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Dear Colleagues, 1. I am now forwarding Part B of the penultimate summary of the S&T theme that deals with the dissemination and uptake of AST knowledge. There have been many excellent contributions on these critically important issues, a number of which were forwarded earlier from the ?Growth and Poverty? theme, but many have also been contributed to the S&T theme directly since then. It is difficult to do justice to these in a short summary, with the added problem of the moderator not being a specialist in communication or extension more generally. My apologies if your contribution is inadequately addressed. I would also like to acknowledge James Biscoe for providing a summary of his perspectives of all themes, including S&T, and will refer to this in the final summary. Extension services 2. Colin Poulton?s contribution highlights why in the midst of pessimism expressed by some participants about .the state of extension services, especially in Africa, there are also grounds for optimism in cases where it is working. He cites several examples of private sector extension that address particular commodities, such as cotton, which are linked to specific market demands. Contract farming addressed by others in the ?Growth and Poverty? theme, including Sattar Mandal from Bangladesh, utilises some similar approaches. A key message that emerges is that farmers intensifying and diversifying their production need much advice not only on technologies, but also on the many issues that have to be addressed to meet market requirements. 3. Colin points out that extension officers can forge the linkages between the local ?world? of the farming communities and those of the markets and technology providers. Meeting these needs would mean that extension staff become much more valued by farmers and therefore also motivated ? as revealed in the example of GM maize for small farmers in South Africa.. Peter Dorward also emphasises the need to motivate extension staff, yet most are left to their own devices, without meaningful interaction and support from their supervisors. He feels that this aspect of extension needs far more attention. 4. Stating the obvious, good extension means providing farmers with what they need. James Biscoe suggests that the bottom line is what options end up making farmers more money. Peter Dorward endorses this, but reminds us of the lack of impact of earlier projects on farm management. In those cases, the budgeting component did not consider other factors of special concern to smallholder farmers exposed to new innovations in unpredictable environments, such as advice on food requirements for subsistence, level of inputs needed, labour availability, timing of seasonal activities and so on. Participatory planning on the various aspects of small farm management is thus an essential component of extension services 5. Most contributors support the need for public extension services as part of the investment in agricultural development. This said, contributors, including Colin Poulton, believe that there must also be associated reform of the ministries under which extension services operate. 6.Tom MacMillan, among others, including Berga Lemaga, believes that it is appropriate, indeed desirable, that researchers play a role in extension, as to do otherwise continues to maintain the undesirable separation between research and extension. 7. A number of contributors including James Biscoe, Gary Alex, Vinay Chand. and Colin Poulton, have made broader suggestions on how to manage extension services. Options proposed include: (a) that extension staff might most effectively work with groups/teams to draw up plans and serve district level agriculture with the teams comprising farmer groups, NGOs, private sector representatives ands other stakeholders, and (b) that extension services, at least in part, could be contracted out to the private sector. DFID is urged to support projects of this kind. 8. Eli Minja reminds us of the extent to which farmers themselves, and through their associations, experiment with and modify AST knowledge, which they only appreciate when it is demonstrated directly, through participatory approaches. He also describes the role of village information centres that are being established in some areas for farmers to archive their own experiences as well as AST knowledge from elsewhere. Role of community learning/empowerment 9. Per Eklund?s comprehensive contribution, raises issues, discussed more extensively in the ?Growth and Poverty? theme, on how poor households can be supported to form self-financing community-based organisations that would in turn be key partners in development initiatives ? including participatory innovation through access to AST. Donors, including DFID, should recognise the importance of such programmes as alternative or complementary delivery systems of knowledge and its application. Access to AST information 10. Paul Mundy has highlighted ?mediated communication? in a series of valuable contributions, citing the importance of different approaches to the communication of information, as well as its storage for ready access by all who need it. 11.He points out that research and extension organisations as well as donor agencies produce printed materials, but that very often these are not easy to access or, if they are, print runs are very limited and only reach a small proportion of the target audience. The outcome is that few know what has already been done, duplication occurs, and lessons not learned. Paul argues that information technology can provide answers to most of these problems. All materials that are to be printed can be electronically archived and then put on the internet and onto CD-ROM for digital libraries and other uses (which helps those who do not have internet access). He recommends that DFID should require all of its projects to make the information on AST and extension knowledge available in this way. 12.Paul also raises the important issue of research publications, pointing out that most institutions in the developing world require that project outcomes be published in high profile scientific journals, with limited circulation, and not readily accessible or even understandable by those other than scientists. However, publication of papers remains the main criterion for recognition of a researcher?s contributions and in turn prospects for promotion. Relatively few institutions provide incentives for their scientists or other staff to produce materials understandable by the general public - through communication channels such as the mass media, extension and training materials. To some extent this reflects thinking in research institutes in the developed world, where as Stephen James points out any science and technology being undertaken whether for development or not, has to be of the highest quality ? hence the need for peer review. 13. In the developing country context, Paul highlights that such failure to popularise research outcomes, means that much valuable material never reaches farmers or extensionists. He suggests that DFID could provide support for various activities to address these difficulties, including incentives for national research organisations to popularise their findings through researchers, or establishing/strengthening the arms of these institutions that deal with public awareness and extension, and including NGOs and the private sector among those being targeted. Paul?s other contributions to the E-forum include highlighting the importance of greater engagement of research institutions with the mass media, including radio and TV. This is endorsed by James Biscoe, who like others believes that DFID should support such initiatives. 14. These views on communication are supported by many contributors including Pamela Woods, Dick Tinsley, Eli Minja and Electra van Campen. The latter describes how the Centre for information on Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture (ILEIA) uses an ?active? newsletter where information and experiences are exchanged between stakeholders. The latter are mostly NGOs, CBOs and government extension services, and almost all are field-based. Both hard copy and electronic communication are used to ensure that those without internet access are included. Tim Woods contributes similar experiences with id21, a free service for reporting research findings to stakeholders, including NGOs, policy makers and politicians. The service is funded by DFID. 15.Paul also suggests that DFID give priority to restoring and enhancing institutional libraries in the developing world ? many of which are in a woeful state. 16. Finally, both Paul and Vinay Chand reminds us that information technology does have a major role to pay, but must be complemented by face-face-communication which, remains the most important direct way of passing on information to farmers. Many thanks again for your contributions. Best regards George Rothschild (S&T Moderator)
Please visit dfid-agriculture-consultation.nri.org.