Research and extension processes and practices in relation to smallholder agriculture in Africa: Present, past topresent

Agriculture constitutes the backbone of most economies in developing countries, especially in Africa. However, benefits in the sector mostly accrue to industry and to the large-scale commercial farmers. The “transfer of technology” (ToT) paradigms introduced during the colonial era, failed to provide research and technology outputs that meet smallholder farmers' needs. In various review reports and regional consultation meetings stakeholders identified extension-research as the weakest link to wealth creation and as the primary contributor to the widening gap between resourceendowed and resource-poor farmers. Resources in this context refer to access to physical production assets, financial and skill-based support, as well as trade networks for participation in local, regional and global markets. In this regard, smallholder resource-poor farmers, as opposed to large-scale resource-endowed farmers, have limited access to these resources in most parts of the African continent. In addition, successful smallholder farmer innovations, technologies and dissemination approaches are not well publicized. Using the development perspective, this paper summarizes 1) the problems of technology development and transfer as perceived by the resource-poor farmers 2) the evolution of Transfer of Technology and the implication for extension services in developing countries, 3) the impact of two development approaches on extension, 4) the importance of research and extension linkages in fostering change, and 3) Farmer Field Schools as an alternative extension paradigms. Recommendations to promote pro-poor extension and technology development strategies are discussed. South African Journal of Agricultural Extension Vol. 35 (2) 2006: pp. 199-22

Factors influencing adoption and non-adoption of acquired knowledge and technologies at Denman Rural Training Centre, Gaborone Agricultural Region, Botswana

This paper investigates the factors that influence adoption and non-adoption of agricultural technologies presented to farmers who attended training courses at the Denman Rural Training Centre in Botswana. . A structured questionnaire was administered to 223 respondents, from these respondents 153 attended training at Denman Rural Training Centre, twenty-one respondents were never trained, thirty-three were extension agents, nine support staff, five instructors and two managers. The findings of the study show that most of the respondents (61%) are implementing the acquired technologies, while 39% are not implementing. More than half (65%) of trained respondents indicated that they were never involved in identification of the courses they attended. Eighty percent reported that courses were suggested by extension agents. Thirty-six percent of respondents indicated that training had no impact at all on their production efficiency, while 45% indicated a moderate impact on their production to ensure that the training will be effective. More than half of all extension staff (64%) reported that the status of implementation for acquired technologies is usually negative, indicating that there was less or no implementation. The most important factor revealed by the study contributing to nonadoption of technologies is lack of resources. The study concluded that extension has to address the needs and perception of trainees to ensure that the training will be effective. Keywords: Adoption, non-adoption, acquired knowledge, technologies, extension agents.South African Journal of Agricultural Extension Vol. 36 (1) 2007: pp. 124-14

Evaluation of community-based growth monitoring in rural districts of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa

Background: The Health Systems Trust implemented a community-based growth monitoring intervention project that fits into the Integrated Nutrition Programme focus areas and commissioned an evaluation of this project. Objective: To assess project volunteers’ knowledge on infant and young child nutrition and growth monitoring, and evaluate communitybased growth monitoring activities.Design: Five randomly selected growth monitoring sites per sub-district were evaluated. Project volunteers (n = 45) and caregivers (n = 186)attending the growth monitoring sites were interviewed by means of a questionnaire. Growth monitoring and nutrition education activities were observed at the growth monitoring sites. Setting: Two rural districts in KwaZulu-Natal (Umkhanyakude: sub-district Jozini; and Zululand: sub-district Phongola), and one rural district in the Eastern Cape (OR Tambo), South Africa. Results: Project volunteers were mostly women (87%), 38 ± 10 years old, and 27% had matric/Grade 12. There was a high turnover of project volunteers. Their nutrition knowledge varied. Forty-six per cent of the project volunteers and 39% of the caregivers could correctly identify the growth curve of a healthy growing child. Seven of the 13 sites that were visited were at a crèche. There was a referral system between the growth monitoring site and the local clinic, and links with the Department of Agriculture and, to a lesser extent, the Department of Social Welfare. Weighing methods were inconsistent and the steps of growth monitoring were not followed through. Nutrition education to the caregivers was lacking at several of the sites. Conclusion: The study highlighted both strengths and limitations of the project. Areas that need improvement include the selection, training and supervision of project volunteers performing community-based growth monitoring.

Why do women not use antenatal services in low and middle income countries? A metasynthesis of qualitative studies

