#FRAGOES

OVERVI
EW OFEXTENSI
ONEDUCATI
ON
This chapterpr esent s an overview ofext ension education as facetofadul t
educat i
on,it
s hi stor
icalantecedentand i tsr olein agricult
uraldev el
opmenti n
part
icularand r uraldev el
opmentasa whol e.The core pr i
ncipl
esofext ension
educat i
onarest atedandexpl ainedi nthischapter.Agr i
cultur
alextension,beinga
speciali
zedform ofadul teducationi nagri
cultur
eisaneducat i
onalprocessof ten
seen mai nl
yasa communi cation processbet ween extension agent sand r ural
dwellerswiththei ntenti
onofhel pingthem improveont heirf ar
mingpr acti
cesf or
sustainabl
eincreasei nproducti
vityandbet t
erstandardoflivi
ng.

Obj
ect
ive
Att
heendofthi
suni t
,st
udent sar
eexpect edto:
 Learnaboutthevariousdefi
nit
ionsofextensioneducati
on
 Underst
andt hedi
fferencebetweenf or
mal andextensi
oneducat
ion
 Appreci
atetheobjectiv
eandpr i
ncipleofextensi
oneducati
on

1.
1EXTENSI
ONEDUCATI
ONDEFI
NED

Defini
tionofExtensionEducat i
on
Byawayofdef init
ion,variousscholars,professional sandpracti
ti
oner
shav eput
forwardmanydef ini
tionsregardingtheconceptofExt ensi
onEducati
on.Asamat t
er
offact ,ther
eareasmanydef i
niti
onsofExt ensionEducat ionastherearescholars,
professionalsandpr act
it
ionersint hefiel
dofknowl edgegenerati
on,i
tsutil
izat
ion
and r uraldevelopment .Bel ow ar e some col lect
ions ofv ari
ous defi
nit
ions of
ExtensionEducat i
on:

1.Extensi onEducat i
onisanappl iedscienceconsi sti
ngofcont entderived
from r esear
ch,accumul ated fiel
d exper i
ences and r elevantpr inci
ples
drawnf rom t
hebehav iour
alsci encesy nthesisedwi thusef ult echnology
intoabodyofphi l
osophy,princi
ples,contentandmet hodsf ocusedont he
probl emsofoutofschooleducat ionforadul tsandy outh.–J. P.Leagans
(1961)
2. Extensi onEducationisthepr ocessoft eachingr uralpeopl ehow t ol i
ve
betterbyl earni
ngway st hati mprovet heirf arm,homeandcommuni t
y
instituti
ons–J. P.Leagans( 1961)
3.Extensi onEducat i
oni sanoutofschoolsy stem ofeducat ioni nwhi ch
adul tand y oung peoplelear nbydoi ng.Iti spar tnership betweent he
Gov er nmentand t he people,whi ch pr ovides ser vi
ce and educat ion
desi gnedt omeett heneedsoft hepeopl e.Itsf undament alobjectiv
ei sthe
dev elopmentoft hepeople.–Kel seyandHar ne( 1963)

4.Ext
ensi
onEducat
ioni
sapr
ogr
ammeandapr
ocessofhel
pingv
il
lage
 peopl
etohelpthemsel
ves,i
ncr
easethei
rproduct
ionandt
orai
set
hei
r
gener
alst
andar
dofli
vi
ng.–D.Ensmi
nger(
1961)

5. WecandefineExtensi
onEducati
onast heincr
easeddissemi
nat
ionof
usef
ulknowl
edgeforimprov
ingr
urall
i
fe.–H.W.Butt(
1961)

6.ExtensionEducati
oni satwo- waychannel;i
tbri
ngsscienti
fi
cinformat
ion
tothev il
l
agepeople,andalsot akestheprobl
emsoft hev i
l
lagepeopleto
thescienti
fi
cinst
it
utionforsolut
ion.I
tisaconti
nuouseducationalpr
ocess,
i
nwhi chbothlearnerandt eachercontr
ibut
eandr eceiv
e.–B.Rambhai
(1958)

