Admission number AEM-MOOCs/2022/12/800

Name MBALIRE Arthur

Semester I
Course code AEM 101
Course title Introduction to Agricultural Extension
Management
Signature
Date 20/03/2023
QUESTION 4:
Analyse the changing role of extension in the globalization era

Introduction
Agricultural extension is a service or a system which assists farm people, through educational
procedures, in improving farming methods and techniques, increase production efficiency,
techniques, and income, bettering their level of living and lifting the social and educational status
of rural life (Maunder, 1973). As simply stated by Qamar (2005), “extension” means to extend
education or to educate people with the aim of bringing positive behavioral changes and
improving the quality of life among those targeted.

Globalization refers to increases in the movement of finance, inputs, output, information, and
science across vast geographic areas (Mellor, 2002) or; the increased interconnectedness and
interdependence of peoples and countries (WHO, 2020a). Globalization is generally understood
to include two inter-related elements: the opening of international borders to increasingly fast
flows of goods, services, finance, people and ideas; and the changes in institutions and policies at
national and international levels that facilitate or promote such flows. It paves way for market
liberalization by eliminating barriers to trade for both developing and developed countries
(Ranathunga, 2014).

Objectives of the assignment

1. To find out the general impacts of globalization on agriculture
2. To examine the changing roles of agricultural extension as a result of globalization

The traditional roles of extension

The following are the traditional roles of extension as advanced by Oakley and Garforth (1985):
provision of knowledge and skills to complement what the farmers already know; offering
technical advice and information, organizing farmers into groups and associations and;
motivating farmers and building their self-confidence. Other roles include changing farmers’
attitudes, understanding, goals and action.

Globalization impacts on agriculture

Agriculture has been impacted by globalization through: fast growth of trade in goods and
services; higher growth in international financial transactions; fast growth in foreign direct
investment; deeper form of internationalization resulting from production network of

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multinationals; emergence of global markets; rapid diffusion of knowledge and technology;
globalized transport and communication network and; changes in the thinking and modes of
operation of international institutions (Joginder, 2016). Others include diet evolution and
spreading of western lifestyles.

Related literature
Due to globalization, the years 1950 to 2000 presented tremendous changes in the agricultural
sector: cereal production went up, irrigation expanded considerably and market growth was seen
in segments like milk production, horticulture and floriculture. There was also a shift to
production of specialty crops for target markets and emphasis on superior varieties of crops and
breeds of animals. Fueled by changes in food consumption and a nearly doubling world
population, the production of food crops grew globally, inducing significant changes in terms of
intensification (e.g., consumption of fertilizers, use of concentrates for feeding animals) and
extensification (e.g., deforestation) (Alexandratos and Bruinsma, 2012). There have also been
some disturbing trends (Van den Ban and Samanta (2006) and; Joginder (2016): farmers paying
higher price for better varieties of imported superior seed because of the patent rights imposed by
WTO, farmers from poor countries cannot export their products to rich countries because of
inferior technology and stringent quality parameters imposed by foreign consumers. Large scale
cases of suicide by farmers under the burden of heavy loans have been reported in some
countries (Joginder, 2016).

With globalization and development, per se, the scope of agricultural extension services has been
widening, and the need to adapt to changing contexts is also growing. Challenges to this new
paradigm include offering new services, ensuring the quality of services, and strengthening
collaboration and synergy among extension service providers (Sulaiman and Davis, 2012).
Contexts are changing, competition for resources is increasing, clients are more aware of their
need for extension than before, and they are demanding quality, reliable and performance-based
services. Because of green revolution presented by globalization, the changing purpose of
farming from subsistence to commercial, pressure on land resources and dwindling water
sources, rise in rural aspirations as a result of reduced remoteness and farmers “waking up” to
demand a fair share of resources and the declining development support and lagging of rural
economies, survival in agriculture requires efficiency (Van den Ban and Samanta, 2006). As a
consequence, the roles of agricultural extension have to change if the institution is to remain
relevant in the era of globalization. While the legitimate roles of extension remain the same, the
set of tasks that extension workers have to perform in each of the dimensions above has to be
different because farmers have become a changed clientele.

Changing roles of agricultural extension (Van den Ban and Samanta, 2006)
1. Changing from a solely public (government) extension to a demand driven and pluralistic
(Rivera et al., 2009) extension financed by other sources other than taxpayers’ money,
which includes NGOs, farmer organizations, consultants and companies providing inputs
and marketing of agricultural products.
2. From an extension which only tries to increase farmers’ crop yield and animal production
to that which helps farmers produce for specific markets and fulfill growing international
demand. This implies a change from an extension system that transfers production
technologies only to that system that helps farmers decide what is in their situation the
optimal farming system to realize their goals

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 3. From an extension which transfers technologies developed from agricultural research
stations to farmers to extension which stimulates farmers to experiment and learn from
their own experience and the experience of their peers (on farm research).
4. From top-down approach in extension to a participatory approach, fostering decision-
making to increase accountability
5. From the traditional Train and Visit approach in disseminating technologies from
research to more effective, less costly methods such as use of ICTs, Farmer Field and
Business Schools and Innovation Platforms
6. An extension service that tries to alleviate poverty since the vast majority of farmers in
the world are poor people
7. An extension system that embraces ICT as a result of the rapid rise in use of the internet,
mobile telephones, digital platforms and other information communication technologies.
8. Demand for technology driven extension as farmers attempt to shift from scarce farm
labor to mechanization.
9. Extension to support dual goal farming. Over the years, for the reasons seen earlier, the
farm sector has differentiated itself into two segments: subsistence farming (for food
security of the family) and commercial farming (high-tech, high investment ventures
taking reasonable risks).
10. Specialized extension to support the commercial segment of farming (which entails rigid
production standards, superior technology, high value enterprises and large investments).
The extension agency should be dependable and highly dynamic to suit the demands of
the commercial farmer.
11. Focus on natural resource management. Globalization and the green revolution have had
profound negative impact on the environment and natural resources. Mending the
prevailing shocks due to climate change is a major task of neo-extension programs.
12. Emphasis on value addition, processing and marketing to avoid continuously entrapping
farmers into a lagging rural economy.
13. Teaching farmers to become better managers as farming inexorably shifts from
subsistence to commercial (financial management, human resource planning and
management, record keeping, leadership…)
14. Extension service goes beyond technology transfer to general community development
through human and social capital development, improving skills and knowledge for
production and processing, facilitating access to markets and trade, organizing farmers
and producer groups, and working with farmers towards sustainable natural resource
management (Swanson, 2008).

Conclusion
Agricultural extension is an instrument of change that helps farmers to seek and adopt desirable
changes in farming. Its focus is on technology improvements, leading to human resource
development. In every culture, agriculture normally keeps changing, either slowly or rapidly, so,
the role of agricultural extension is to make this process more purposeful. As economies expand
and technologies advance, agricultural extension does not remain a matter of choice, but
becomes a social economic necessity. And, as the agricultural sector changes, the tasks of
agricultural extension will also change, while its basic functions essentially remain the same
(Dwarakinath, 2006). Given the significant contribution of agriculture to national economies and
the important role of extension services in agricultural development (Suvedi and Ghimire, 2018),
there is need to reinvent the roles of agricultural extension to match the emerging trends in
agriculture as a result of globalization. To thrive, extension must understand and adjust to rapid

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changes and emerging challenges. This calls for organizational changes to embrace new tasks.
Extension needs to shift some of its traditional focus from food security to increasing farm
income and rural employment. Extension must, therefore, go beyond technology transfer.

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