Background: Almost 50% of women in low & middle income countries (LMIC’s) don’t receive adequate antenatal care. Women’s views can offer important insights into this problem. Qualitative studies exploring inadequate use of antenatal services have been undertaken in a range of countries, but the findings are not easily transferable. We aimed to inform the development of future antenatal care programmes through a synthesis of findings in all relevant qualitative studies. Methods and Findings: Using a pre-determined search strategy, we identified robust qualitative studies reporting on the views and experiences of women in LMIC’s who received inadequate antenatal care. We used meta-ethnographic techniques to generate themes and a line of argument synthesis. We derived policy relevant hypotheses from the findings. We included 21 papers representing the views of more than 1230 women from 15 countries. Three key themes were identified: ‘Pregnancy as socially risky and physiologically healthy’; ‘Resource use and survival in conditions of extreme poverty’and ‘Not getting it right first time’. The line of argument synthesis describes a dissonance between programme design and cultural contexts that may restrict access and discourage return visits. We hypothesize that centralized, risk-focused antenatal care programmes may be at odds with the resources, beliefs and experiences of pregnant women who underuse antenatal services. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that there may be a mis-alignment between current antenatal provision and the social and cultural context of some women in LMIC’s. Antenatal care provision that is theoretically and contextually at odds with local contextual beliefs and experiences are likely to be underused, especially when attendance generates increased personal risks of lost family resource or physical danger during travel; when the promised care is not delivered due to resource constraints; and when women experience covert or overt abuse in care settings

The Impact of Supervisor-Supervisee Relationship on Organisational Job Performance: An Analysis of the South African Government Employee Relations

Journal articles published in the 6th International Conference on Public Administration and Development Alternatives (IPADA), 06-08 October 2021, Virtual Conference.The relationship between supervisors and their subordinates is crucial in determining attainment of organisational goals. Supervisors have a responsibility of assisting organisations to meet their goals, since they are the front drivers of employee job satisfaction. Skilled supervisors assist organisations in meeting their goals, as they are able to clarify organisational goals, manage workplace relationships and motivate employees, set targets and time frames for the achievement of goals. It is thus important that supervisors have the necessary job and people skills. A positive perception of supervisors by junior employees goes a long way in ensuring the achievement of organisational goals through performance management systems. This paper is a desktop analysis of the role of supervisor-supervisee relationships and the impact of such relationships on job performance and the achievement of organisational goals. The results of this study indicate that unskilled supervisors have a negative impact on employees job satisfaction and are costly to organisations as they negatively affect organisational goals

South African Women's Access to Agricultural Extension Services: An Analysis of Barriers and Constraints

Journal articles published in the 6th International Conference on Public Administration and Development Alternatives (IPADA), 06-08 October 2021, Virtual ConferenceThe purpose of this paper is to analyse barriers and constraints to South African women's access to agricultural extension services. It is argued that women do most of the agricultural activities and are responsible for the provision of food and, thus, contribute to food security worldwide. They, however, face a lot of constraints in accessing agricultural extension services such as socio-cultural constraints, the reproductive burden, lack of access to credit facilities and their low literacy levels. This paper is a theoretical study based on the analysis of literature, to probe the constraints that women face in accessing agricultural extension services. This paper confirms that there are barriers such as socio-cultural, lack of access to credit, the challenge of women balancing paid and unpaid care work with farming and women's low literacy level

Land Rights: Mpumalanga Communities' Attitudes Towards Women's Land Ownership

Journal articles in the 7th Annual International Conference on Public Administration and Development Alternatives (IPADA), 14-16 September 2022The role played by women in agriculture in the world is a salient one, though they continue to face discrimination in accessing and owning land. Notwithstanding the fact that most countries worldwide have signed treaties on women empowerment, and laws that protect women's land rights, women are still unable to assert equal land rights. Patriarchy with its discriminatory social norms and practices is cited as barriers between women and their land rights. Inadequate enforcement of laws regarding women's land rights compounded by poor implementation of policies and lack of political will exacerbates the problem. The South African Constitution of 1996 coupled with other legislation, protects the full rights of all citizens as enshrined in the Bill of Rights under Chapter 2. Access to land for women is said to be crucial in combating discrimination and alleviating poverty. Women who own land are said to have better financial autonomy than those who do not. This qualitative study analysed Mpumalanga communities' attitudes towards women' land ownership. Data was collected through semi-structured interview schedules from one hundred and twenty-three (123) members of the communit

Fiscal Implications of Illegal Migration: Impact on South Africa as a 'Receiving' Country

Journal articles in The 7th Annual International Conference on Public Administration and Development Alternatives, 14 - 16 September 2022International migration is a worldwide phenomenon that happens due to various reasons such as economic stability, war, political situations and so forth. South Africa's migration started around the 1860's with the discovery of gold in the Witwatersrand and diamonds in the Orange Free State. The change of political leadership from apartheid system to the new democracy drew many migrants all over the world to South Africa. Whilst volumes in migration are said to have increased since 1990, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia are said to be destinations of choice in the SADC region for illegal migrants. Illegal migration is said to be difficult to measure clandestine migration due to its complexity such as political, socioeconomic, wars and other factors. South Africa's migration control and deportation rate is said to have increased post 1990 having a serious dent on the fiscus. There is however, no publicly available financial information on South Africa's expenditure on immigration enforcement. This paper is a desk top analysis of the fiscal implications of illegal immigrants on South Africa as a 'receiving' country. This paper focuses on areas where there are financial implications caused by illegal migration. The results of this desktop research indicate that access to records on how much South Africa spend on the detention and deportation of illegal immigrants is not easily available as such information on the budget spent by the country is collected from limited resources. The limited studies on the fiscal implications on 'receiving' countries such as South Africa indicate that it is a sizable amoun