7.Extension Educati
on i
sdefined asan educati
onalprocesst o pr
ovi
de
knowledge t ot he r
uralpeople aboutt he i
mprov
ed pr acti
ces i
na
convincingmannerandhel pt hem totakedeci
sionwithi
nt hei
rspeci
fi
c
l
ocal condit
ions.–O.P.Dahama( 1973)

8.Agri
culturalExtensioni sapr ofessionalmet hodofnon- f
ormaleducat i
on
aimedati nducingbehav i
ouralchangesi nthef armersforincreasingtheir
i
ncomet hroughincreasedpr oductionandpr oductivi
tybyestabli
shingfir
m
l
inkageswi thresearchf orsolvi
ngf armer’
spr obl
emsensur ingadequat e
andtimel ysupplyofi nputsandusi ngprovenmet hodsofcommuni cati
on
forspeedingoft hepr ocessofdi f
fusi onandadopt i
onofinnov at
ions."–Y.
C.Sanor i
a( 1986)

From theabov edef i

niti
ons,i
tcanbeassertedthat“
ExtensionEducation”fort hat
mat t
er,Agri
cul
turalExtensi
onEducati
oni anoutofschooleducat
s“ ionalprogramme
oractivi
tywhichbr i
ngsaboutadesi r
abl
echangeinbehaviour(knowledge,atti
tude,
practi
ceand ski l
ls–KAPS)ofr ur
alpeopl
et ohel
pimprovet hei
rsocial,economi c
andpsy chol
ogicalstat
us”.

Extensi
oneducationisanappl i
edbehaviouralsci
ence,theknowl
edgeofwhichis
appli
edt obr
ingaboutdesi rabl
echangesi nthebehav i
our
alcomplexofhuman
bei
ngs usual
lyt hrough var
ious st
rat
egies and progr
ammes ofchange and by
applyi
ngthel
atestscient
if
icandtechnol
ogicali
nnovati
ons.

Object i
vesandPr inciplesofExt ension
Extensioneducat ionhasnow dev elopedasaf ull
-fl
edgeddi sci
pline,hav ingi t
sown
phi
losophy ,obj ectives,pr i
nciples,met hods and t echniques whi ch must be
under stood by ev ery ext ensi
on wor kerand ot hers connect ed wi t
ht he r ural
development .Itmi ghtbement i
onedher et hatext ensioneducat ion,i t
spr i
nciples,
met hodsandt echniquesar eappl i
cablenotonlyt oagr icult
urebutal sot ov eter
inar y
andani malhusbandr y,dairyi
ng,homesci ence,heal th,f amilyplanni ng,etc.Based
uponi t
sapplicati
onanduse,v ar iousnomencl atureshav ebeengi vent oi t
,suchas
agricult
uralextension,v eteri
nar yandani malhusbandr yext ension,dai r
yext ensi on,
homesci enceextensi on,publi
cheal thext
ension,andf ami lyplanningext ension.

Obj
ect
ivesofExt
ensi
onEducat
ion
Theobj ectivesofextensioneducat i
onaret heexpressionsoftheendst owards
whichouref for
tsar
edi rected.I
not herwords,anobj ecti
vemeansadi recti
onof
mov ement .Befor
estart
inganypr ogramme,it
sobjecti
v esmustbeclear
lystated,so
thatoneknowswher etogoandwhati stobeachieved.Thefundamentalobjecti
ve
ofextensioneducati
onist hedevelopmentofthepeople.

Ext
ensi
onisconcer nedwitht hreebasi ctasks:
1.The di ssemination of usef uland pr act
icalinformati
on r elati
ng to
agri
cultureandhomeeconomi cs;
2.Practi
calapplicationofsuchknowl edget ohelpfarmers/f
armf ami l
iesand
rur
alpeopl eanal yset hei
rpr oblems.Thesear ecar
riedoutinani nfor
mal
atmospher e,withadul tsasmai nclienteleand
3.Assist
ingf armer s/farmf ami l
i
esandr uralpeopleinusingt het echnical
knowledgegai nedt obet tersolvetheirownpr obl
ems.Thushel pingpeople
toinordert ohelpt hemsel ves.

