is problematic in rural Uganda and other similar settings. This paper presents original, independent, critical and empirically grounded research in an area that has been dominated in the literature by donor-sponsored work and self-evaluations.     

The World Bank and financing higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa

This article critically examines World Bank andother donor agency's policy changes towardfinancing of higher education in Sub-SaharanAfrica. It concludes that policy vicissitudeshave adversely affected these institutions. Therecommendation is that the unique context ofeach state play a role in higher educationfinancial policy formation and implementation.     

The effects of armed conflict on schooling in Sub-Saharan Africa

In the past decades, most of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have been affected by armed conflicts. By means of a time-series cross-sectional (TSCS) database, we attempt to measure the impact of war on a sample of 43 countries in Africa from 1950 to 2010. These conflicts, and especially civil wars, are shown to have a strong negative effect on the educational performances of the countries studied. The rate of children not attending school, as well as secondary school enrollment rates, seems particularly sensitive to periods of conflict. It also appears that government expenditures in social sectors including education are a positive factor in increasing school enrollment. In contrast, military expenditure is significantly and inversely related to schooling opportunities. Thus, if an extra 1% only of the GDP were allocated to education expenditure, the rate of children not attending school would decrease by 1.7%, the primary and secondary completion rates would increase respectively by 4.4% and by 2.6%. The gender analysis shows that education expenditures provide a better retention of girls in the school system.     

National Policies on Pregnancy in Education Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: The case of Botswana

The article critiques pregnancy policies in the education systems in sub-Saharan Africa. Policies discussed are divided into expulsion, re-entry and continuation policies. Arguing from the standpoint of theories of oppression, it is postulated that expulsion policies symbolise direct violence against girls who become pregnant and are more common in those countries with poor human rights records. Continuation and re-entry policies are prevalent in countries that have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of Children. It is argued that re-entry policies also violate girl mothers' right to education through a retreat ideology that requires temporary withdrawal of the pregnant girl from school. Moreover, gender inequalities are built into the policies and supported by traditional and institutional ideologies that make re-entry of the girl mother into the school difficult. The Botswana re-entry policy is reviewed to illustrate difficulties in the readmission of girl mothers to school.