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close this bookAgricultural Extension: Guidelines for Extension Workers in Rural Areas (SKAT, 1994, 298 p.)
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View the document(introduction...)
View the document1 EXTENSION WORKER
View the document2 EXTENSION PLANNING
View the document4 EXTENSION METHODS
View the document6 EXTENSION CONTEXT





The Planning Team


The planning team = the people involved in planning an activity


· All those working on the implementation should be involved in the planning.
· The members of the planning team must be able to communicate with each other.


Question List

- Who is involved in the planning process (government, administration, project staff, representatives of the target group)?

- What roles do the members of the planning team play in planning (do they propose, co-ordinate, formulate, modify, decide, supervise, evaluate, check)?

- How freely can the local staff members decide and voice their opinions?

- How can the different members of a planning team see how much they have contributed towards reaching a decision?

- Who decides, at what level, about what questions?

- What decision structures allow the participation of the target group in this process?

- How do the target groups choose their representatives?

- Which decisions are reserved to the funding institutions?

- What is to be planned at which level?

- Who is responsible for the planning at the various levels?

- Who has the necessary abilities to do this?

- Who should participate in planning at which levels?

- Who are the key people who make sure the planning team is really representative?

- Who leads the planning team?

- How is the target group told about the progress of the planning?

- How can the needs of the target group be communicated to the planning teams at higher levels?

- What conditions favor joint planning by extension workers and farmers?

Related Keywords

1.1 The Role of Extension Workers
1.3 Motivation
1.4 The Social Environment
2.6 Staff Management
6.1 Agricultural Policy
B Communication

Pointers to the GTZ - Manual

Volume 1:
49 Participation
177 Planning extension work

Volume 2:

161 C4: Illusions of communication
195 D1: Problem-solving method (Botswana)
265 E1- E3: Target groups
341 F1: Participation of target groups

Situation Analysis

Note The analysis of any situation is influenced by the previous experiences of those involved (responsible administrators, implementors, target population)


Question List

- Why is a situation analysis required?

- What is the purpose of the situation analysis?

- Who asks for a situation analysis? Who has which interests in it?

- Which/whose situation is going to be analyzed (of the farmers, the elderly, the women, the young people)?

- Which topics are of particular interest? What questions need to be asked?

- What is most important - insights into complex interactions and relationships or the collection of quantitative data?

- Who should take part in the situation analysis? Who should play what role?

- How can obstacles to participation (due to age or gender) be removed?

- What role will the population play?

- What information is already available? Where?

- What information still needs to be obtained? What sources are available (written data, individuals or groups with special information, festivals as opportunities to learn about local customs etc.)?

- Who is paying for the situation analysis?

- How much time may it take?

- What are the methods of enquiry to be used?

- How precise must the situation analysis be?

- How many people will it require?

- How can they be recruited?

- What preparation will the participants need?

- How will the results be processed?

- Who is going to check the reliability of the information?

- For whom are the results intended?

- How are the results to be presented?

- How can the target population comment on the results?

- How will their comments and criticisms be taken into account?

- What steps are to follow the situation analysis?

- Is there room for any future changes in the programme?

- What should the situation analysis achieve (creating awareness, collecting information)?

Related Keywords

2.1 The Planning Team
2.3 Identification of Objectives
2.4 Operation Planning
2.7 Tools for Planning
I Developing Extension Topics
K Farming Systems Research

Pointers to the GTZ - Manual

Volume 1:
157 Situation analysis

Volume 2:

349 F4: Checklist for information gathering

Identification of Objectives


Identifying the objectives is a matter of setting extension aims and developing concepts.


Objectives must be desirable, achievable and clearly

It is only in this way that they can serve as a basis for


Question List

- Which objectives have already been decided? Can any of these be changed?

- What are the interests which led to these objectives being set?

- Whose interests led to these objectives being set?

- Which situation analysis serves as a basis for identifying the objectives?

- Who carried this out? Who took part in it?

- Whose views on the key-problems are expressed in the results of the situation analysis?

- In what form have the results of the situation analysis been recorded?

- How has the target group expressed itself regarding the results of the situation analysis?

- Who decides which of the identified needs are priorities?

- Who takes part in the problem analysis?

- Who defines the project's aims? Who must approve them?

- How can the participants in the problem analysis assess their contribution towards reaching a decision?

- Who developers the proposals for solutions to the problems identified? Who selects a certain solution?

- Which solution is the most desirable and feasible? How are the priorities decided?

