Lessons learnt from concern worldwide's conservation agriculture interventions in Malawi and Zambia, 2010-2018.

Conservation Agriculture (CA) is a gateway technology intended to build both the productivity and resilience of smallholder farmers. Since 2010, the Ireland-based NGO Concern Worldwide has been promoting CA with extremely poor farmers in Malawi and Zambia. In the context of the specific regions within both countries, similar conditions of limited labour capacity, low financial capacity, poor soil health and constrained agriculture extension services were the primary barriers to the poorest farmers. Initial CA projects utilized broad, standardized approaches to CA with subsidized inputs that led to yield increases, but saw limited non-subsidized adoption. As a result, Concern has adapted its approaches to CA to better accommodate and embrace innovation by lead farmers, understanding different adoption strategies for follower farmers and working to improve input supply systems to meet farmers' needs. However, major constraints to adoption remain for the poorest and, going forward, CA projects will need to incorporate robust strategies for household financial stability such as the graduation model; fostering greater innovation by lead farmers within CA principles to meet local contexts; and integrating seed selection and saving for non-commercialized food crops to spur large-scale adoption of CA by the poorest farmers.

Towards a living agriculture: extension of the notion of agriculture among rural extension agents based on a comprehensive approach to indigenous knowledge in Caldas, Colombia

Agriculture as a business remains the dominant notion among agronomists that work as rural extension agents. Following this vision, their main contribution is to transfer the technical–scientific knowledge for manipulating natural environments to maximize the yield of the communities of cultivated plants. However, it is considered that contrasting one's ideas with those of others -in this case native communities- allows us to recognize, reflexively, the preconceptions themselves. In this framework, the objective of the investigation was to determine how the dominant point of view among agronomists educated within the technical–scientific paradigm changes upon comprehensive interaction with the traditional knowledge. Results derive from analyzing the interviews of rural extension agents who offer their services to native communities in Caldas, Colombia. From the analyses, it can be concluded that, nowadays, agronomists more easily understand that in the local context, agriculture, rather than a business, is a life-producing activity; that elements of nature are subjects that interact and coexist around the reproduction of life rather than objects to manipulate and appropriate; that, in practice, the scientific knowledge adopted is blended with traditional and mystic knowledge, thereby creating a multicultural conservationist practice.

PENINGKATAN KOMPETENSI PENYULUH PERTANIAN DI BALAI PENGKAJIAN TEKNOLOGI PERTANIAN (BPTP) DENGAN PEMANFAATAN MEDIA KOMUNIKASI

<p>Efforts to improve the competency of agricultural extension workers have been carried out through education and training by the Agency for Agricultural Extension and Human Resources Development. Improving the competence of agriculture extension workers through the utilization of communication media has not been used intensively by the government. The purpose of this study is to know the level of influence of communication media utilization on the competence of agricultural extension workers. The study was used a quantitative approach through an online survey of 203 agricultural extension workers at the Assessment Institute for Agricultural Technology from 33 provinces. The results showed that the utilization of communication media and characteristics of individual had a significant effect on the competence of agricultural extension workers. Environmental support factors have a significant effect on the utilization of communication media and have an indirect effect on the competence of agricultural extension workers. The most and significant influence on the competence of agricultural extension comes from the utilization of communication media which is 4.38. Meanwhile, the significant factor affecting the utilization of communication media is only in the form of environmental support of 0.34. Therefore, to improve the competence of agricultural extension workers, utilization of communication media in the dissemination of agricultural information should be increased. Furthermore, to increase the utilization of communication media in the dissemination of agricultural information, the environmental support of extension activities, such as literacy training on the use of variation communication media, should be improved.</p>

Sustainability of conservation agriculture adoption and the role lead farmers play in Zimbabwe

Conservation Agriculture (CA) has been promoted widely in Zimbabwe through several organizations, including government and non-governmental organizations, to help address food insecurity. The sustainability of donor led interventions has been questioned as they are of limited duration, and some research has reported that farmers stop practicing CA when a project ends. However, agriculture extension services are reported crucial in adopting new agriculture technologies; hence, continued access to services is crucial for the sustainable uptake of CA. The use of farmer-led extension approaches has been used to reach more farmers at low cost to promote CA and for sustainability. The study evaluates the sustainability of CA practices as well as lead farmers roles after the end of Christian Care project activities. The findings reveal continued adoption of CA principles, albeit on a small scale. We conclude that CA has become part of the traditional farming system and recommend labour-saving technologies for the uptake of CA on a greater scale. Government extension support has also continued, although lead farmers played a minor role in these extension activities. Lead farmers alone cannot sustainably provide extension services without institutional support. The recommendation is that public extension systems work closely with lead farmers in communities to efficiently reach farmers and ensure better coordination between NGOs and government extension activities.

