Evolution of Agricultural Extension Models in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Critical Review (Published)
This is a paper review of the work presented at the Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester, United Kingdom. Using library research and reflection, document, journal papers and content analysis were used to generate data. The Sub Saharan African region covered in the paper is that of seven countries. The paper describes the role of agricultural extension models in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well traces the various extension models currently being developed or implement in Sub-Saharan Africa, namely; the top down approaches; from international institutions/ national governments and participatory approaches/bottom-up that engage farmers in decision making. Currently, there are six basic extension approaches/models in diverse stages of development and implementation in developing countries. These models have been structured in a more analytical way around key themes; top down; participatory; demand-led; group versus individual targeting; private sector and free/paid extension services. The reality is that pluralism of models has been employed in various forms in most countries in Sub-Sahara Africa. The paper critically examined seven models, including National Public Extension Model, Training and Visit (T&V) Extension Model, Private Sector Model, Fee-For-Service Extension Models, Farmer Field School Model, Non-Governmental Organization Extension Model, Commodity Extension and Research Model.
Keywords: Extension services, Model, evolution, participatory, sub-Saharan Africa, top down