Innovations in Extension and Advisory Services: Mobilising Women Farmers and Making a Difference to Food and Livelihoods

Innovations in Extension and Advisory Services: Mobilising Women Farmers and Making a Difference to Food and Livelihoods

• 1.
  Capacity Development toStrengthen Agriculture Innovation for Small Holders Xiangjun Yao, Director, Office of Knowledge Exchange, Research, and Extension Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations (FAO) http:// www.fao.org/oek/en
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  Reduction of peoplesuffering from hunger through access to safe & nutritious foods – Food Security Elimination of poverty & social progress through increased food production, rural development, & sustainable livelihoods – Economic Development Sustainable management of natural resources – Natural Resource Management FAO global goals
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  Research and Extension
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  Agriculture & RuralDevelopment Challenges Nearly a billion hungry today Price shocks of 2006 – 2008 demonstrated how fragile food security can be - undernourished rose by 8 percent in Africa Population expected to reach 9.1 billion by 2050 70 percent increase in food production to feed the world Majority of increase in demand from developing regions
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  Agriculture & RuralDevelopment Challenges (contd.) Global growth of human population and ... Increased urbanization, per capita food consumption increases & shifts to animal-based diets Climate change impacts & increased frequency of weather shocks on food security Since the mid-1980’s, however, aid to agriculture has fallen by 43 percent Rural extension and advisory services suffered in particular with decreasing support Sustainable increase of food production will be critical for meeting the global demand
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  Harnessing the OpportunitiesRecent aid trends have begun to reverse, evidenced by the L’Aquila G8 Meeting in July 2009 High-Level Expert Forum on “ How to Feed the World in 2050 ”, concluded the planet can feed itself provided that the decisions made are honoured and the required resources are effectively mobilized. Extension has not remained immobile over the past 20 years, but has experimented and had successes
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  Capacity Development toStrengthen Agriculture Innovation for Small Holders Challenges & Opportunities at three dimensions Enabling Environments Organizational Individual
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  Enabling Environment levelHighly centralized and supply driven extension models Conversely multiple and wildly disconnected extension models Weak articulation with other actors in the value chain or within the agriculture innovation system
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  Enabling Environment level(contd.) Too many project or outside funding-driven extension models Need to develop the best fit, financially sustainable model Based on small holder demands, authentic national policy development and planning and support (with a receptive ear to innovations from others) will be beneficial
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  Organizational level Movebeyond agriculture production focus only to food security, rural incomes and livelihoods, and sustainable natural resource management Greater focus on extension as facilitators of innovation and supporters of rural innovation processes is needed Strengthening of small holders’ organizations so that they can more effectively demand, partner with, and implement their vision of extension
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  Organizational level (contd)Reach more rural women Using knowledge management strategies so ICTs can help to improve human and institutional capacities More policy analysis and evidence-based research on rural advisory services
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  Individual level Urgentneed to prepare new generation of rural advisors & their leaders Upstream curriculum and university preparation of extensionists needed Innovation brokerage needs new skills in communication for development, marketing, social change processes & technical competence Training only one modality to increase skills
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  Overall Investments GFRASis an investment for all; we should support advocacy, networking, and skills building for strengthened extension Increase investments to 1 – 2 % of Ag GDP or more nuanced figures like those recently developed by FAO for country level extension investment needs Overall, Maputo level declaration levels of 10% for agriculture development, including rural advisory services
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  The Time isRight New interest & investments in agriculture development & extension Rich experience over past 20 years National, regional, and global networking increasing We can feed ourselves for the future provided that the decisions made are honoured and the required resources are effectively mobilized
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  Conclusion Developing thecapacities of rural advisory services at enabling environment, organizational, and individual levels
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  Thank you! XiangjunYao, Director OEK of FAO