UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA)
|
| UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) |
|
*******************************************************************
This document is being made available by the Population Information
Network (POPIN) Gopher of the United Nations Population Division,
Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis,
in collaboration with the Population Programme Service, Sustainable
Development Department, United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization. For further information, please contact: Mr. Jacques
du Guerny, email: jacques.duguerny@fao.org
*******************************************************************
CST/TSS Professional Meeting
of IEC Advisors at UNESCO, Paris, 17 - 21 October 1994
INTEGRATION OF GENDER, ENVIRONMENTAL, POPULATION EDUCATION
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THEMES
INTO AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION AND EXTENSION PROGRAMMES
Prepared By:
Erich G. Baier, Ph.D.
TSS Senior Population Officer
Agricultural Education and Extension Service (ESHE)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
===================================================================
INTEGRATION OF GENDER, ENVIRONMENTAL, POPULATION EDUCATION
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THEMES
INTO AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION AND EXTENSION PROGRAMMES
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Introduction/Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Constraints of Traditional Population Education Channels to
Reach Rural Audiences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Reorientation of Agricultural Education and Extension Programmes.6
Rationale for Integrating Gender, Population Education,
Environmental and Sustainable Development Themes into Agricultural
Education and Extension Programmes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Improving the Integration of Gender, Environmental, Population
Education and Sustainable Development Themes into Agricultural
Education and Extension Programmes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Examples of the Integration of Environmental and Population
Education Themes into Agricultural Extension Programmes . . . . 18
1. Basic Training on Environment Conservation for
Agricultural Extension Workers in Indonesia . . . . 18
2. Strategic Integration of Population Education into
Agricultural Extension Services (PEDAEX). . . . . . 19
Improving Agricultural Extension Work with Rural Women. . . . . 22
Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
=================================================================
LIST OF ANNEXES
Table 1 Total, Urban and Rural Population Projects (medium
variant): World, Developed and Developing Countries, 1995-2025.
Table 2 Average Annual Rate of Growth of Total, Urban and Rural
Population Projects, Rate of Urbanization and Average Annual
Increment of Urban and Rural Population Projections: World,
Developed and Developing Countries, 1995-2025.
Annex I Revised Project Design for Project INT/88/P28.
Annex II Project Management Plan - INT/88/P28.
Annex III Suggested Framework for PEDAEX Operational Process.
Annex IV INT/88/P28 - Suggested PEDAEX Implementation Steps for
Pilot Activities.
Figure 1 INT/88/P28 - PEDAEX Activities Implementation.
Figure 2 INT/88/P28 - PEDAEX Performance Indicators and Outputs.
=================================================================
Introduction/Background
Population growth, rapid urbanization, and rising incomes will
considerably increase the demand for food per year in the
developing world by 2010. By and large, it can be expected that the
trends towards increasing per caput food supplies in most
developing countries will continue. However, the gradual progress
towards higher consumption levels in some countries and regions and
the overall lower growth rate of population will lead to a slower
growth in demand and production compared with the past. This is the
positive aspect. The negative aspect is that many countries and
population groups in precarious food conditions will likely fail to
increase their food consumption because of too low economic growth,
persistence of poverty and failures in their agricultural
development. The growth rates of gross agricultural per caput
production in 93 developing countries are expected to decrease from
1.1 percent per annum in the years 1970 -1990 to 0.8 percent per
annum in the years 1988/90 - 2010. The growth rates for domestic
per caput demand (all uses) which reached 1.4 percent per annum for
the period 1970-1990 are expected to fall to 0.9 percent per annum
in the period 1988/90 - 2010. The above growth rata of production
and demand imply that there will be need for future growth in the
net food imports of the less developed countries. In particular,
net imports of cereals from the developed countries may grow from
about 90 million tons at the turning of the 1990s to about 160
million tons in 2010. As a consequence, per capita food and
agriculture production will need to grow in order to allow to meet
the challenge of increasing food demands.
At present, there are close to a billion people who earn less
than a dollar a day in the developing world. Most of the poor in
developing countries live in rural areas, where they subsist on
agriculture and agriculturally-related non-farm activities. For
low-income developing countries with a heavy dependence on
agriculture as a source of employment and income, the key to
overall development lies in rapid agricultural growth which,
through its effect on consumption and production, may lead to
expansion of employment, and reduction in poverty.