Agr
icul
turalextension i n Ghana i spr i
mar i
lyconcer ned wi tht hef ollowi ng main
obj
ecti
ves:
1.The di ssemi nati
on of usef uland pr acticali nformat i
on r elat
ing to
agri
culturetoenabl ef armersfar m mor eef ficientl
yt oi ncreasei ncomes.
2.Thepr acti
cal appli
cat i
onofusef ulknowl edget ofar m andhome
3.Encour agef armer st ogrowt heirownf ood, eatwel landl ivewel l
4.Hel prural,peopleappr eci
ateoppor tuniti
es, beaut ies, andpr i
vilegesofr ural
li
feandt hewor l
dar oundt hem
5.Pr omot ebet tersoci al,cult
uralrecr eati
onal ,i nt
ellect ualandspi rit
ualli
fe
amongr ur
al people
6.Dev elop ci t
izens pr oud oft heiroccupat ion,i ndependenti nt hinki
ng
constructi
vei noutlook, capable,ef
ficientsel f-rel
iantandpat riotic.
7.Toi mpr oveal laspect soft helif
eoft her uralpeopl ewi thinthef r
amewor k
ofthenat i
on’ssoci o-economi cpolicies.

Pri
nciplesofext
ensioneducat
ion:Theext ensionwor kisbaseduponsomewor ki
ng
pri
ncipl
esandt heknowl edgeoft hesepr incipl
esi snecessaryforanextensi
on
worker.Someoft hesepr
inci
ples,
asr el
atedt oagricul
turalext
ensi
on,
arementi
oned
bel
ow.

1.Pri
ncipl
eofi nter
estandneed.Ext ensionwor kmustbebasedont he
needsandi nterestsoft hepeople.Theseneedsandi nterest
sdi
ffer
fr
om indiv
idualtoindiv
idual,f
rom vi
l
laget ov i
l
lage,f
rom blocktobl
ock,
and from distri
ctt o dist
ri
ctand,t heref
ore,there cannotbe one
progr
ammef orallpeople.

2.Pr incipleofcul turaldi ff

erence.Ext ensionwor ki
sbased ont he
cult
uralbackgr ound oft he peopl e with whom t he worki s done.
Improv ementcanonl ybegi nf rom t helev elofthepeopl ewheret hey
are.Thi smeanst hattheext ensi onwor kerhast oknowt hel ev
eloft he
knowl edge,andt heski ll
soft hepeopl e,met hodsandt oolsusedby
them, theircustoms, tradi
tions,beliefs,valuesetc.
3.Principleofpart i
cipati
on.Ext ensionhel pspeopl etohelpthemselves.
Goodext ensi
onwor ki sdi r
ect edt owar dsassi st
ingruralfamil
iest o
wor koutt hei
rown problemsr atherthan giv
ing t
hem ready-made
soluti
ons.Actualpart
ici
pation and exper
ience ofpeoplei nthese
programmescr eat
esself
-confi
denceinthem andalsotheylear
nmor e
bydoi ng.

4.Pr i
nci
pleofadapt
abil
it
y .Peopl
edifferfrom eachot her,onegroup
diff
ersfrom anot
hergroupandcondi tionsalsodi f
ferf r
om placeto
place.Anextensi
onprogrammeshoul dbef l
exi
ble,sot hatnecessar
y
changes can be made whenev er needed,t o meet t he varyi
ng
conditi
ons.

5.Thegr assr ootsprinci

pleoforganisati
on.Agr oupofrural
peopl
ein
l
ocal communi tyshoul dshowowner shipofextensionwork.The
programmeshoul dfitinwitht
helocal condit
ions.Theai
m of
organisi
ngt helocalgroupistodemonst r
atethev al
ueofthenew
practi
cesorpr ogrammessot hatmor eandmor epeopl
ewoul d
parti
cipate.

