ABSTRACT
This chapter is about public systems of advice and support for fanners in Southern Africa. Within the countries of this region there are great variations in scale of farming, commercial orientation and farming systems. Publicly funded extension services are generally designed to serve the small-scale farmers, who are in the majority. A basic premise has been that farms could be far more productive with the adoption of improved agricultural practices and crop varieties. More recently, the limitations of this view – and the varying suitability of the practices recommended – have been recognized. Field-level extension workers formerly concentrated their efforts on a relatively few ‘progressive’ farmers. Because of the failure to influence the farming practices of the majority of farmers, extension workers assist groups of farmers to identify local problems and potential, and plan extension, technical and training support to meet local needs. Women are at last being recognized as farmers in their own right and extension programmes are being adjusted accordingly. Agricultural research procedures are being developed which will produce recommendations more relevant to local environments and the realities of small-scale farmers. Educational media are used extensively to support extension and training: the introduction of formative research into their design has improved their relevance and effectiveness. The training and visit system of agricultural extension is now being introduced in ways which complement, rather than replace, existing approaches.