Although fertility rates in rural areas, especially in Africa,
are higher than those in urban areas, the average annual increase
of the urban population in developing countries is likely to be
considerably higher than the increase of the rural population in
the period from 1995 - 2025. In spite of the fact that the average
annual rate of urbanization in developing countries is declining
slightly, the annual increment of urban population is increasing
(from 62 to 88 million in the periods 1995 - 2000 and 2020
-2025). Whereas the average annual increment of the rural
population is decreasing from 24 million to a negative increment of
8 million in the periods 1995 - 2000 and 2020 - 2025, the total
rural population projections are still showing an increase from 2.8
billion in 1995 to over 3 billion in 2025 (the detailed urban and
rural population projections and the average annual rate of growth
of total, urban and rural population projections are presented in
Tables 1 and 2). It is estimated that approximately half of the
urban increase is due to rural-urban migration and half to urban
fertility or to spatial expansion of urban areas. The urban growth
of the population could accelerate even further if high fertility
in rural areas and lack of rural development continued to fuel
rural push factors.
One of the reasons for the high fertility rates in rural areas
in developing countries is the value attributed by farmers to large
families. Furthermore, rural people are not reached with population
education activities through traditional channels because school
enrolment is low due to lack of school facilities, and drop-out
rates are high in the countryside, particularly at the ages at
which population education is introduced.
More and more, countries in the developing world are
experiencing increases in farm production as a result of programmes
of research, agricultural extension and other services provided to
rural farm families, e.g., production inputs, credit and access to
markets. However, such increases have not created significant
socio-economic improvement in terms of quality of life either for
the farm family in particular or for the overall economy in
general. One of the reasons is because the increases have been
equalled or exceeded by population increases, especially in rural
areas of developing countries.
Governments in many developing countries are becoming more
aware of the seriousness of population problems for overall
development and are initiating action programmes to reduce
fertility and population growth. The Government of Malawi, for
example, has recently published the results of an examination of
poverty in its own country. This study identifies rapid population
growth as one of the most serious issues facing Malawi in its
social and economic development. It concludes that unless urgent
action is taken to reduce fertility and population growth, current
demographic trends will exacerbate and reinforce poverty.
This situation suggests that the objectives of agricultural
education and extension programmes need to be re-examined and
modified to focus not only on increasing agricultural production,
but more specifically on increasing per capita food production and
supply and per capita income. This modification could enable
agricultural education and extension programmes to focus not only
on agricultural production, but also on activities that include
gender, environmental and population education concepts and themes.
The ultimate objective would be to guide farmers towards achieving
sustainable agricultural and rural development and to motivate them
to have smaller and more manageable families.
This paper identifies the unique contribution that
agricultural education and extension institutions can make in
bringing gender/environment/population education to rural target
groups. It also explores their specific characteristics and
highlights the concepts and contents of gender, environmental and
population education. The methodological and substantive issues and
contents are then discussed and illustrated through FAO's
experiences and the results it has achieved in a number of its
member countries.
The contents of the paper are based on FAO publications and
working papers considered at a series of regional and national
workshops on gender, environment and population issues organized by
FAO since 1972. It further draws on the recommendations which
resulted from discussions about integrating environmental and
sustainable development themes into agricultural education and
extension services during an expert consultation on these issues,
held in the FAO, Rome between 30 November and 3 December 1993.
Constraints of Traditional Population Education Channels to Reach
Rural Audiences
Population education began only in the late 1960s, although it
had been discussed earlier. Much of the early impetus to introduce
population issues into school systems came from population and
family planning specialists rather than educators. This was a
response to the perceived population problems facing the world at
that time.
By the 1970s, educators began to play a stronger role in
conceptualizing population education. There was a tendency to move
away from a primary concern with population problems - a concern
endorsed by population biologists, among others - towards the
"value- fair" approach endorsed by social scientists, which posited
that no population-related decisions are by nature "right" or
"wrong". At its extreme, this approach was taken to mean that
teaching should be free of values, and in a few instances an
attempt was made to teach population and related issues without
"imposing" the teacher's values on students.
But, in general the definition of population education has not
changed much over the years. It is usually agreed that population
education is the process of helping people understand the nature,
causes and implications of population processes as they affect, and
are affected by, individuals, families, communities and nations. It
focuses on family and individual decisions influencing population
change at the micro level, as well as on broad demographic changes
at the macro level.
While experts in the field mostly agreed that population
education should address population issues at both these levels,
there was little agreement on the priorities to be set. Indeed the
need to establish priorities in the selection of content was not
stressed in the early years. This shortcoming often resulted in
attempts to cover more issues than the curricula could bear. At the
same time, curricula usually included only issues considered
unlikely to lead to controversy.
