Agricultural extension approach: evidence from an Integrated Soil Fertility Management Project in Ethiopia

Abstract

Agricultural extension is an approach to rural development and agricultural transformation in which training, demonstration and technology transfer are key to reducing rural poverty, ensuring food security, and sustainably managing natural resources. During recent decades, different extension approaches have been tested and validated by the Ethiopian government and non-governmental organizations to stimulate participation in the agricultural extension system (AES). The most recent was a German-funded project entitled “Integrated Soil Fertility Management Project” (ISFM⁺), which employed a novel approach to piloting and upscaling proven technology and best practice. The purpose of this study was to analyze and document the modalities of ISFM⁺ and illustrate its effects on technology uptake and dissemination. The study used a mixed methods approach to collect data. ATLAS.ti and SPSS were used for data management and analysis. Farmer Research and Extension Groups and Farmer Field Schools were found to be central to the participation process. Also, the ISFM⁺ was found to aid technology transfer and helped to increase grain and residue yields as well as farmer livelihoods. Based on these empirical findings, it is argued that the ISFM⁺ approach and technology should be integrated and institutionalized in the mainstream AES in order to promote their extensive application.

Keywords

Ethiopia / Farmer Field School / Farmer Research and Extension Group / governance / institutionalization / ISFM⁺ ambassador / participation

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Acknowledgements

This study was conducted as part of the ISFM⁺ which is financed by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development for which we are thankful. We are also grateful to the focal persons at the woreda level for facilitating discussions with the target farmers. We also thank the experts and farmers in the three regions for their interest and willingness to share their experiences. We also thank Ann-Kathrin Lichtner for her useful comments. We are also thankful to the three anonymous reviewers’ comments that helped us to further enrich the paper.

Compliance with ethics guidelines

ƒGerba Leta, Steffen Schulz, and Girum Getachew Alemu declare that they have no conflicts of interest or financial conflicts to disclose.ƒ

ƒThis article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

The Author(s) 2020. Published by Higher Education Press. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)