Empowering smallholder farmers’ organizations through non-public extension service providers: A case study and lessons from Mozambique

The role and impact of non-state extension services providers have not been studied adequately. In this paper, we assess the performance of the non-State extension service provision through farmers organization (FOs) in Mozambique. Using participating methods, focused group discussions, and key info...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Babu, Suresh Chandra, Gêmo, Hélder
Formato: Artículo preliminar
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146861
_version_ 1855525141420703744
author Babu, Suresh Chandra
Gêmo, Hélder
author_browse Babu, Suresh Chandra
Gêmo, Hélder
author_facet Babu, Suresh Chandra
Gêmo, Hélder
author_sort Babu, Suresh Chandra
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The role and impact of non-state extension services providers have not been studied adequately. In this paper, we assess the performance of the non-State extension service provision through farmers organization (FOs) in Mozambique. Using participating methods, focused group discussions, and key informant interviews, we provide an assessment of extension services provision to FOs. The result indicates only 3% of the 1264 surveyed FOs were categorized as "type A", the highest FOs rating scale used by services providers (SPs) in the three regions of the country. Effective monitoring and evaluation (regular, analytical, participatory) at field level and close working interaction between the Public Agricultural Extension Services (PAES) and the SPs were of paramount importance to track the progress made in empowering the FOs. SPs' pro-activeness and competence were critical factors to adequately address the various training needs of the different categories of FOs and local services providers. SPs' financial autonomy was key to compensate for the delays in the disbursements by the PAES. The selection criteria for the participating farmers (trainees) from targeted FOs makes a difference. Younger and more literate farmers (including women) have shown greater motivation and engagement in the training sessions. Outsourcing can be a valuable alternative for the provision of extension services if it targets specific intervention areas (for example, training for FOs), a limited number of activities, well-defined deliverables (including quality and sustainability issues) and timelines. Post-training (and post-project) actions at the policy level and extension services providers are required to contribute to the sustainability of the investment made. Based on these findings, the paper documents several operational lessons from the implementation of the program.
format Artículo preliminar
id CGSpace146861
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2019
publishDateRange 2019
publishDateSort 2019
publisher International Food Policy Research Institute
publisherStr International Food Policy Research Institute
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1468612025-11-06T06:12:21Z Empowering smallholder farmers’ organizations through non-public extension service providers: A case study and lessons from Mozambique Babu, Suresh Chandra Gêmo, Hélder extension programmes agricultural extension training farmers organizations extension policies empowerment smallholders extension approaches The role and impact of non-state extension services providers have not been studied adequately. In this paper, we assess the performance of the non-State extension service provision through farmers organization (FOs) in Mozambique. Using participating methods, focused group discussions, and key informant interviews, we provide an assessment of extension services provision to FOs. The result indicates only 3% of the 1264 surveyed FOs were categorized as "type A", the highest FOs rating scale used by services providers (SPs) in the three regions of the country. Effective monitoring and evaluation (regular, analytical, participatory) at field level and close working interaction between the Public Agricultural Extension Services (PAES) and the SPs were of paramount importance to track the progress made in empowering the FOs. SPs' pro-activeness and competence were critical factors to adequately address the various training needs of the different categories of FOs and local services providers. SPs' financial autonomy was key to compensate for the delays in the disbursements by the PAES. The selection criteria for the participating farmers (trainees) from targeted FOs makes a difference. Younger and more literate farmers (including women) have shown greater motivation and engagement in the training sessions. Outsourcing can be a valuable alternative for the provision of extension services if it targets specific intervention areas (for example, training for FOs), a limited number of activities, well-defined deliverables (including quality and sustainability issues) and timelines. Post-training (and post-project) actions at the policy level and extension services providers are required to contribute to the sustainability of the investment made. Based on these findings, the paper documents several operational lessons from the implementation of the program. 2019-02-21 2024-06-21T09:09:06Z 2024-06-21T09:09:06Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146861 en https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2017.1299138 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2017.09.003 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145726 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147816 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Gêmo, Hélder R.; and Babu, Suresh Chandra. 2019. Empowering smallholder farmers’ organizations through non-public extension service providers: A case study and lessons from Mozambique. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1807. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146861
spellingShingle extension programmes
agricultural extension
training
farmers organizations
extension policies
empowerment
smallholders
extension approaches
Babu, Suresh Chandra
Gêmo, Hélder
Empowering smallholder farmers’ organizations through non-public extension service providers: A case study and lessons from Mozambique
title Empowering smallholder farmers’ organizations through non-public extension service providers: A case study and lessons from Mozambique
title_full Empowering smallholder farmers’ organizations through non-public extension service providers: A case study and lessons from Mozambique
title_fullStr Empowering smallholder farmers’ organizations through non-public extension service providers: A case study and lessons from Mozambique
title_full_unstemmed Empowering smallholder farmers’ organizations through non-public extension service providers: A case study and lessons from Mozambique
title_short Empowering smallholder farmers’ organizations through non-public extension service providers: A case study and lessons from Mozambique
title_sort empowering smallholder farmers organizations through non public extension service providers a case study and lessons from mozambique
topic extension programmes
agricultural extension
training
farmers organizations
extension policies
empowerment
smallholders
extension approaches
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146861
work_keys_str_mv AT babusureshchandra empoweringsmallholderfarmersorganizationsthroughnonpublicextensionserviceprovidersacasestudyandlessonsfrommozambique
AT gemohelder empoweringsmallholderfarmersorganizationsthroughnonpublicextensionserviceprovidersacasestudyandlessonsfrommozambique