Module 6.

3
TYPES OF EXTENSION APPROACHES
1. Module overview:
Modernization and the rapidly changing context of agriculture has resulted in a
transformation. In this module, you will learn that agricultural development is increasingly
taking place in a globalized setting, which implies that domestic markets alone no longer
define demand. There is therefore a need for you as a learner to polish your foresight since
agricultural development is affected by technical, social, economic, political. environmental
issues, and a lot more issues. Over the years, perspectives on the role of agricultural
research for development have shifted considerably, moving from linear Transfer-of-
Technology (ToT) models in the 1960s to ‘Farmer First’ and Farming Systems Research
approaches in the 1980s and 1990s.

2. Lesson Title: TYPES OF EXTENSION APPROACHES

3. Intended Learning Outcomes
At the end of this module, you must be able to :

1. Describe the salient features of various extension approaches (cognitive)

2. Enhance your skills on selecting appropriate extension approach for use in a
certain extension activity; (psychomotor/affective)
3. appreciate extension approaches by writing a slogan for the best approach
you have selected . (Psychomotor/Affective)
4. Take off
Activity: Triad brainstorming
Instruction: Group yourselves into threes. Pictures of at least 4 extension
approaches will be posted on the board. Triads will draw lots on which picture to take
up. You write in metacards your answers to question posted on the board. Afterwards,
discussions on the answers on metacards will be done.
Opening up questions:
- What is happening as shown in the picture.
- Who are involved?
- What is the atmosphere during the extension activity?