6.The l eader
ship princi
ple.Extensi
on wor kis based on the ful
l
uti
li
sati
on ofl ocalleadership.The sel
ection and t
rai
ning oflocal
l
eaderst oenablethem tohelpcarryoutextensi
onwor kisessenti
alto
thesuccessoft heprogramme.Peopl ehavemor efai
thinlocall
eaders
andt heyshouldbeusedt oputacrossanew i deasoast ogai n
acceptancewiththeleastresi
stance.

7.Thewhole-familypri
nciple.Ext
ensi
onworkwi
llhav eabetterchance
ofsuccessi ftheext ensionwor ker
shaveawhol e-
famil
yappr oach
i
nsteadofpiecemealappr oachorseparat
eandunintegrat
edappr oach.
Ext
ensionwor kis,ther
efore,forthewhol
efami
ly,i
.e.formale,femal e
andtheyouth.

8.Pri
ncipleofco-oper
ation.Ext
ensi
onisaco-oper
ati
veventur
e.Itisa
j
ointdemocr at
icenter
priseinwhichrur
alpeopl
eco-oper
atewiththei
r
vi
ll
age,blockanddistr
ictoff
ici
alst
opursueacommoncause.

9.Principl
eofsat i
sfact i
on.Theend-productoft heeff
ortofextension
teaching ist hesatisfacti
ont hatcomest ot hef ar
mer,hi swi f
eor
youngst er
s as the r esultofsol vi
ng a problem,meet i
ng a need,
acquiringanewski llorsomeot herchangesinbehav i
our.Sati
sfact
ion
i
st hekeyt osuccessi nextensi
onwor k."Asatisf
iedcustomeri sthe
bestadv ert
isements’.

10.Theev aluati
onprincipl
e.Extensionisbasedupont hemet hodsof
sci
ence,andi tneedsconst antev aluat
ion.Theeffect
ivenessofthe
worki s measured int erms oft he changes broughtabouti nthe
knowledge,skil
l,andatti
tudeandadopt i
onbehavi
ourofthepeoplebut
notmer el
yintermsofachi evementofphy si
cal
tar
gets.
Di
ff
erencesbet
weenFor
mal
Educat
ionandExt
ensi
onEducat
ion

Extensionwor kisconsideredasanaspectofadul teducati

onwhi chdiffersf r
om
formalorclassroom educati
onint hatitpreparesit
sclient
eletotackl
ethepr obl
ems
oftodayandhel psthem t
ol i
veher eandnow.For maleducationont heot herhand,
preparesitsstudentsforl
if
eaf t
erschooly ear
s.Itmay,howev er
,bement ionedher e
thatwhenext ensioneducat i
onisputi nt
oact ionforeducati
ngt heruralpeopl e,i
t
doesnotr emainf ormaleducation.I nthatsense,t herearesev eraldif f
erences
betweent hetwo.Someoft hesedifferencesare:

For
mal
Educat
ion Ext
ensi
onEducat
ion

1.Thet eacher(
ext
ensi
on wor
ker
)starts
1.Thet
eacherst
art
swi
tht
heor
yandwor
ks
wit
hpracti
calandmaytakeupt
heoryl
ater
uptopr
act
ical
.
on.

2.St
udent
sst
udysubj
ect
s 2.Far
mer
sst
udypr
obl
ems.

3.Studentsmustadaptt
hemsel
vest
othe 3.Ithasnof i
xedcur
ri
culum orcour
seof
fi
xedcurri
cul
um of
fer
ed studyandthef
armer
shelptoformul
atet
he
curri
cul
um

4.Aut
hor
it
yrest
swi
tht
het
eacher
. 4.Aut
hor
it
yrest
swi
tht
hef
armer
s.