Over the past 20 years, population education has gradually
gained acceptance as an important part of the school curriculum in
most countries, largely through the efforts of UNESCO and UNFPA.
Still, a great deal remains to be done to institutionalize and
strengthen this relatively new field to maximize its impact over
the long term.
In the non-formal sector, population education programmes have
been developed for adult target groups both in urban and rural
settings. They include trade unions and workers, parents,
teachers/trainers, religious leaders and farmers and their
families.
Although population education concepts have been integrated
into some selected agricultural education and extension programmes,
the vast majority of rural people are still not reached by
population education activities. Some of the reasons why few people
living in rural areas encounter them are:
1. Population education activities, which are offered in the
formal school system, can reach only few rural children, partly
because school enrolment is inadequate due to the insufficient
number of rural schools and partly because students, especially
girls, drop out of school before population issues are addressed;
2. Primary and reproductive health care, which is offered in
the public health and family planning programmes, or through non
government organizations (NGO), remains largely inaccessible for
rural people, partly because the health infrastructure in rural
areas is lacking and partly because the existing health centres or
family planning clinics do not have the resources to reach the
rural target population in their respective zones;
3. High-level management staff in agriculture (planners and
policy-makers) have not been sufficiently sensitized to the
necessity and/or advantage of addressing population issues as they
relate to agricultural production and rural welfare; and
4. National population programmes do not use the agricultural
education and training programmes for communicating population
messages to rural people.
In addition, the traditional population education activities
through the formal school system are confronted with further
constraints. These include:
1. lack of motivation both to teach and to learn, partly
due to a lack of teaching staff in terms of both quantity and
quality;
2. the unsuitability of the language used for teaching (in
most developing countries national languages in the formal school
system still are the colonial languages like French, English and
Portuguese);
3. important regional disparities which influence the
levels and process of population education and rural development
approaches;
4. school programmes which are not adapted to the
socio-economic realities.
Traditionally, population education has drawn its content from
social demography, human ecology, family life and sex education.
Although population education, environmental education, family life
education and sex education share some important contents,
population education needs to be conceptualized around population
issues and/or problems and it should contribute to their solution.
Therefore, the contents of population education should respond to
the specific educational needs that emerge from population
issues/problems.
There are important, mutually beneficial potential linkages
between population education activities in the formal and
non-formal sectors in specific country settings. Non- formal
population education programmes are crucial in the poorer
developing countries and in rural areas where school enrolment
rates are low or drop out rates are high.
Given the high concentration of food-insecure populations in
the low-income countries with high economic dependence on
agriculture, the most promising avenue for correcting the
prevailing imbalances is to give high priority to promoting their
agricultural development in an environmentally friendly and
sustainable way. In order to bring about an improved balance
between population and food supply it is necessary to address
agricultural and rural development in a more holistic way, that is
in a way which includes gender, environmental and population
education themes.
An FAO-sponsored survey of 207 agricultural extension
organizations in 113 countries revealed that an amount of about US$
6 billion was spent in 1988 on extension worldwide (Swanson et al.
1990). At 600,000 extension workers to 1.2 billion farmers, this
amounts to only US$5 per farmer per year, a figure that includes
farmers and extension workers in the rich countries. Furthermore,
worldwide, about 0,5% of the agricultural gross domestic product
(AGDP) is invested in extension. (Swanson et al., 1990).
Considering that agricultural education and extension
programmes are one of the few, if not the only, public outreach
programmes in the rural sector, it is crucial that such programmes
be strengthened and improved through an innovative process of
learning which includes relevant concepts of gender, population
education and environmental themes. As pointed out at the Global
Consultation in Agricultural Extension in 1989, there was wide
concern that some donors emphasize technology transfer, rather than
pursuing a more balanced approach to extension that also includes
human resource development (FAO, 1990: p xi).
Agricultural education and extension programmes are existing
institutions which could be used by governments to support the
establishment and management of their national population
programmes. However, before the actual integration process can take
place in most countries, high-level policy staff and agricultural
education and extension leaders need to be sensitized and convinced
of the need and advantages of integrating gender, environmental and
population education themes into their regular agricultural
education and extension activities. Once they are committed to the
integration of such new subject matters, these agricultural
education and extension leaders need to be guided and trained in
the planning and implementation of strategies and relevant
activities in the field of gender, environmental and population
education. Their training would also have to include the design,
testing and production of training/extension materials and how to
lead students and extension workers in specific activities.
