Roles of extension agents towards agricultural practice in Malaysia

It is expected that the income generated by paddy industry will increase up to 988 million per year. In order to achieve this, extension agents plays important role in educating farmers by encouraging them to learn, adopt new technologies and spread them to other farmers. To ensure the success of extension program, the agents should recognize their roles as change agents (as a catalyst, solution giver, process helper, and resource linker) and have ability to acquire competencies to accomplish these roles. Thus, this study aims to explore the level of roles among extension agents. Using a quantitative survey methodology, self-administered questionnaires measuring the roles of extension agents as change agents. A total of 117 extension agents had participated in this study. The extension agents were the officers from various agricultural departments and agencies who serve paddy farmers in Malaysia region in related to extension, marketing, financing, farmers association, production, and others. The finding showed that the level of roles among extension agents is high. Hence, the competency of extension agents in Malaysia is indeed especially as a change agents and one of the important determinants of success for agriculture industry in Malaysia. This study emphasized that in order to improve the performance of agricultural extension agents, one of the way is by getting to know their competencies, skills and abilities. The extension agents, Farmers, policy makers, researchers, academics and people working in agriculture can learn a great deal about what individuals and institutions need to do to develop farmers, personally and professionally

Roles of Extension Agents Towards Agricultural Practice in Malaysia

It is expected that the income generated by paddy industry will increase up to 988 million per year. In order to achieve this, extension agents plays important role in educating farmers by encouraging them to learn, adopt new technologies and spread them to other farmers. To ensure the success of extension program, the agents should recognize their roles as change agents (as a catalyst, solution giver, process helper, and resource linker) and have ability to acquire competencies to accomplish these roles. Thus, this study aims to explore the level of roles among extension agents. Using a quantitative survey methodology, self-administered questionnaires measuring the roles of extension agents as change agents. A total of 117 extension agents had participated in this study. The extension agents were the officers from various agricultural departments and agencies who serve paddy farmers in Malaysia region in related to extension, marketing, financing, farmers association, production, and others. The finding showed that the level of roles among extension agents is high. Hence, the competency of extension agents in Malaysia is indeed especially as a change agents and one of the important determinants of success for agriculture industry in Malaysia. This study emphasized that in order to improve the performance of agricultural extension agents, one of the way is by getting to know their competencies, skills and abilities. The extension agents, Farmers, policy makers, researchers, academics and people working in agriculture can learn a great deal about what individuals and institutions need to do to develop farmers, personally and professionally

Understanding the reason for Malaysian youth participation in volunteering activities

This paper explores the reasons for Malaysian youth participating in volunteering activities and examines the variables that predict their participation. The subjects used in the study were from the Department of Youth and Sports, Malaysia. A total of 251 respondents, between the ages 15 to 25 (M age = 20.2, SD = 2.7), participated in this study. Using the Social Exchange theory as a framework for this study, three main factors contributing to youth participation in volunteering activities were the perceived benefits from volunteering ("benefits") , the personal needs or fulfillment of the respondents to volunteer ("needs"), and their personal reasons for volunteering ("reasons"). Our findings showed that the "benefits" included learning to shoulder responsibility, broadening interest, fostering relationships, building teamwork spirit, and encouraging socialisation within the community setting. The "need" to volunteer was associated with the desire to unleash leadership potential and improve communication skills. Finally, the "reasons" for volunteering included using leisure time meaningfully, getting new experience, improving confidence and self-esteem, attaining emotional stability, and getting a better understanding of the realities of life. The findings indicated positive relationships between the participation and "benefits", "needs" and "reasons" to volunteer. However, "reason" was the strongest predictor of the youth becoming volunteers

Development of a health literacy assessment for young adult college students: a pilot study

Several conceptual models have been developed to measure health literacy. However, health literacy of the community, particularly the young is still under reported and under-explored. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate health literacy assessment tool for high school students. Participants were 150 students. The concept of health literacy evolved from defining, redefining, outlining and quantifying health literacy needs of a young population. Seven health education experts reviewed the initial item pool and helped select 85 questions for testing. The reviewer also provided confidential feedback via an evaluation questionnaire. Seven distinct health literacy domains meanings emerged viz health promotion, health care, disease prevention, health behaviour, health attitude, health wellbeing and health culture. The instrument has 85 questions that look promising for measuring health literacy in high school students, but needs additional and continuous testing with larger population to see how these questions continue to perform. The findings of present study might be a useful policy maker and health organizations to reflect and focus their promotion efforts on the more practical aspects of day-to-day in health promotion and are concerned with empowering young through enhancing their knowledge and improving their ability to make choices about their health well-being

Why youths choose to become volunteers: from the perspective of belief

The purpose of the paper is to examine the engagement of youth in volunteerism and looks at the belief factor underlying youth participation in volunteering activities. Data were collected from the respondents using personally administered questionnaires. A survey was carried out from May to September 2013 involving 342 randomly selected respondents. The respondents ages between 15 – 40 years (M age = 24.8, SD = 4.7). The results indicated 69.9% (M=2.6930, SD=.47446) of the respondents attributed their participation in volunteerism to the belief factor. The level of belief in volunteering was high among youths. However, it should be noted that the factor may vary according to the needs of each individual. Only 0.6% of the youths had low belief in volunteering activities. The findings of the present study might be useful to volunteer organizations in helping them design interventions to boost volunteerism

The role and competence of agricultural development officers as community developers: a scoping review

