Sustainability of agriculture extension services in the face of COVID-19: a study on gender-specific market systems

In the fourth industrial revolution, achieving sustainable agricultural development while feeding a growing world population and maintaining a balanced interrelationship between the economy, society, and the environment has been a significant challenge. However, COVID-19 disrupted agricultural extension and advisory systems, affecting all market participants. The complexity of the pandemic has impacted the private sector, public sector, extension staff, donor funding, education, and research systems, subsequently affecting human nutrition. This paper aims to expertly review COVID-19’s effects on the sustainability of gender-specific agricultural extension service systems. Demand and supply market stakeholders in the extension system are thematically discussed. The findings reveal various consequences of COVID-19 for market actors on both the demand and supply sides of the extension system. Private-sector players often support expansion directly or indirectly, with multi-sectorial support and funding strategies existing for sustainability. In many developing nations, the comprehensive extension system was disrupted by COVID-19, impacting household incomes and nutrition. The pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital technologies in many developing nations, transitioning from a centralized to a decentralized and pluralistic extension model. Multi-sector coordination and execution, especially from health and other sectors, are crucial in managing complex crises that disrupt the market system

Transitioning from a Traditional Office to an Activity-Based Work Environment

Organisational work environments continue to evolve as they seek ways to increase productivity, reduce costs and utilise buildings that support the requirements of the organisation in terms of regulatory compliance and support staff to undertake their day-to-day duties, including those with accessibility limitations. Specifically, in a publicly funded organisation, balancing value for money, providing suitable workspaces for existing staff and catering for growth and contraction are ever-growing issues. Activity-based working (ABW) creates flexible workspaces and is an option to accommodate changes in staffing numbers due to changing priorities while also catering to employee needs. This research was conducted at a government-run agency in Australia and focused on the research question: In implementing ABW, how can the organisational infrastructure be configured to enable an inclusive and flexible ABW workplace environment? The focus was to gain a greater understanding of the organisational complexities and examine how various infrastructure configurations could improve the workplace environment for staff, including those with accessibility needs. An action research study, with the organisation as a case study, was conducted with 12 semi-structured interviews from a cross-section of staff involved in a pilot of a potential ABW layout. The study culminated in a focus group discussion. With the support of a learning set during and after the research, the research findings were presented to the executive for approval for implementation. An infrastructure configuration that provided enough flexibility for the organisation and staff was developed. The resultant infrastructure configuration became the input to the master accommodation plans and strategy for subsequent delivery, along with supporting information for the Disability Inclusion Action Plan. Issues around organisational structure, communication and planning provided limitations to be addressed in delivering the results across the organisation. The outcomes of this research offered input to other areas of interest to the organisation that impacted the researcher’s role in terms of costs, design and other long-term transition strategies. Strategies needed to engage with staff and stakeholders in transitioning to the new work environment and supporting the implementers throughout the process became a further research focus

Sustainability of agriculture extension services in the face of COVID-19: A study on gender-specific market systems

In the fourth industrial revolution, achieving sustainable agricultural development while feeding a growing world population and maintaining a balanced interrelationship between the economy, society, and the environment has been a significant challenge. However, COVID-19 disrupted agricultural extension and advisory systems, affecting all market participants. The complexity of the pandemic has impacted the private sector, public sector, extension staff, donor funding, education, and research systems, subsequently affecting human nutrition. This paper aims to expertly review COVID-19’s effects on the sustainability of gender-specific agricultural extension service systems. Demand and supply market stakeholders in the extension system are thematically discussed. The findings reveal various consequences of COVID-19 for market actors on both the demand and supply sides of the extension system. Private-sector players often support expansion directly or indirectly, with multi-sectorial support and funding strategies existing for sustainability. In many developing nations, the comprehensive extension system was disrupted by COVID-19, impacting household incomes and nutrition. The pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital technologies in many developing nations, transitioning from a centralized to a decentralized and pluralistic extension model. Multi-sector coordination and execution, especially from health and other sectors, are crucial in managing complex crises that disrupt the market system.</p