Agricultural extension services usually have an established
network of field personnel who are in direct contact with rural
people on a continuing and regular basis. Through such a network of
field extension workers, an expanded channel of communication for
gender, population and environment education can be made available.
Most agricultural extension workers have already acquired community
organizational and educational skills in addition to skills in
their technical area of competence. These skills are an essential
requirement for the effective implementation of gender, environment
and population education activities offered to provide help in
solving gender, environment and population-related problems and
issues. It is hoped that such an innovative, holistic approach can
contribute to a healthier and better-educated rural population,
which, in turn, can contribute to increasing productivity in a
sustainable way, and thus improve the quality of rural life.
Clearly, in order to bring this about, an intersectoral
dialogue and planning process is required which brings together
policy makers and planners from health, population and agriculture
to advocate a multi-pronged approach to rural development to
include gender, population education and environmental themes as
they relate to agricultural production issues.
Gender, environmental and population education could help
people, especially the majority of rural people, to discover their
own capabilities and potentialities in understanding and solving
the problems related to dwindling resources and declining
land-carrying capacity which are caused directly or indirectly by
high population growth, and which may affect their immediate and
future welfare.
In such an educational process, the target audience must not
be provided with ready- made decisions or a set of prescribed
actions which they have to accept and follow. The sensitive issues
related to environmental degradation, population growth and
reproductive behaviour should rather be explained and discussed
using a participatory approach. Traditional methods of teaching
need to be complemented with relevant field-based training and, if
possible, supported with use of appropriate multi-media
communication technologies.
Reorientation of Agricultural Education and Extension Programmes
One of the conclusions of the Earth Summit at Rio in 1992 is
that, provided action is taken urgently, there is still time to
forestall the major environmental and social disasters. The
challenge facing agricultural development is to maintain
sustainable and progressive production increases and, at the same
time, to protect production resources and prevent their
degradation. That is sustainable agricultural development must be
environmentally non- degrading, technically appropriate,
economically viable, and socially acceptable for achieving food
security and improved quality of life for present and future
generations.
The fact that rural communities have been left undeveloped as
compared to urban settlements can be ascribed to the priority which
is still given to industrial and urban development. The main
economic problems of rural areas in developing countries are, on
the one hand, related to low income from agriculture resulting from
the poor management of small farms and, on the other the lack of
jobs or poorly paid ones available in the countryside. The lower
income of rural communities has resulted in their less developed
social and cultural infrastructures, and in the lack of various
services. These disparities in living conditions between rural and
urban populations are increasing. The ways in which farming
populations cope with poverty or the vagaries of uncertain climates
or difficult market conditions often further threaten the integrity
of the natural environment.
The needed intensification of agriculture, however, brings
with it the problems of pollution, waste disposal, and loss in
biodiversity. With many current methods of highly intensive
agriculture, environment, human health and the natural resources
themselves are put at risk.
Unless the natural resource base can be protected, growing
populations will not be fed, inequalities between rich and poor
people, rural and urban populations and, men and women, will
continue to widen, and the conflict between nature and society will
intensify.
A serious threat to sustainable agricultural development comes
from the sheer number of people themselves. Depletion of natural
resources, deterioration of the environment, food and energy
shortage, and rural poverty are mainly the results of a rapid
increase of human population putting tremendous pressure on the
carrying capacity of the land. Another indirect negative
consequence of rapid population growth in rural areas is the
increasing flow of the more productive and educated people to urban
areas. As a consequence, the agricultural population and rural
labour force is decreasing and aging. In these countries the
shortage of available trained manpower in rural areas is a very
serious problem. This means the limited knowledge of farmers
concerning appropriate utilization of land, soil, water, and
genetic technologies is a major obstacle in increasing farm
productivity and the conservation of natural resources.
It has been well documented that rural women's socio-economic
status and productive and reproductive roles have a decisive impact
on population dynamics, and on fertility levels in particular. The
same is also true of women's status and roles in relation to
environmental conditions. However, it should be recognized that
rural women have become a very important 'closing link' between
population dynamics and environmental change: as important natural
resource users and managers in providing food and securing overall
family welfare, and sometimes, indeed, as the backbone of
smallholder agricultural production, rural women hold the key to
changes in reproductive behaviour and fertility levels, and,
ultimately, to population growth, structures and distribution.
In order to be able to address population education and
environmental themes to rural farmers in a meaningful way, both
population and agricultural and rural development planners and
educators/trainers must become aware of the multitude of ways in
which changes to rural women's status and roles, resulting from
various development interventions, can have fertility consequences.
