Culture as a resource for development : some challenges for extension management

Abstract

Any consideration of the science of management in an African context has inevitably to focus on South Africa because it is here that one encounters the heterogeneity of mindsets, forged in the interface of Europe, Asia and Africa: First and Third world. Westernisation is implicitly implied as a goal to promote agricultural production. This paper highlights some of the characteristics and problems of the old approach to culture development and emphasises the need for South African extension services to think in a new paradigm to be able to mobilise all knowledge systems in search of sustainable agriculture development.