5.Cl
assat
tendancei
scompul
sor
y. 5.Par
ti
cipat
ioni
svol
unt
ary
.

6.Teacherteachesandal
sol
ear
nsf
rom
6.Teacheri
nst
ruct
sthest
udent
s.
thef
armers.

7.Teachi
ngi
sonl
ythr
oughi
nst
ruct
ors. 7.Teachi
ngi
sal
sot
hroughl
ocal
leader
s.

8.Teachi
ngi
smai
nlyv
ert
ical 8.Teachi
ngi
smai
nlyhor
izont
al.

9. The t eacher has mor

e or l
ess 9. The t eacher has a l
arge and
homogeneousaudience. het
erogeneousaudience.

10.I
tisr
igi
d. 10.I
tisf
lexi
ble.

11.I
thasf
reedom t
odev
eloppr
ogr
ammes
11.I
thasal
lpr
e-pl
annedandpr
e-deci
ded l
ocal
lyandtheyarebasedontheneeds
pr
ogr
ammes
andexpr
esseddesi
resoft
hepeopl
e.
12.Itismorepr acti
calandintendedfor
12.I
tismor
etheor
eti
cal
. i
mmedi at
e appl
i
cat i
on i
nt he sol
uti
on of
probl
ems.

WhyExt
ensi
on?

Societ
ytheysayi sdynami c,i
nrealit
yi tisseent hatwhatwasappl icableint
hepast
maybeobsol eteatpr esentandlikewisei tcanbesai dt
hattechni
quesandmet hods
preval
entatpresentmaynotbeappl i
edi nf ut
ure.Thenat ureofproblem ischangi
ng
daybyday ,ther
efore,inordertosci entif
icall
yt acklenew probl
ems,i tisnecessar
y
thatthereshouldbesuchani nsti
tution,whi chshoul dactasabr idgebetween
scient
ist
sandf ar
mer st oensur eacont i
nuet r
ansmissionoftechnol ogyornew
techni
quesandmet hodt othefarmer sandont heotherhandaddr esst hepr
oblems
offarmerstothescientist
s.

Resear
chCentre◄►Ext ensi
onPersonnel◄►Probl
emsofPeopl
e
Suchaninst
it
uti
on,whichmediat
esbet weenf
armersandsci
ent
ist
swasestabl
i
shed
andiscall
ed“Extensi
onsy st
em”.Thepeopleworkingi
nthisi
nsti
tut
ionar
ecall
ed
“Ext
ensi
onpersonnel”

WhySt udyExtensi on?

Iti
smor eimportanttol ayemphasi son“ Howt ot each”i nsteadofon“ Whatt oteach”
sot hatt hepeopl ecanbeencour agedt oadoptnew r esearcht echniqueseasi l
y.In
otherwor ds,i
faper soni sveryknowledgeabl eofv ariousmet hodsandt echniques
butdoesnotknowhowt oexplainthem orexpr esst hem, t
henhi sknowl edgehasno
meani ng.Ther efore,thepowert oexpr essknowl edgeandv i
ewpoi ntal sopl aysa
crucialr ole.Extension Per sonnelshoul d notonl y be awar e ofobj ectives the
programmes but shoul d also be awar e of pr evalent condi t
ions,pr oblems,
requirement s and ci r
cumst ances.Af teranaly zing,t he situati
on t hen ext ension
personnelshoul d givei nformation aboutsci entifi
ct echniques,t othei rcl i
ents
accor ding tot heirneeds and r equi
rement s.Ther efore,the st udyofext ension
educat ioni snecessar yf orextensionper sonnel,sot hatt heycanencour aget he
adopt ionofnewt echniques.