The following fertility-related variables, that can be classified
as the most common, and often the most vital, should be taken into
consideration when preparing agricultural education and extension
curricula and training activities.
Rural fertility determinants
- The value of children: in rural circumstances the "net" value
of children (children's present economic value plus anticipated
support in old age, minus the cost to raise them) to their parents,
and especially to women, is most often positive, i.e., it would
be irrational to practice fertility control at the individual
family level. It is only in urban situations, or when development
has reached a stage where the "costs" of children (especially the
costs of educating them) outweigh their "utility", and when
concern about their quality exceeds concern about their quantity
that it becomes rational to have smaller families;
- High infant mortality is almost invariably associated with
high fertility. Declining infant mortality may not be accompanied
by declining fertility: the "lag" time may be considerable. High
fertility may be considered as a "response" to high mortality,
though usually only one quarter to one half of deceased children
are "replaced" by additional births. Or, high fertility may be seen
as advance "insurance" against possible future losses. The reverse
is also observable: high infant mortality can be seen as a
means of correcting high fertility (too many children, too close,
of the "wrong" gender, etc.). Extreme neglect, or outright
infanticide, are apparent in widely varying settings. Declines in
infant mortality generally lead to short-term increases in
population growth, until the effect of declining fertility catches
up, eventually resulting in decreases in population growth.
- Malnutrition must be severe before it adversely affects
natural fecundity, and thus fertility, but nutrition levels can
also influence fertility through its effect on infant and
child mortality and survival. It is widely recorded that even minor
improvements in women's status, that is in their increased control
over family livelihood resources, have positive effects on the
quality of nutrition;
- Prolonged breast-feeding has a strong and consistent negative
impact on fertility, both through its role in postponing the
mother's return to fecund status and through its role in promoting
infant survival.
- Education for women, more so than for men, is strongly and
consistently found to be related to lower fertility. Threshold
levels of education at which fertility begins to fall vary by
culture (e.g. in terms of literacy, or completion of primary
school, of secondary school, etc.)
- Female labour force participation is related to lower
fertility only in the modern, urban sector. Agricultural labour
force participation has no impact, or a positive impact on
fertility. However, off-farm rural employment in small scale
industry has been found as a key factor in lower fertility in the
few instances in which it exists and has been studied;
- Income. Although richer societies, and classes within
societies, generally have lower fertility than poorer societies and
classes, there are contrary indications regarding changes of
income:
- at lower levels, an increase in income is initially
associated with a rise in fertility, followed later by declines,
and
- income redistribution leading to greater equality in
social services (education, health) is more closely associated with
declines in fertility than is increase in per capita income;
- Size of land holdings. Although size of land holdings has
consistently been found to be positively related to family size,
research also indicates that land owners have smaller families than
tenants (attributed to the old-age security offered by ownership,
substituting for children's support of parents);
- Delayed age at marriage for females is usually associated with
lower fertility, whether through fewer years of exposure to
conception, or through a longer premarital period for education,
skills training, employment broadening influences, growth in
self-esteem, etc.
The key issues of identifying and defining the guidelines,
policies and actions that will protect the environment and natural
resource base for the future were discussed during an Expert
Consultation on "Integrating Environmental and Sustainable
Development Themes into Agricultural Education and Extension
Programmes" which was held in FAO headquarters in Rome, 30 November
to 3 December 1993. This Expert Consultation sought to clarify the
role of agricultural education and extension in relieving the
pressures on natural resources and in providing for greater but
more sustainable productive output for the security of rural
households, national economies and international relationships.
It concluded that the following essential requirements are
needed to reorient agricultural education and extension programmes
so that these become people-centred and gender-responsive and hence
contribute toward defining and promoting sustainable agricultural
and rural development (SARD):
1. A comprehensive, interdisciplinary and dynamic understanding
of the relations between social groups and their environment,
especially in the context of gender and relevant to national and
local realities, must be constructed, and must become part of the
consciousness of the different actors involved.
2. A continuous dialogue between the different agents involved
must be developed, and
3. Goals, policies and actions must be reoriented to accommodate
what is learned.
These are, in fact, inseparable processes: that is goals and
policies must change to permit this reorientation, and it is only
through dialogue that the dynamic relations relevant to SARD will
become evident.
