Nick Kelly, John McLean Bennett and Ann Starasts did a review of two cases of adoption of ICT mediated learning networks in agricultural extension. The two networks shared the economic and pedagogical need for adopting a network approach but differed being a small community of framers in India and a large Twitter community of Australian farmers. The reviewed evidence which proofs that networked learning is already occurring within the groups and provides a framework which can help future designers of learning networks in order to facilitate efficient agricultural extension.
The contribution to this journal by John James Okiror, Geoff Hayward and Mark Winterbottom is a cross-sectional survey which examines the needs of secondary school agriculture teachers in Uganda. This is to address the need for new pedagogical skills as opposed to removal of subjects as a means to improve ‘outcome based’ education. Key competencies for teachers were identified like practical agriculture skills and for instance the need of exposure to modern farming practices. The paper shows the growing need for teacher training and teacher support.
The Ethiopian case study by Chalachew Aniteneh, Renate Wesselink, Harm Biemans and Martin Mulder reveals the change of competence profile for development agents during the last 10 years. The competence profile was originally developed in 2007 and was validated using four competence clusters and 15 underlying competencies. The new competence profile can be used for recruitment on selection, performance evaluation and training programmes for development agents.
Clarietta Chagwiza, Roldan Muradian and Ruerd Ruben studied oilseed farming households in Ethiopia to assess the impact and combined effects of different knowledge basis on productivity. Factors like age, land size, marketing channels and geographical factors were considered. There was no evidence of differences in productivity between trained and untrained farmers but training and the interaction between training and experience positively influenced productivity. The main outcome of the study indicates the need for matching the information given by trainers with what the farmers actually need.
Marcello De Rosa and Luca Bartoli studied how agricultural extension services (AES) stimulate the adoption of rural development policies in areas with geographical indications in Italy.
The study reveals practical implications like upgrading and broadening AES competencies in the fields of farm development and knowledge transfer regarding access to support policies.
Wishing you all a pleasant reading.