Extension officers’ perception towards accreditation and regulation of extension services in North West Province, South Africa

Abstract

This paper examines extension officers’ perception towards accreditation and regulation of extension services. This is based on the premise that a pluralistic extension service delivery currently prevails in South Africa where public and private service providers exist with differentials in quality of services to clients; which can be overcome through accreditation of providers from end-users’ perspectives. Using a random sampling technique, 69 extension officers were sampled and a questionnaire was used to collect data, which was analysed with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) using frequency counts, percentages and probit regression. Extension officers have high knowledge that accreditation aids periodic quality review (?̅ = 1.81, SD = 0.49); improving quality of services (?̅ = 3.91, SD = 1.26) and promotes accountability (?̅ = 2.49, SD = 0.79). Significant determinants of the perception on accreditation are gender (t = 3.08; p < 0.05); marital status (t = -2.42; p < 0.05); number of children (t = 1.73; p < 0.05); household size (t =-2.03; p < 0.05); residence status (t = 1.78; p < 0.05); distance to clients (t =2.06; p < 0.05); and attitude to accreditation (t = 1.86; p < 0.05).

Keywords: accreditation, agricultural extension service, information sources, farmers, service delivery, service providers