Rationale for Integrating Gender, Population Education,
Environmental and Sustainable Development Themes into Agricultural
Education and Extension Programmes
The following working definition of sustainable development as
one which gives equal emphasis to environmental, technological,
economic and social aspects of sustainability was adopted by the
FAO Council in 1989:
"Sustainable development is the management and conservation of
the natural resource base, and the orientation of technological and
institutional change in such a manner as to ensure the attainment
and continued satisfaction of human needs for present and future
generations. Such sustainable development (in the agriculture,
forestry and fisheries sectors) conserves land, water, plant and
animal genetic resources, is environmentally non-degrading,
technically appropriate, economically viable and socially
acceptable.
Population education in the agricultural context has been
defined as a learning process to develop awareness and
understanding among the rural population of the nature, causes and
implications of population growth as they relate to farm management
and agricultural productivity; and further, how these problems
affect, and are affected by, farmers and their families so that
they can make informed and appropriate decisions regarding such
population issues in their efforts to improve their own well-being
and the quality of rural life.
The U.N. International Development Strategy, the Den Bosch
Declaration and Agenda 21 of the UNCED meeting in Rio de Janeiro in
1992, urged decision makers to adopt global/national policies to
plan and execute programmes for natural resources conservation and
human resources development. In this context, human resources
development calls for systematic and planned intervention
programmes to ensure a balanced and harmonious incorporation of
gender, population and environment concerns into agricultural
education, extension and training programmes. It also implies that
the target groups for human resources development in agriculture
include male and female farmers/producers, field technicians and
professionals.
Arising from the Den Bosch Declaration and the Earth Summit at
Rio de Janeiro in 1992, it was further recognized that there is now
a strong consensus on the crucial need for sustainable agriculture
and rural development. Our understanding of environment and
sustainability questions in agriculture and rural development is
now seen to be inextricably linked with other high-profile issues,
such as food security, trade, rural poverty, the role of women in
society, and rapid population growth.
In addition, there is increasing consensus on the importance
of addressing gender and environment issues and adopting strategies
to slow down population growth. Chapter 24 of Agenda 21 stresses
the urgency for global action by women towards sustainable and
equitable development. Women are the major resource users and
managers. Their knowledge and experience is vital in achieving
sustainability. They are generally the poorest group in society,
they have often been neglected in the past and it is usually their
welfare which is most severely affected by environmental
degradation.
Agricultural education and extension systems that are
gender-sensitive could play a major role in sustainable
development. Insecurity of land tenure, the occupation of marginal
lands, decreasing of yields, malnutrition and environmental
degradation are often interlinked. Obviously, population issues
pose multiple threats to food security, environment and land use.
Agricultural education and extension is a dynamic process
which has evolved from its origin as a top-down approach of getting
rural farmers to adopt new practices and technology to its present
participatory approach of working together with rural people to
find sustainable ways to improve not only agricultural production,
but the well-being of the rural households and communities. Both
agricultural education and extension professional staff have in
more recent years taken on stronger informal roles in which they
act in a developmental capacity, assisting land users to achieve
their own objectives and learning from farmers' own experiences. It
follows, therefore, that agricultural education and extension
programmes are a primary source of sustainable development concepts
for various participant groups in society: planners, academics,
project workers, urban dwellers, women and youth. They are also
sources of information about existing good practices by farmers and
on-farm experiences of technical innovations for various groups
including other land users and professionals.
It is estimated that in 1989 there were well over 600,000
extension workers world wide. These extension workers were expected
to reach at least 1.2 billion people who are economically active in
agriculture with appropriate technology and useful educational
programmes. This represents an overall agent to farmer ratio of
approximately 1: 2,000 as compared to a population per doctor ratio
(1990) of 5,260 worldwide. Extension coverage is of course highest
in the industrially developed countries, and the extension agent to
farmer ratio is much lower in developing countries. However
agricultural extension programmes are among the largest rural
development agencies with established networks of field extension
workers.
Agricultural education and extension and the transfer of new
knowledge and innovative approaches is part of the global mandate
of FAO. Although FAO's support for agricultural education and
extension programmes in developing countries goes back to the
inception of the Organization, a major reorientation took place at
the World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development
(WCARRD) in July 1979. WCARRD emphasized the necessity for strong
interaction between development personnel and small-scale farmers,
including rural women, and stressed the reorientation of extension
efforts towards the goal of increasing production with equity.
The FAO's experience suggests that agricultural extension can
contribute significantly to both economic growth and human resource
development in the agricultural sector. Given the economic problems
facing many developing countries and the growing shortage of
national and international funding for development, there is,
however, increasing pressure to view public expenditure on
agricultural extension as an economic investment to stimulate
agricultural output and productivity. The global challenge of
environmental concerns and the necessity for sustainable
agricultural and rural development has again focused attention on
the role of extension programmes in human resource development, and
the importance of linking with other rural service agencies to
facilitate interaction with small-scale subsistence farmers,
especially women-headed farm households and young farm families.
