Revitalizing Agricultural Extension Curriculum for Effective Extension Training

Abstract

One of the major problems impeding the effectiveness of agricultural extension services in Africa is the low level of training of a large proportion of extension staff. Many extension staff lack the knowledge and skills required to work in the complex and rapidly changing agricultural environment. Consistently unresponsive universities and colleges rarely offer extension-training programs that address the changing demands of the work environment. Compounding these problems, the academic discipline of agricultural extension is marginalized in agricultural universities and colleges, especially in Africa, with only a negligible number of credit hours allocated to agricultural extension and related courses. The training departments of ministries of agriculture and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) generally run ad hoc in-service training programs that do not prepare extension staff adequately to deal with complex agricultural problems. This article discusses an innovative extension training initiative that will be suitable for universities and colleges in sub-Saharan Africa.  The authors argue that African agricultural universities and colleges must strengthen their capacities to develop and deliver responsive extension training programs in order to train extension staff to become critical thinkers and reflective practitioners. A framework is proposed to guide universities and colleges interested in developing and launching responsive agricultural extension training programs. Keywords: Agriculture, curriculum innovation, training, extension, Sub-Saharan Africa