Work Performance of Extension Agents: Skills of Transfer of Technology and Human Resource Development in Cocoa Industry

Transfer of technology (ToT) and human resource development (HRD) are essential components to acknowledge extension agents’ performance. Understanding the foundations and implications of ToT and HRD is vital for improving agriculture extension agents in research and extension programmes. This study was designed to determine extension agents’ ToT and HRD skills to explain the work performance of Malaysian Cocoa Board (MCB) extension agents in East Malaysia. A total of 315 productive cocoa farmers exposed to the extension activities for a minimum of five years and had attended two basic training from the agency were selected to answer the questionnaire within a month. The researcher applied Krejie and Morgan formula to determine the sample size based on the population using stratified random sampling. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, multiple regression and Pearson correlation analysis. Results showed a positive and moderate relationship between ToT and HRD towards work performance. However, from the six variables tested, only three variables were significant towards work performance, namely technical skill (p=0.000), leadership skill (p=0.015) and decision-making skill (p=0.000). Therefore, the extension agents’ skills must be strengthened, their working knowledge updated, and new concepts for developing agriculture that can fulfil complicated demand patterns, reduce poverty and pressure and increase productivity must be developed. This study also strengthens the iceberg model by adding six characteristics of skills in extension agents. The outcomes would contribute to the policymakers and MCB’s management in elevating the extension agents’ performance through training and developing ToT and HRD.

Mapping of Winter Wheat Using Sentinel-2 NDVI Data. A Case of Mashonaland Central Province in Zimbabwe

A robust early warning system can alert to the presence of food crises and related drivers, informing decision makers on food security. To date, decision-makers in Zimbabwe still rely on agriculture extension personnel to generate information on wheat production and monitor the crop. Such traditional methods are subjective, costly and their accuracy depends on the experience of the assessor. This study investigates Sentinel-2 NDVI and time series utility as a wheat-monitoring tool over the wheat-growing areas of Zimbabwe's Bindura, Shamva, and Guruve districts. NDVI was used to classify and map the wheat fields. The classification model's evaluation was done by creating 100 reference pixels across the classified map and constructing a confusion matrix with a resultant kappa coefficient of 0.89. A sensitivity test, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and area under the curve (AUC) were used to measure the model's efficiency. Fifty GPS points randomly collected from wheat fields in the selected districts were used to identify and compute the area of the fields. The correlation between the area declared by farmers and the calculated area was positive, with an R2 value of 0.98 and a Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 2.23 hectares. The study concluded that NDVI is a good index for estimating the area under wheat. In this regard, NDVI can be used for early warning and early action, especially in monitoring programs like ‘Command Agriculture’ in Zimbabwe. In current and future studies, the use of high-resolution images from remote sensing is essential. Furthermore, ground truthing is always important to validate results from remote sensing at any spatial scale.

Identifying important skills and competencies needed for new Florida agriculture extension agents

The onboarding needs of Extension agents is a topic continuously discussed and researched, yet overwhelmed agents persist, suggesting that there is a missing link. We undertook a study to determine the competency training needs of newly hired agricultural agents in Florida. Two assessments were performed. First to identify main agriculture skills and competencies for new agriculture Extension. Those competencies where then classified into main domains and interviewees were asked to rank in order of importance in each group. Data were collected via an online survey of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension agents working under the agriculture program area. Agents needed training in specific agricultural competencies related to every-day work activities such as soil sampling, diagnostic skills, educational resource utilization, and relationship building. Although we assume that, based on job requirements, newly hired agents will enter Extension with such knowledge, results suggest an agriculture specific training is needed to meet the onboarding needs of new agents. Our study identified the priority needs for developing an onboarding program that establishes a level of standard knowledge. Those findings will serve to enhance onboarding training for new Extension professionals.

Herbicide toxicity awareness among smallholder farmers and agriculture extension officers in Malawi

Using evidence from field key informant and written questionnaire interviews with agriculture extension officers, focus group discussions with some smallholder farmers, analysis of packaging labels, and a detailed literature review, this paper argues that Malawian smallholder farmers handle herbicides without adequate information about the advantages and negative impacts of such herbicides because, it appears, the agriculture extension workers themselves lack requisite knowledge on herbicide toxicity. Further, the study finds that herbicides are marketed in Malawi in breach of Malawian law and in contravention of the Rotterdam Convention as the information on the herbicide labels is sometimes inadequate, misleading, and unavailable in local languages. This exposes farmers to potentially carcinogenic chemicals without their knowledge. The paper recommends, inter alia, that an awareness campaign about the long term harmful effects of herbicides be mounted countrywide and internationally to protect illiterate smallholder farmers from herbicide toxicity.

KINERJA, KENDALA, DAN STRATEGI PROGRAM KREDIT USAHA RAKYAT SEKTOR PERTANIAN KE DEPAN

<p class="A04-abstrak2">Agricultural funding institutions need capital business. The challenge of the Agriculture Sector Public Credit Program is to increase reach program, institutional regulations, empowerment, and synergy. Some of the problems of the Agriculture Sector Public Program include low absorption rates, schemes, program coverage, assistance, and institutions. Policy recommendations among others; increase people business credit proposals agricultural, provide the people business credit scheme with a base and groups like the farmer's group, involving Agribusiness Micro Finance Institution and cooperatives, extending branch of the bank and the of a companion. Recommendations empowerment and synergies between other; addition and strengthening the role of Independent Smallholder Financing Facilitator, special programs the agricultural sector (people plantation and holder livestock) with the ceiling adjusted to the proposal, joint responsibility, business partner, Independent Smallholder Financing Facilitator in Sector Public Credit Program special enough important. Cooperation with the Field Agriculture Extension necessary for the socialization is at the farmer's group and gapoktan. The technical team's provincial and district role is to performance monitoring Independent Smallholder Financing Facilitator.</p>