5. Content Focus
Learning strategy: Brainstorming, Inquiry Approach, Lecture/Discussion/Role
Playing/Group Dynamics/Field Visit
 Efforts has been made by FAO to identify the major extension approaches for the
benefit of agricultural development decision makers. According to Axin (1988), these major
approaches are as follows;
1. General agricultural extension approach.
In this approach, extension is carried out so that available and technology and
information could be communicated to farmers thereby improving farm practices and
productivity. This was implemented through a large number of field staff assigned
throughout the country using demonstration plots as a major technique. The
advantages are as follows: interprets national government policies and procedures to
local people; covers the whole nation; relatively easy to control by the national
government; relatively rapid communication from the ministry level to rural people.
The disadvantages are the following: lacks two-way flow of communication; fails to
adjust extension messages to different localities; field staff not accountable to rural
people; expensive and inefficient.
2. The commodity approach.
The assumption in this approach that the way to increase productivity and
production of as particular commodity is to group all functions relating to it under one
administration, including extension along with research, input supply, output
marketing and often prices. This is the system whereby extension only tackles one
type of produce. It is usually linked with all the other components of agriculture:
research, provision of inputs, marketing and credit. to emphasize production of one
specific crop or commodity generally grown for export such as tea, palm oil, rubber or
sugar or products for consumption such as milk. This is carried out by a large field staff
assigned throughout the country demonstration plots are a major technique.
Among the advantages of this approach are as follows (a) The technology tends to
fit the production problems and extension workers tend to bring appropriate solutions;
(b) coordination with research and marketing people, messages tend to be delivered in
a timely manner to producers; (c) closer management and supervision; (d) easier to
monitor and evaluate; and (e) relatively more cost effective.
Disadvantages of the approach includes the following: (a) interests of farmers may
have less priority than those of the community organization; (b does not provide
advisory service to other aspects of farming; and (c) the problems of the commodity
organization promoting “its commodity” even in situations where it is no longer in the
national interest to be increasing production of that particular commodity.
3. The training and visit approach.
The basic assumption of this approach are that, under the Department of
Agriculture extension services, the extension workers are poorly trained, lacking
supervision and logistic support and they do not visit and have contact with farmers.
The T&V System established in the 1980s by Daniel Benor is a system, which was
adopted to establish a series of management principles like regularly spaced visits to a
specific number of farmers who were chosen as contract farmers and who then serve as
passive disseminators of innovations to their neighbors. The Field Extension Workers
(FEW) or Village Extension Worker work with the farmer on demo plots in a small area
of the latter’s field and help him to adopt new ideas. Once adoption is effected, the
farmer expands the innovation to a larger area and so forth. Field Extension Workers
gather once a forthnight to be trained by Subject Matter Specialists (SMS), present
reports and queries/problems are raised and discussed. Their supervisors check both
quality of extension work and attendance of the FEWs. Another important element of
the system is the linkage with research and field trials, to whom SMSs have access to
enhance their know-how as a kind of in-service training during their career.
The advantages are the following: pressure on governments to recognize a large
number of small agricultural extension units into one integrated service; brings
discipline to the system, VEWs become more up-to-date with information; closer
technical supervision. The disadvantages are: high long-tem costs to governments due
to expanding size of VEWs; lack of actual two-way communication; technology that is
relevant to the farmers is not integrated; lack of flexibility to change programs as needs
and interests of farmers change; field staff tires of vigorous, patterned activities without
appropriate rewards.
4. The agricultural extension participatory approach
The assumption here is that farming people have much wisdom regarding
production of food from their land but their levels of living could be improved by
learning more of what is known outside; that there is a reinforcing effect in group
learning and group action; that extension efficiency is gained by focusing on important
points based on expressed needs of farmers. The advantages are: relevance or fit of
the program; mutually supportive relationships which develop among participants; less
costly; stimulates increased confidence, awareness, and activity among farm people.
The disadvantages are: lack of control of program from central government; difficulty
of managing central reporting and accounting; pressure people might bring on central
units; people’s influence on personnel management decisions like selection, transfer
and promotion, and the like.
4. The project approach.
These are approaches implemented in a particular location or geographical
location or area in a specified period of time with outside forces infused. Some are
integrated in the sense that all concerns of the community are considered in the
extension program, based on the concept that the community needs and problems
area interrelated and therefore should be worked out together or simultaneously to be
more effective.
The idea is to develop a limited geographical area and tackle all aspects of
development including education, health services, community development, roads,
credit, housing and agriculture. This version is also limited in time and is usually a very
large financial effort, which has to be borne by some outside sponsor or investor.
5. The farming systems development approach.
The assumption with this approach is that technology which fits the needs of
farmers, particularly small farmers, is not available and needs to be generated locally.
The purpose is to provide extension personnel with research results tailored to meet
the needs and interests of local farming system conditions.
This is implemented through partnership of research and extension personnel
and with local people, taking a systems approach to the farm; sometimes involves
several scientific disciplines, however, requires that research personnel go to the farm,
listen to farmers, and in collaboration with them, and the extension personnel,
understand the farm as a system. The advantages are: Some measure of local control
of program planning increases relevance of program content and methods to needs and
interests of clientele; higher adoption rates; effective communication between local
people and extension personnel; lower cost to central government and local people.
The disadvantages are: Interests of farmers may have less priority than those of the
commodity organization; reporting and administrative control is difficult to achieve
 since they may not fit the traditional listing of commodities used by most government
agencies who determine priority crops or cutting edge technologies which have
comparative economic advantage commercially in the export market.
7. The cost sharing approach
The assumption here is that the programme is more likely situations and
personnel are more likely to serve local people's interests if part of the cost of
agricultural extension is paid locally. In other words, any non formal education is more
likely to achieve its goals if those who benefit from it share some part of the costs;
program would more likely fit to local situation; personnel would more likely serve
interests of client if costs are shared between “outside’ sponsors and “inside” target
groups; commitment of learners to participate if they pay some part of the cost. The
purposes of this approach are to help farm people learn those things they need to know
for self-improvement and increased productivity; to make funding of agricultural
extension affordable and sustainable both at central and local levels. Since this is
similar to participatory approach, the advantages and disadvantages of these
approaches are similar.
8. The educational institution approach.
In this approach, the assumption is that faculties or colleges of agriculture have
technical knowledge which is relevant and useful to farm people and are therefore
capable of implementing extension programs.

Other Approaches according to Haverkort and Rolling (1984) as cited by Martinez and Plopino
(1997) areas follows:
1. Scheme approach
This is an organized and coherent combination of extension methods and
strategies aimed at reinforcing the rules and regulations of a scheme. It is under one
management. (e.g. collective farms and plantations such as La Frutera, irrigarion
schemes and resettlement schemes)

2. Functional Group or Team approach.

This approach aims to work with particular groups of people joined together to
achieve a shared goal. Change in the behavior of the group members is carried out by
mobilization, organization, training, technical and resource support, and special efforts
to consolidate and replicate the results.