- How is this decision made?

- What consideration must be given to the funding institutions?

- What demands are made on the extension service?

- On what is the interest in extension services based (prior experience, free services etc)?

Related Keywords

2.1 The Planning Team
2.2 Situation Analysis
2.4 Operation Planning
2.7 Tools for Planning
6.1 Agricultural Policy

Pointers to the GTZ - Manual

Volume 1:

46 Target-group orientation
177 Planning the extension work

Volume 2:

265 E1- E3: Target groups
345 F3: Features of successful extension

Operation Planning

Definition The operation planning seeks ways and means for achieving an objective.

Principle Clear planning makes the implementation and evaluation of an activity much easier.


Question List

- Who is responsible for operation planning?

- Who is going to take part in the planning?

- How can the target group be involved in planning the work?

- At which level does involvement of the target group make sense?

- How practical are the results of the planning? How do they fit with available staff, knowledge, material, finances?

- Where do bottlenecks exist and how can these be overcome?

- How must available manpower be used?

- Who will distribute the tasks at the different levels?

- To what extent are the staff consulted about this distribution of tasks?

- To what extent does the assignment of tasks fit with the abilities and wishes of the staff?

- How can the process be divided into a sequence of steps?

- When must intermediate evaluations be done?

- After which steps can changes be made?

- Which deadlines are fixed, which can be set at the planning stage?

- What outside factors affect the deadlines of the work (e.g. growing season, condition of the roads, national budget)?

Related Keywords

2.1 The Planning Team
2.3 Identification of Objectives
2.5 Organization of the Extension Service
2.6 Staff Management
2.7 Tools for Planning

Pointers to the GTZ - Manual

Volume 1:
177 Planning the extension work

Volume 2:

51 A8: The "CFSME" Extension System
199 D3: Extension methods in Kawinga (Malawi)
345 F3: Features of successful extension
399 G8: Work programmes for field avisers

Organization of the Extension Service

Note The objective of extension affects the structure of the extension service.

Principle Participation as a stated goal is credible only when it is also practiced within the extension service.


Question List

- What do the target groups expect from an extension service?

- How can the extension service meet these expectations?

- What form of extension service can best fulfill these expectations?

- What changes in your own extension service seem necessary?

- How is the extension service being supported by supervision?

- On what traditional organizational structures can an extension service be based?

- What is the national extension service's structure? What does its organogram look like?

- Which of the various extension services are represented at different levels of the extension system's hierarchy?

- What special topics does the extension service cover?

- What services in addition to giving advice must the extension service provide (research, help with the acquisition of inputs, credits, storage and marketing)?

- Which of these other activities could hinder the extension work?

- Which private organizations also offer extension services? What services do they provide?

- What size of area is the extension service expected to cover?

- How many extension workers does the work plan ask for?

- What transport will be necessary?

- How will teamwork be encouraged in the extension service?

- What lines of communication ensure the flow of information and mutual understanding?

- How is reporting organized? Who reads the reports?

- Why are reports written?

- How can both male and female farmers be employed in the extension services?

- How can their extension activities be assured after the project finishes?

- What are the advantages and disadvantages of integrating the project into the national administration structure?

- How can well-tested extension methods be described and explained to promote their application in other regions?

Related Keywords

2.1 The Planning Team
2.6 Staff Management
5.8 Infrastructure
6.1 Agricultural Policy
6.6 Other Extension Services
D Functions of Extension
J Extension Approaches

Pointers to the GTZ - Manual

Volume 1:

86 Organisation and management
191 Density of advisers
201 Organisation and management in extension

Volume 2:

91 B5: Reorganisation of agricultural extension (Benin)
205 D4: Committees as intermediaries
275 E4: Contact farmers
343 F2: Weaknesses in extension work

Staff Management


Managing means

- more: leading, guiding, accompanying
- than: directing, dictating, prohibiting


· Mutual respect and confidence between staff and their manager are essential.

· Managers need to share responsibility and decision-making power in an equal way.


Question List

- What demands are made on the extension worker? Who sets these demands?

- How are extension workers selected for employment? Who employs them?

- What are the contractual terms and who sets them?

- Who decides on the transfer of an extension worker?

- How long does an extension worker stay in the same area?

- Which type of management prevails in the extension service (e.g. authoritarian, participatory)?

- What do the extension workers expect from the extension service?

- Who sets up the job description for the extension workers? Who sets its terms? How is the description translated into day-to-day work?

