Government Run vs. University Managed Agricultural Extension: A Review of Nepal, India and the United States

Aims: The creation of an agricultural extension system and its evolution over time is affected by many factors such as history of the country, cultural and community mandates, farming systems, and public policy. There are notable differences in the agricultural extension systems operating around the globe. The purpose of this paper was to review the agricultural extension systems in Nepal, India, and the United States Methodology: A comprehensive review of literature was conducted to identify the similarities and differences in the agricultural extension systems in the stated countries. Relevant documents used included creation legislation for each country, global analysis from organizations such as Food and Agricultural Organization, and peer-reviewed journal articles. The authors’ extension experiences working in the stated countries also provided inputs to develop this paper. Results: Differences were observed in the area of extension models, program delivery, outcomes assessment, and research–extension interface among agricultural extension systems compared in this study. The program delivery mechanism of Nepal and India was mainly driven by ‘top down expert model’. Contrary to this, in the United States, extension was operating under a learning model. In all three countries many small scale-farmers felt

[1]  R. J. Petheram,et al.  Participatory Agricultural Development in Nepal: Discrepancies between Policies, Views and Experiences , 2009 .

[2]  Raghav Gaiha,et al.  Smallholder farming in Asia and the Pacific: challenges and opportunities , 2014 .

[3]  Robert A. Martin,et al.  The Educational Process Competencies: Importance to Extension Educators , 2011 .

[4]  M. Robotham,et al.  Addressing the Needs of Small-Scale Farmers in the United States: Suggestions from FSR/E , 2001 .

[5]  Andrea Cornwall.  Beneficiary consumer citizen: perspectives on participation for poverty reduction , 2000 .

[6]  Jock R. Anderson,et al.  The Rise and Fall of Training and Visit Extension: An Asian Mini-Drama with an African Epilogue , 2006 .

[7]  Sulaiman V. Rasheed.  AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION IN INDIA: CURRENT STATUS AND WAYS FORWARD , 2012 .

[8]  D. Try,et al.  “Mind the gap, please”: Using public value theory to examine executive take‐up of results‐based management , 2007 .

[9]  N. Roling.  Alternative approaches in extension , 1982 .

[10]  Molly Engle,et al.  A case study in organizational change: Evaluation in Cooperative Extension , 2008 .

[11]  Riikka Rajalahti,et al.  Strengthening agricultural extension and advisory systems : procedures for assessing, transforming, and evaluating extension systems , 2010 .

[12]  J. Ekboir,et al.  From Best Practice to Best Fit: A Framework for Designing and Analyzing Pluralistic Agricultural Advisory Services Worldwide , 2009 .

[13]  Robert A. Martin,et al.  In-Service Needs for Educational Processes Skill Training of U.S. Food Safety Extension Educators , 2013 .

[14]  B. Swanson.  Global Review of Good Agricultural Extension and Advisory Service Practices , 2008 .

[15]  Kristin E. Davis,et al.  Extension in Sub-Saharan Africa: Overview and Assessment of Past and Current Models, and Future Prospects , 2010 .

[16]  P. Anandajayasekeram,et al.  Concepts and practices in agricultural extension in developing countries: a source book , 2008 .

[17]  R. Ison,et al.  Participatory Rural Appraisal Design: Conceptual and process issues , 1995 .

[18]  Practitioners' Critical Reflections on PRA and Participation in Nepal , 2001 .

[19]  G. Sterk,et al.  Farmers' participation in soil and water conservation activities in the Chemoga Watershed, Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia , 2002 .

[20]  P. Hazell,et al.  The Future of Small Farms for Poverty Reduction and Growth. 2020 Discussion Paper; No.42 , 2007 .

[21]  Suresh Chandra Babu,et al.  Review of agricultural extension in India: Are farmers' information needs being met? , 2010 .

[22]  R. Hoppe,et al.  Small Farms in the United States: Persistence Under Pressure , 2010 .

[23]  Burton E. Swanson,et al.  Improving agricultural extension A reference manual , 1997 .

[24]  A. Pacey,et al.  Farmer first: Farmer innovation and agricultural research , 1989 .

[25]  E. Gilbert,et al.  A review of key issues and recent experiences in reforming agricultural research in Africa , 2003 .

[26]  Effectiveness of private sector extension in India and lessons for the new extension policy agenda. , 2005 .

[27]  M. Moore.  Creating public value : strategic management in government , 1995 .