Discussions on agricultural development officers in the field of social science studies have long been discoursed by academics, community development practitioners and various formal and informal agencies since 1960. However, the results of studies focusing on the role and competencies of development officers in the context of community development remain. limited. Accordingly, the study focuses on two main objectives, namely i) to analyse the trends of the study findings on the role and competencies in the field of community development and ii) to identify the role and competencies of agricultural development officers as community developers. The study analyses secondary data through content analysis techniques and examines the theme of the role and competencies of agricultural development officers in the context of community developers thematically. The results of the first objective study, found that the trend of research findings on the role and competence of agricultural development officers in the field of community development began to be analysed as a field of knowledge since 1960. While the analysis of the role and competencies of agricultural development officers has identified 11 themes as community developers: i) identify community forms and processes of social action; ii) respect the diversity/pluralism and multi-culture of community members; iii) implement development programs appropriate to the demographics of the community; iv) skilfully encourage community involvement in development programs; v) have information and ability to deliver developmental education; vi) establish interpersonal relationships; vii) have knowledge of organization; viii) leadership; ix) organizational management; x) have professionalism; and xi) master the field of community development in terms of theory and practice. In conclusion, the implications of the study on the literature highlights are able to build a deep and systematic understanding of the role and competencies of agricultural development officers in the context of community development practitioners in Malaysia

Influence of human resource development skills towards work performance of agriculture extension agent

Agriculture extension primarily deals with the human resource development (HRD) skills as well as knowledge. In the agriculture scope, all extension agents must have the knowledge, training, and skills to fulfil the requirement as a good agricultural extension agent. As the profession of extension agents continues to grow, it is important to know the human resource development (HRD) skills gained by the extension agent of agriculture to measure their performance in the extension job. Thus, this study determines the influence of human resource development (HRD) skills factor with work performance among agriculture extension agent. This is descriptive and correlational research design. Using a quantitative survey methodology consists of 5 sections of questions (A, B, C, D and E). 182 respondents were participated in this study as a sample. Simple random sampling technique has been used to choose the sample. Data has been gathered from the respondents using a self-administered questionnaire. Data has been analysed using IBM SPSS version 25 to indicate the descriptive and inferential methods. In results, the level of HRD skills and performance of agricultural extension agent is moderate. All HRD skills show a positive and high correlation with agriculture extension agent work performance. The highest factor contributing to work performance is social skills followed by decision-making skills. The two factors from HRD skills (social and decision making) accounted for 72% significantly to the performance of the agriculture extension agent job. The main purpose of this study is to provide beneficial information’s for the extension agents, respondents and organizational framework in term of relationship between the work performance towards the agriculture sector in Malaysia. This study provides insights into the theory and practice of agriculture extension agents in Malaysia

Tahap Kelestarian Pertanian Komuniti Pekebun Kecil Koko (KPKK) di Zon Pantai Timur Sabah (PTS)

Penurunan produktiviti tanaman koko seringkali dikaitkan dengan kuantiti, kualiti dan demografi pekebun kecil yang semakin berusia. Amalan pertanian baik (APB) yang tidak dipraktiskan dengan konsisten juga mempengaruhi kelestarian pertanian komuniti pekebun kecil koko (KPKK). Justeru, kajian bertujuan untuk mendeksripsi profil KPKK di zon Pantai Timur Sabah dan mengenal pasti tahap kelestarian pertanian KPKK dari segi sosial, ekonomi dan alam sekitar. Reka bentuk kajian kuantitatif dengan pendekatan penyelidikan tinjauan dilaksanakan ke atas 195 orang responden KPKK menggunakan borang soal selidik. Landasan model kajian adalah berdasarkan Model Kelestarian Pertanian. Item kajian mempunyai nilai kebolehpercayaan yang tinggi berjumlah antara 0.874 sehingga 0.934. Data kajian dianalisis secara deksriptif menggunakan perisian SPSS versi 26.0. Kajian menunjukkan majoriti pekebun kecil merupakan generasi pertama penanam koko, berumur lingkungan 51 sehingga 60 tahun dan berpengalaman 1 hingga 20 tahun dalam bidang pertanian. Tahap kelestarian pertanian berada pada tahap tinggi yang didominasi oleh aspek sosial (min 4.27). Diikuti, dengan kelestarian pertanian dari segi ekonomi (min 4.25) dan alam sekitar (min 4.25). Input kajian memberi kefahaman baharu kepada model yang menjelaskan keperluan Lembaga Koko Malaysia (LKM) untuk menambahkan usaha bagi melestari pertanian koko. Ini bertepatan dengan usaha LKM bagi meningkatkan sekuriti makanan negara melalui komoditi koko

Factors influencing the adoption of ICT’S in extension service delivery among the extension agents in North-East, Nigeria

One of the strong mechanisms in the extension service delivery is the connection between agricultural research, extension and the farmers. The evolving new model of agricultural production and the small number of extension agents question old ways of providing valuable knowledge to farmers. The goal was to define the respondents’ socioeconomic characteristics, classify the types of ICT tools adopted by the respondents and identify factors influencing the adoption of ICT in extension service delivery among the respondents. Primary data were obtained using multi-stage cluster sampling technique, using organized questionnaires administered to 254 respondents. Descriptive and inferential statistics was used. The research used Rogers’ Theory of Innovation Diffusion, Rogers and Burde’s Theory of Social Change. The findings from the study have shown that GSM, radio, television, camera, internet, computer, CD/DVD player and VHS video are the most commonly used ICT components in various aspect of extension work. The multiple regression results reveal that gender, age, level of education and working experience has no significant contribution to ICT adoption while marital status, awareness, accessibility and motivation are the most influential factors influencing the adoption of ICT’s in extension service delivery. The study recommends that government for support the extension organizations with the most commonly used ICT components, ensure adequate awareness and access to ICT’s. The government support and interest will motivate the extension agents to adopt ICT’s tools and technology in extension service delivery