Extension for organic agriculture: a comparative study between Baden-Württemberg, Germany and Crete, Greece

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to compare the extension services offered in the field of organic agriculture (OA) in Baden-Württemberg (BW), Germany and Crete, Greece.

Design/methodology approach: 16 in-depth interviews, 10 in BW and 6 in Crete, were carried out with representatives of OA extension providers; interviews were qualitatively analyzed and overall results compared between the two areas.

Findings: The structure along with extensionists' capacities and methods employed are rich, appropriate, and well functioning in BW. On the contrary, poor structure, lack of networking and facilitation in Crete jeopardizes extension performance and impact. Practical implications: Contrary to BW, the situation in Grete does not allow for much optimism concerning the successful development of OA and the implementation of European Innovation Partnerships.

Theoretical implications: Further elaboration of the characteristics of extension/advisory services and their interlinkages, including the role of the state in facilitating pluralistic services, is needed.

Originality/value: The paper demonstrates the importance of the structure of extension services and the central facilitation role of the state; furthermore, the interdependency of structure, capacity and the methods employed is demonstrated which, in turn, influences extension performance and impact especially networking and facilitation for social learning and innovation co-creation.

KEYWORDS:

• Extension structure
• organic agriculture
• extension training
• extension methods
• networking
• facilitation
• BW/Germany
• Crete/Greece

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Ms Nina Österle studied Economic and Social Sciences of Agriculture in the University of Hohenheim, Germany, and obtained the Master of Science degree on Sustainable Agriculture at the CIHEA Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (2014). She currently works as breeding assistant for organic wheat in “Cereal breeding research Darzau”

Dr Alex Koutsouris is Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics & Rural Development, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece. His research interests revolve around sustainable rural development focusing on topics such as extension and communication, training and education, agritourism, project design and evaluation, with emphasis on systemic and participatory approaches. He has published and presented papers on the abovementioned topics, been guest co-editor in scientific journals and publications and served as a member of the boards of relevant scientific societies and international conferences and meetings. Currently he is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Agricultural Education & Extension and member of the steering committees of IFSA-European Group and ESEE.

Dr Yannis Livieratos studied Agriculture (BSc/MSc) in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and obtained an MSc degree on Crop Protection at Wageningen Agriculture University (1994). His main field of interest is molecular plant virology out of training (Ph.D.; Imperial College) and a four years of postdoctoral experience. He has been appointed as Studies & Research Coordinator at the Department of Sustainable Agriculture at MAICh (2005) and ever since, he has participated in more than 18 national and EU-funded research- and education-oriented projects. Authored more than 30 articles mainly in the field of Plant Pathology. He currently serves as a member of the Editorial Board of the Molecular Plant Pathology journal.

Dr Emmanuil (Manolis) Kabourakis (MSc, Ph.D.) is researcher of Ecological Production Systems at the Institute of Oliviculture, Subtropical Plants and Viticulture, Directorate of Agricultural Research (NAGREF), Hellenic Agricultural Organization (ELGO) “Demeter”, Greece. He graduated in Plant Sciences at the Agricultural University of Athens, and did postgraduate studies on Ecological Agriculture at Wageningen Agricultural University. As Fulbright Fellow he did research at UC Santa Cruz, California. He works in research on ecological food production systems and sustainable rural development. He is interested in designing and developing sustainable food systems that empower local communities, link consumers with producers and enhance diversity. He lectures on agroecology, ecological food systems and organic olive production at graduate and postgraduate level.

Notes

1. LEL is a partner institution of the Internationale Akademie land- und hauswirtschaftlicher Beratungskräfte/International Academy of Advisors in Agriculture, Home Economics and Rural Development (IALB) awarding the Certificate for European Consultants in Rural Areas (CECRA) – attendance is free for EAs of the agricultural administration.

2. On top of this, the lack of extension training in Greek agricultural universities should be added (Koutsouris and Papadopoulos 2000).

3. In this respect, it seems that, following Leeuwis and Van den Ban (2004, 30), the basis of legitimization of extension for OA in BW relates to both active demand and public interest, while in Crete it relates only to the former.

4. The debates concerning the privatization of extension services is relevant in both Germany and Greece (see Hoffmann, Lamers, and Kidd 2000; Lehmann 2005; Alexopoulos, Koutsouris, and Tzouramani 2009; Cristóvão, Koutsouris, and Kügler 2012; Knuth and Knierim 2013).