UNI
TTWO:
HISTORI
CALANTECEDENTOFEXTENSI
ONEDUCATI
ON

Obj
ecti
ves:
Byst
udyingthi
sunit
,st
udent sar
eexpectedto:
 Under st
andthedevelopmentofextensi
oneducat
ionintheworl
d
 Learnaboutthefactorsorant
ecedentsofext
ensioneducat
ion
 Appr eci
atedt
hedevelopmentofextensi
onservi
cesinGhana

HistoryofExtensionEducati
onintheWor l
d
Thewor d“ Ext
ension”wasf i
rstti
meusedt odescri
betheconceptoftaki
ngteachi
ng
andl ear
ningout si
dethewal l
sofuni v
ersi
tyi
nt heform of“
Univer
sit
yExt on”or
ensi
“Extensi
onoft heUniversi
ty”inBri
tai
ni n1840.Manyschol ar
sandacademi csin
Europeandel sewhereusedt hewordExtensi
ont odescr
ibet
heconceptofextendi
ng
universityeducat i
ont othewor kingmasses, whobyt hevi
r t
ueoft heirwor kcouldnot
be on uni versitycampus t o obt ain uni
versit
yeducat ion.I n hisr epor tenti
tl
ed
“suggest i
onsf ort heExt ensionoft heuniversit
y”in1850,Wi ll
iam Sewel lofBr i
tai
n
usedt hewor dExt ensioni ncal l
ingf ort
heneedt otaketeachingandl ear
ni ngoutsi
de
theboundar iesofuni versit
ycampussoast oprovideoppor tunityfort hewor ki
ng
popul ationtoobt ainuniv er
sityeducat i
onandbenef itfr
om knowl edgegener atedin
thev ariousuni versit
iesandot hereducat i
onalinsti
tuti
onsofhi gherlearning.

Also,JamesSt uartofTr i
nit
yCol l
ege,Cambr i
dgeUni ver si
tyin1867- 68,usedt he
wordext ensionwhenhewasaddr essing“WomenAssoci ati
onandWor kingMen’ s
Clubs”ofNor th England.Agai ni n 1871,he appeal ed t ot he of fici
als oft he
Cambr idge Uni ver
sit
yt o establi
sh Ext ension centres undert he super vi
sion of
univer
sity ,sothatthesecent r
escanbeusedasapl atformt odel i
verlecturet othe
people.Hi s effor
tint hisf i
eld earned hi m the acul eate“ Fat herofUni versit
y
Extension” .I
naf ormalway ,
Cambr idgeUni versi
tyin1873, LondonUni versi
tyin1876
andOxf or dUniver
sit
yi n1878dev el
opedExt ensionsyst em,whi chwor kedamong
people.I n1880,JamesSt uartwor kcamet obeknownas“ Extensionmov ement ”.
According t o Webst er’
s dicti
onaryt he term “ Extension”means “ Branch ofa
univer
sityf orstudentwhocannotat t
endt heUni versi
typr operly”
.I notherwor ds,the
word‘ Extension’isusedi nthecont extwhi chsignifi
esanoutofschoolsy st
em of
education. ”

I
nt heeighthdecadeoft he19t hcentury
,thewor dExt ensionwasusedi nt heform of
Extensi
oneducat ioni nU.S.A.Thi swast or espondt otheproblem ofr uralpeople
migrati
ont ourbanar easwhi chcharacteri
zedl abourmobi l
i
tyinthelatt
erhal fofthe
19thcent ur
y.Thisphenomenoncr eatedtwomaj orpr obl
emsi nU.S.A.
:
(i
)Themi grati
onofrur alpeopletocit
iescr eatedlabourconstrai
ntinther ural
areaandhence, theagr i
cultur
alsectorsufferedaset back,and
(i
i
)Thei ncreaseofur banpopul ati
oncr eatededucat i
on,empl oymentand
housingrelatedprobl
ems.

Therefore,i
ncurtaili
ngt hisproblem,thePhil
adelphiaCommi tt
eewasest abl
i
shedin
1785.The commi ttee recommended t he i
nsti
tuti
onalizat
ion of“ Outofschool
educat i
on”inor dert o keepr uralpeoplei
nr uralareas.Al so i
n1862Pr esi
dent
Roosev eltest
ablisheda“ count ycommi ssi
on”undert hechai r
manshipofLiver
ty
Hydev el
le.I
tsobjectiveswer e:
(i
)Howt ost opmi grati
onofr ural
peopl
et ocit
ies?
(ii
)How t o engage r uralpeoplein agr i
cult
uraland r uraldevel
opment
programmes?