The challenge is now to integrate the different sets of
issues: gender, population, environment, sustainable agriculture
and rural development on the one hand; and the wealth of knowledge
of individual resources, inputs and techniques held by
professionals and land users alike on the other. Programmes of
agricultural education and extension need to deliver a balanced and
integrated appreciation of these issues drawn from the needs,
understanding, experience and research of all sectors of society.
When increased agricultural production is the primary and only goal
of agriculture, serious deterioration of natural resources occurs.
To promote alternative environmentally-friendly approaches such as
low-input agriculture, organic cultivation, or
traditional/indigenous technology, new directions and
subject-matters for farmers' education and training will be
required. Agricultural education and extension programmes will need
to produce highly qualified agricultural teachers and field
extension workers who can train farmers effectively. The programmes
must be broad-based and multi- disciplinary, and need to
incorporate gender, population, environmental and technology
transfer issues into their education, extension and training
activities.
In such a model of agricultural education and extension, the
role of educators and extension agents would change to that of
being facilitators and partners with students and farmers. A
difficult balance would have to be achieved between providing
advice and acting as partners. For any individual country and
agricultural institution, this balance will depend upon the
prevailing culture, the current nature of the institution, the
willingness to change and the rapidity with which innovative
methods of analysis and learning can be promoted.
While the rationale for integration of environmental and
sustainable development themes into agricultural education and
extension is endorsed by agricultural planners and trainers and the
use of a three pronged approach to sustainable agricultural and
rural development combining population, environmental and
agricultural production concerns is being more widely adopted, such
integration means major challenges, and thus involves a substantial
change in current procedures and actions. Agricultural education
and extension need to be placed firmly back into the context of
sustainable development; the mere integration of limited
environmental and population themes into agriculture will certainly
not be sufficient.
Improving the Integration of Gender, Environmental, Population
Education and Sustainable Development Themes into Agricultural
Education and Extension Programmes
Since the environmental imperative and the urgency of gender
and population issues in the context of rural development are still
comparatively new for many agricultural education and extension
agencies, current policies and actions tend to lag behind the
development of thinking at international meetings such as the Earth
Summit or amongst experts in the respective fields. To assist in
the practical implementation of the integration of gender,
population, environment and sustainable development programmes, the
following points should be taken into consideration:
1. Policy and Mandate
Educational institutions and extension organizations so far
draw their mandates to act on environmental and population issues
from a variety of sources ranging from the individual initiative of
a teacher, through departmental instructions to national level
decrees and legislation. At times, environmental and population
issues may be taken up unilaterally by donor agencies where it is
felt that insufficient attention would be paid by local
institutions.
In order to institutionalize the integration of gender,
population, environment and sustainable agricultural and rural
development themes, it is of crucial importance to develop and
adopt clear policies on their integration and to write clear
directives for all relevant institutions. Without persuasive,
effective and unambiguous directives for such an integration
process, articulated in the form of a high-level policy and agency
mandate, the current ad hoc approach to gender, population
education and environmental matters will likely continue.
2. Institutional Capacity and Necessary Arrangements for
Establishing Coordination Mechanisms between Relevant Agencies
Any introduction of new ideas and subject matters into an
organizational system requires of course a willingness to
accommodate the ideas and an ability to adapt the institutional
framework to effect the new policy and actions. These requirements
are particularly crucial in the case of gender, population,
environmental and sustainable development issues because they cut
across traditional academic subject and departmental boundaries.
Conventional science tends to move towards increasing
specialization within a discipline, which is the very opposite of
what is required for the analysis of sustainable development
criteria. Social scientists are equally unable to handle the
results of ecology, soil science, agronomy, forestry and the like
in an integrative manner with their own specialized fields. A new
system of learning is required, involving cross-disciplinary and
team approaches which can only occur in the right institutional
environment, in which people are motivated by a reward system that
recognizes the complexity of sustainable development, including
gender, population education and environment issues.
In order to facilitate the integration of the new subject
matters a planning process is required whereby the Ministries of
Agriculture and/or Education and Population consider strategy
development, materials design and development, training,
management, monitoring, evaluation, and any other issues which may
be involved. Representatives from other government departments
and/or relevant agencies should also participate with the
agricultural education and extension staff in the planning process.
It is crucial that properly informed decisions concerning the
organizational responsibility for such a collaboration be taken as
soon as possible and, equally, a mechanism by which the government
agencies responsible for agriculture, environment and/or population
should be identified as a matter of urgency.