- How is the dedication and efficiency of the extension workers checked?

- How can extension workers participate in the assessment of their work?

- What are the most suitable criteria for evaluating an extension worker's performance?

- How are the extension workers accompanied and supported during their work (monitoring/backstopping)?

- How do the extension workers react to monitoring and back stopping?

- What is the extension worker's position in the local power structure? Where and how does this restrict his/her extension work?

- What privileges are customary (free accommodation, vehicle, salary bonuses, reimbursement of expenses)?

- What does the target group think about this?

- What incentive is offered for special efforts (a share in the profits on seed sales, honoring by the national government, distinction by the traditional hierarchy)?

- How can conflicts about privileges that arise with other extension workers or with partner organizations be resolved?

- Who is responsible for advising and supporting of the extension workers?

- On what does this supervision mainly focus: inspection/controls or on analysis and searching for solutions?

- How are supervisors trained for their duties?

Related Keywords

1.3 Motivation
2.1 The Planning Team
2.4 Operation Planning
2.5 Organization of the Extension Service
C Value Concepts - Value Systems
J Extension Approaches
M Dialogues in Extension

Pointers to the GTZ - Manual

Volume 1:

86 Organisation and management
201 Organisation and management in extension

Volume 2:

185 C7: Problems of leadership style
281 E5: The methodology of extension talks
323 E14 Circulars for advisers

Tools for Planning


· Visual aids such as blackboards, pinboards, charts etc.

· Documents such as job descriptions, work schedules, evaluations etc.

Principle Properly-used planning tools help both in assessing and organizing the extension work. They help to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses and make subsequent planning an easier task.


Question List

- What documents are available to help in the planning?
- What other sources of information exist? Which sources are accessible?
- Is documentation from earlier planning periods available?
- What can be learnt from it?

- What kinds of basic documents does the extension worker have?
- How are the progress and time schedules of the work visibly recorded?
- How is reporting organized in the extension service?
- How is the feedback provided to the authors of reports?
- How is experience collected and classified?
- Whose experience is included in the planning work?
- How are field notes used in extension work?
- Where do weaknesses arise in the course of planning?

- Whose help can be requested in planning the extension work?
- Who gives courses on techniques of planning?

Related Keywords

2.1 The Planning Team
2.6 Staff Management
2.8 Evaluation
N Recommendation for the Writing of Reports

Pointers to the GTZ - Manual Volume 1: 165 Methods of collective information 221 Proposals for improving reports Volume 2: 329 E17: Using visualisation 383 G1- G8: Examples and suggestions for presentation


Purpose of Evaluation

Evaluation has three main functions:

- Assessing the aims and results (controlling the work)
- Supporting the extension worker (learning from experience)

- Ensuring contacts with other institutions at the same or a higher level (communication)


Question List

- Who wants/needslrequests an evaluation?

- Who has an interest in the evaluation?

- What is the aim of the evaluation?

- What is to be evaluated?

- What is the main reason for the evaluation?

- Whose questions are to be answered by the evaluation?

- Who is doing the evaluation?

- Who is taking part in the evaluation? In what role?

- What role does the target group play in the evaluation?

- What method of evaluation best suits the aim of the evaluation?

- What do the staff think about an evaluation of their activity?

- What is the attitude of the project staff and the extension service staff towards the evaluators?

- How openly will current problems be able to be talked about?

- What evaluation work can be done by the extension staff themselves?

- What written information is available for the evaluation?

- Are any results of earlier evaluations or situation analyses known?

- What diaries, field notes and statistics are available?

- How are these notes gathered and used?

- How was the evaluation prepared at the planning stage of the extension work?

- What criteria are used to assess whether the objectives of the extension programme have been achieved?

- What indicators (qualitative/quantitative) indicate whether the different sub-objectives have been reached?

- What measuring units are used for the indicators?

- At what cost can these indicators be checked?

- What effects will the evaluation have on planning future work?

- How often should an evaluation be done and by whom?

- How can a continuous evaluation procedure be set up for the extension work?

- How much time is available for the evaluation?

- What funds are available for it?

Related Keywords

2.1 The Planning Team
2.3 Identification of Objectives
2.6 Staff Management
2.7 Tools for Planning
N Recommendations for the Writing of Reports

Pointers to the GTZ - Manual

Volume 1:

221 Proposals for improving reports
233 Evaluation of agricultural extension

Volume 2:

311 E12: Evaluating training events
335 E18: External evaluation
345 F3: Features of successful extension