Theabov er ecommendat i
onswer earri
ved atbased on t hef actt hatindustrial
dev el
opmenti snotpossi blewi thoutagri
cul
turaldev el
opmentf ort hatmat terthe
ruralareasmustnotbedepr ivedoft heneededhumanr esourcet ohelpi nthe
agricult
uraldev elopment. The i mplementati
on oft he abov er ecommendat i
on
required instit
utional
izat
ion ofoutofschooleducat i
onali nsti
tuti
on t o organize
extensioneducat ion.ThepassageofSmi thLeav erAct( 1914)pr ovidesthel egal
framewor kf ortheest abl
ishmentofoutofschooleducat ionalinsti
tutiontoor ganize
and manage t he dissemi nat
ion ofknowl edge and pr acti
calski ll
st othe rur al
popul at
ion.The passage oft he Actalso led tot he integrati
on ofcooper ative
Extensionser vicebywhi choutofschooleducat ionwasor ganized.Asar esult,r
ural
peopl
ewereabletobri
ngaboutdev
elopment
sandprogressinfar
mingandhousing.
Thist
ypeofeducat
ioncomestobeknownas“Agr
icul
tur
al Ext
ensi
onEducat
ion”
.

Histori
calPerspectiveofAgr i
cult
ural
Ext ensi
oni nGhana
Agricul
turalextensionact i
vit
iesinGhanast art
edi ntheni net
eenthcenturybythe
earl
ymi ssi
onariesandf orei
gnownedcompani eswhomai nf ocusedwasi nthe
productionofexpor tcropssuchascof fee,cocoaandr ubber.Therefor
eallext
ensi
on
acti
v i
ti
eswer eor ganizedt oprovideinformationandi nput sononl ytheseexport
cropst ofarmers.Litt
leornoext ensi
onact iv
iti
eswer ecarr
iedoutonf oodcropsand
l
ivestockproduct i
on.

Agricul
turalExtensionact i
vi
tiesintheimmedi ateposti ndependentper iodwer estil
l
ti
lt
ed t ot he promot i
on ofcocoa,cof fee and ot herexpor tcr ops as t he new
i
ndependentadmi ni
str
ati
oni nheri
tedthecol oniali
nst i
tuti
onalst r
uctureswhi chwer e
puti nplacetocar r
youtr esearchandext ensionact ivi
ti
esonexpor tcrops.Af ter
i
ndependence,Ghanat r
iedv ari
ousappr oachesandmodel sofor ganizi
ngext ension
activi
ti
esandbr oadensthescopet oincludefoodcr opsandl iv
est ock.Butf oraf ew
agricul
turalextensionpr ogrammes,suchast hef armer s’co-operativ
emov ement
andt heUni t
edGhanaFar mer s’Co-operati
veCounci l(UGFCC)whi chinit
iatedand
i
mpl ement edext ensi
onact ivi
ti
esf ori
tsmember swi thpublicsuppor t,mostoft he
extensionprojectsimplement edinGhanawer elargelydonor -
assistedpr oj
ects.