3. Farmers' organization approach (Cooperative approach).

This approach utilizes independent self-managed and in most cases permanent
organizations such as farmers' association or cooperatives. Organizations are organized
for social/economic development. The farmers themselves hire specialists in
agricultural technology as well as agricultural economists through their professional
organizations. They pay a fee as membership to the professional organization and they
benefit from advice and farm visits.
4. Target category approach.
This approach offers specific ideas or information to selected groups in a
population rather than to the whole farming population. Groups are formed based on
needs, interests, goals or characteristics. (e.g. CIMMYT)
5. Technical Change Approach
This is also known as "top-down-approach" which is the most popular approach
in extension work. It aims at maximum adoption of techno-innovations developed at
regional or national-based research stations and laboratories. (e.g. Integrated pest
management)
6. Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS), which builds on systems thinking. Systems
thinking is an approach to probing and dealing with the complex situations that
actors face in a particular sector – looking at the whole and making links between
the various parts. Systems are defined as “relationships and linkages among
elements within arbitrary boundaries for discourse about complex phenomena to
emphasize wholeness, interrelationships and emergent properties” (Röling 1992).
Re-orienting the dynamics of systems in favour of realizing desirable outcomes is
essentially about changing the way people interact with each other and respond to
their changing environment. (Leeuwis et al 2014). The focus on actors, their
perspectives, their intentions, and their interrelationships within the wider context
makes it a useful approach for dealing with the complexity in which smallholder
farmers operate.
 Upcoming Approaches in extension include Farmer Field Schools; Multi-input
approaches; Innovation Platforms; Gender-sensitive approach to extension and
market driven value chain-approach

Approaches in extensioin vary but common on these aspects:

1. All employ non-formal education procedures.
2. All have contents related to agriculture.
3. All seek to improve the standard of living of the rural people.

6. Enrichment Activity (Practical Exercise):

Learning Activity: Role Playing : group into 8-member teams.
Instruction:
The class will group into 8 members. Each group will select one approach and
present a scenario using the approach.
7. Self Assessment: Multiple choice
Instruction: Write the letter of the correct answer on the blank provided before the
number.
____1. Which extension approach assumes that management controls most of
production factors? a. conventional approach c. functional approach
b. commodity approach d. technical change approach
____2. Which extension approach aims to work with particular groups of people
joined together to achieve a common goal?
a. conventional approach c. functional approach
b. commodity approach d. technical change approach
____3. Which approach provides personnel with research results tailored to meet the
needs and interests of local farming system conditions?.
a. commodity approach c. The General Agricultural Extension Approach
b. functional approach d. farming systems development approach.
____4. An extension approach which uses independent, self-managed and in most
cases permanent organization.
a. commodity b. farmers organization c. target group d. functional
____5. What extension approach uses specific ideas or information to selected
 groups in a population rather than the whole farming population?
a. . target group approach c. farmers organization approach
b. functional approach d. farming systems development approach.
____6. The extension content is limited to technical and administrative or marketing
aspects of the production of a certain product. Which approach was used?
a. target group c. farmers organization
b. commodity approach c educational institution approach
____ 7. In which approach was there a need for large number of field staff assigned
throughout the country and under the control of the national government?
a. commodity c. Farming systems development approach.
b. functional d. The General Agricultural Extension approach.
____8. Which approach assumes that faculty in colleges of agriculture have relevant
and useful knowledge and can therefore implement extension program?.
a. farmers organization approach b. General Agricultural Extension Approach
b. educational institution approach d. farmers organization approach
____9. Which approach provides personnel with research results tailored to meet the
needs and interests of local farming system conditions?.
a. commodity b. General Agricultural Extension Approach
b. functional d. farming systems development approach.
___10. In which approach do clients or participant provide inputs such as seeds, labor
or farm animals as their counterpart in the implementation of the project.
a. b. cost sharing approach c. farmers organization approach
b. functional approach d. educational institution approach

Self-Reflect:
Reflection paper. Write your learning insights or thoughts in your personal journal.
1. Why is the choice of an extension approach an important task of an AEW? You may
present a scenario.