Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/4079
Title: AN OVERVIEW OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION IN GHANA AND BURKINA FASO AND IMPLICATIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE IN WEST AFRICA
Authors: Santuah, N.
Abazaami, J.
Millar, K. K-N-D.
Amikuzuno, J.
Keywords: Extension Delivery
Smallholder Farmers
Indigenous Knowledge
Top-Down
Ghana
Burkina Faso
Sustainable Agriculture
Issue Date: 2022
Publisher: Academic Journals
Series/Report no.: Vol.14;Issue 3
Abstract: Agricultural extension is the medium through which external agricultural technologies have been transferred to and transplanted in Africa to improve agricultural performance. Over a period of close to a century, different agricultural extension models have been proposed but their structure and content has virtually been the same: top-down, linear, non-participatory transfer of technology with no feedback loops for reverse diffusion. This presumably explains the poor performance of Africa’s agriculture and the scale of food security challenges facing the continent. In this review paper, we trace the history of agricultural extension and examine various agricultural extension delivery models to identify their major strengths and weaknesses, using Ghana and Burkina Faso as case studies. We then review the most recent literature in the field about the philosophy, scope, content, delivery, and outcomes of agricultural extension. The conclusion that agricultural extension has consistently remained out of sync with the needs and aspirations of stallholder farmers was reached. Smallholder farmers are now calling for new agricultural extension delivery models that are truly farmer-led, indigenous knowledge based, context-specific, culturally-relevant and environmentally-sustainable to guarantee efficient farming systems into the future.
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/4079
ISSN: 2141-2170
Appears in Collections:School of Applied Economics and Management Sciences



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