I
nt he1970sand1980s,al lt hedepar t
ment soft heMi ni
stryofFoodandAgr icul
ture
undertook separ ate ext ensi on ser vices.Agr i
culturalext ension was t herefore
fragment edamongt hev ari
ousdepar t
ment swithinthemi nist r
y.Thus,t hecr opand
l
ivestockdepar t
ment scar r
iedsepar ateandi ndependentext ensi onser vices.I n1987
howev er,MOFA est abli
shed t he Depar t
mentofAgr i
cultur alExt ension Ser vices
(DAES)t obr i
ngal lspl i
nterMOFAext ensi onser vi
cesunderoneumbr ell
a.
TheDAESusedt heWor ldBankTr ainingandVi sit(T&V)ext ensionsy stem whi ch
i
nv olv
esr egulartrainingandf iel
dv i
sits.Thi ssy st
em al sosaw t hewi thdrawalof
MOFAf rom t hepr ocur ementanddi stributi
onofagr i
culturali nputs,includingcr edit
.
This extension ini ti
ative was suppor ted wi th Wor ld Bank f unding t hrough t he
Nat i
onalAgr i
cult
ur alEx tensionPr oject( NAEP)whi chwasi mplement edbet ween
1992and1999.Thi spr oj
ectwassetupandi mplement edtohel p
(i
) i mprov e ef fi
ciency int he managementand del ivery ofext ension
services,
(i
i) i mprov et herelev anceoft echnologiesav ai
lablet of armers, and
(i
ii
) st r
engt hent het echnical depar tment sofMOFA.

In August1998,t he gov ernmentuni f

ied t
he ext
ension servi
ces ofMOFA and
COCOBODf orthepur poseofpr ov i
dingfarmerswithmor ecost-
effect
iveagri
cult
ural
extensi
onser vi
ces.Wi ththemer ger ,MOFAt ookmi ni
ster
ialr
esponsibil
it
yforcocoa
extensi
on.Thechal lengeforMOFAi st o:
(i)dev
elopt hecapaci tyf
orcocoaext ensi
onand
(i
i)col
laboratewitht herelevantagenciesandpr i
vatesect
oror gani
zat
ionsto
supportthecocoai ndustry.

Aspartoftheunifi
edagri
cul
tur
alext
ensi
onstrat
egy,Agr
icult
uralExtensionAgent
s
(AEAs)aretr
ainedonceamont hbySubjectMatterSpecial
ist
s( SMSs)dr awnfr
om
thesubjectmatterortechni
caldepar
tmentsofMOFA.TheAEAsv isitgr
oupsof
contactfar
mer sonafor
tni
ght
lybasis.Eachcontactf
armergrouphasami
nimum of
10f armersandeachAEAi nter
actswi t
hbetween16and24ofsuchgr oupsina
far
mi ngseason.
Int
eracti
onwi t
hf ar
mersisdonebywayoff ar
m demonstrati
onsanddi
scussi
ons
withfarmergroups.

Summar
y

Notwit
hstandi
ng t he various vi
ewpointsregarding the defi
nit
ion ofext ensi
on
educat
iontherei
sagr owingagreementthatextensioneducat
ioncanbedef inedina
broadter
msas‘ anappl i
edbehav i
ouralsci
ence,theknowledgeofwhichi sappli
edto
bri
ngaboutdesirablechangesint hebehavi
ouralcomplexofhumanbei ngst hr
ough
outofschooleducationalprogr
ammes.

Themai ntaskofext ensioneducati

onist
hedi sseminat
ionofpr
acticalinfor
mat i
on
torur
alpeopl eandassi stthem appl
i
edthei nfor
mat i
oninimprovingt hei
rli
v i
ng
st
andards.Extension operateson thepri
nciplesofneedsand i nterest,cul
tural
di
ff
erence,cooperati
on,leadershi
pamongothers.

Alt
houghextensi
oneducat i
onusesi nstruct
ionalmet hodsandstrategiestohelp
i
nfl
uencethebehav i
ourofr uralpeople,itdif
fersfrom for
maleducati
oni nsomany
ways.Whiles f
ormaleducat ion starts witht heoryand ends atpr acti
cal
s and
ext
ensioneducati
onst artwi thpracticalsandmayt aketheor
ylater.Also whil
e
for
maleducati
oni sguidedbyapr edet ermi
necur ri
culum,ext
ensi
oneducat i
ondo
nothavefi
xedri
gidcurr
iculum itscurr
iculum isfarmersprobl
emsneedsandi nter
est.

#FRAGOES