Extension officers’ perceptions of extension and innovation in South Africa
Extension is evolving, and extension workers’ roles and attitudes are changing with global realities. The purpose of this study was to examine South African extension officers’ perceptions of their job, views on the objectives of extension, and conception of agriculture. A questionnaire was develope...
| Autores principales: | , , , , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Academy of Science of South Africa
2019
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146922 |
| _version_ | 1855528784797630464 |
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| author | Davis, Kristin E. Landini, F. van Niekerk, J. Green, K. Terblanche, S. E. |
| author_browse | Davis, Kristin E. Green, K. Landini, F. Terblanche, S. E. van Niekerk, J. |
| author_facet | Davis, Kristin E. Landini, F. van Niekerk, J. Green, K. Terblanche, S. E. |
| author_sort | Davis, Kristin E. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Extension is evolving, and extension workers’ roles and attitudes are changing with global realities. The purpose of this study was to examine South African extension officers’ perceptions of their job, views on the objectives of extension, and conception of agriculture. A questionnaire was developed consisting of general demographic and Likert-scale questions regarding perceptions of extension. The survey was emailed to all South African based members of the South African Society for Agricultural Extension (SASAE). The study found that most extensionists considered extension as a professional or technical practice to improve farmer practices followed by those who consider it as “helping farmers” to improve their well-being. The most preferred methods and the area of actual practice were first group and second individual approaches. According to the respondents, productive modernisation aimed at productivity and profitability was the highest extension objective, followed by increasing farmers’ knowledge through training. In addition, results provide evidence that extension institutions tend to support conventional agriculture, while extension workers are more concerned with potential negative impacts. Finally, the Likert-scale responses show that while much South African extension work is based on dialogue and horizontal coordination using a participatory approach, transfer of technology still exists, and farmers are blamed for their problems. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace146922 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publishDateRange | 2019 |
| publishDateSort | 2019 |
| publisher | Academy of Science of South Africa |
| publisherStr | Academy of Science of South Africa |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1469222025-02-24T06:47:18Z Extension officers’ perceptions of extension and innovation in South Africa Davis, Kristin E. Landini, F. van Niekerk, J. Green, K. Terblanche, S. E. innovation diffusion advisory services senses agroecology agricultural extension agricultural innovation systems extension agents Extension is evolving, and extension workers’ roles and attitudes are changing with global realities. The purpose of this study was to examine South African extension officers’ perceptions of their job, views on the objectives of extension, and conception of agriculture. A questionnaire was developed consisting of general demographic and Likert-scale questions regarding perceptions of extension. The survey was emailed to all South African based members of the South African Society for Agricultural Extension (SASAE). The study found that most extensionists considered extension as a professional or technical practice to improve farmer practices followed by those who consider it as “helping farmers” to improve their well-being. The most preferred methods and the area of actual practice were first group and second individual approaches. According to the respondents, productive modernisation aimed at productivity and profitability was the highest extension objective, followed by increasing farmers’ knowledge through training. In addition, results provide evidence that extension institutions tend to support conventional agriculture, while extension workers are more concerned with potential negative impacts. Finally, the Likert-scale responses show that while much South African extension work is based on dialogue and horizontal coordination using a participatory approach, transfer of technology still exists, and farmers are blamed for their problems. 2019-12-31 2024-06-21T09:09:37Z 2024-06-21T09:09:37Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146922 en http://hdl.handle.net/11336/1393 https://doi.org/10.1080/1389224X.2021.1936091 Open Access Academy of Science of South Africa Davis, Kristin; Landini, F.; van Niekerk, J.; Green, K.; and Terblanche, S. E. 2019. Extension officers’ perceptions of extension and innovation in South Africa. South African Journal of Agricultural Extension 47(4): 152-161. https://doi.org/10.17159/2413-3221/2019/v47n4a533 |
| spellingShingle | innovation diffusion advisory services senses agroecology agricultural extension agricultural innovation systems extension agents Davis, Kristin E. Landini, F. van Niekerk, J. Green, K. Terblanche, S. E. Extension officers’ perceptions of extension and innovation in South Africa |
| title | Extension officers’ perceptions of extension and innovation in South Africa |
| title_full | Extension officers’ perceptions of extension and innovation in South Africa |
| title_fullStr | Extension officers’ perceptions of extension and innovation in South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Extension officers’ perceptions of extension and innovation in South Africa |
| title_short | Extension officers’ perceptions of extension and innovation in South Africa |
| title_sort | extension officers perceptions of extension and innovation in south africa |
| topic | innovation diffusion advisory services senses agroecology agricultural extension agricultural innovation systems extension agents |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146922 |
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