3. Target Groups and Coverage
Generalized approaches conveying uniform messages and advice
are unlikely to be sufficient to achieve integration of gender,
environmental and population issues into agricultural education and
extension. At its different levels, education should therefore be
designed specifically for the actual knowledge, background and
experience of students. The environmental and population content of
any curriculum may be provided as single specialist courses dealing
with such aspects as environmental impact assessment and gender/
population education issues related to SARD; or alternatively it
may permeate all courses.
Similarly, agricultural extension needs to design its various
messages in specific terms. To reach all farmers with appropriate
environmental and population messages demands careful targeting of
groups with appropriate multi-media materials. Formal and
non-formal agricultural education should concentrate upon early and
life-long appreciation of the necessity of SARD including gender,
environmental and population issues. The difficulties of reaching
women and the specific needs of male and female farmers as related
to their ascribed roles need to be also taken into consideration in
the process of curriculum development.
4. Gender, Environmental and Population Education Content and
Extension Topics
The gender, environmental and population education messages
and requirements for social and economic development vary from
country to country. The top-down approach of lecturing according to
a ready-made set of directives needs to be substituted with a
participatory planning, training and learning approach; that is
environmental and population messages must be prepared in such a
way as to foster dialogue with the targeted groups.
While the scope of population education messages should be
related to agricultural production and sustainable agriculture and
rural development issues, (including the effects of population
growth and fertility on farm management and rural welfare) the
scope of environmental messages should cover a wider range of
topics such as bio-diversity, low-input agriculture, soil erosion,
forest development, use of pesticides, and so on. For both subject
matters a proper analysis of the causes and consequences of
population growth and environmental degradation is absolutely
necessary in basic and advanced education as well as in the
training of extension workers.
It has been shown that the introduction of time and labour
saving agricultural technologies do not necessarily mean that their
effects on the socio-economic status and ultimately on fertility
will be the same for all rural women. For example the introduction
of wet-seeding/direct seeding technology, using
high-yield-varieties (HYV) in rice cultivation, which reduces the
demand for pulling/seeding & transplanting (tasks normally
performed by women) has had opposite effects on women small holder
farmers and on the landless women, whose only source of income is
their own labour and who are the poorest members of rural
communities. While the introduction of this new agricultural
technology has led to fertility reduction among women small holder
farmers the same technology has resulted in increased fertility
among poor landless women. Such effects of new agricultural
technologies on different categories of rural women must be
addressed by agricultural education and extension programmes and
specific messages need to be designed for the respective target
groups.
Agricultural education and extension institutions need to
develop appropriate curricula with gender, environmental and
population education contents that support the government's own
population policy and/or development priorities.
5. Integration Approaches and Methodologies
One of the important issues to be considered in the
integration process is the WAY in which gender, environmental and
population issues can be integrated and how they can be delivered
along with the mainstream of agricultural education and extension.
The choice of the most appropriate integration approach is a
difficult challenge because it involves the interaction of planners
and teachers/extension agents with their respective target groups.
Interactive discussion of gender, environmental and population
issues has so far been inadequately accomplished by agricultural
education and extension institutions/agencies. Gender, population,
environment and sustainable development have usually been seen as
yet another module or course, or another extension message to
communicate. In a few programmes gender, population and
environmental concerns have been reasonably well integrated, but
the number of issues or topics is small. In other programmes, a
gender, population education or environmental module have been
merely added as an additional burden to extension responsibilities.
This is clearly inadequate and the process of integration must be
accelerated with the ultimate aim of making gender, population and
environmental issues inseparable from the production goals of
farmers, especially women, and their needs for small and manageable
families and a safe and secure environment.
6. Training and Reorientation of Agricultural Education and
Extension Staff
In order to promote the integration of gender, environmental,
population and SARD issues, and to speed up the
institutionalization process, agricultural education and extension
staff need to be educated concerning them. A systematic and
well-planned training programme will be needed, using a
participatory learning approach. Such a training programme, which
addresses agricultural education and extension staff and male and
female farmers, will complement the normal population education
activities targeting school children.
The first task in such a training programme should be to
inform and orient high-level extension officials in charge of
policy and management concerning the importance and usefulness of
gender, environmental and population education concepts. The second
task should be to train a core group of agricultural education and
extension staff on the processes and skills of planning and
designing gender, population and environmental education and
extension/training strategies, and also in techniques of relevant
message design and materials development. Such a training
programme needs to take into consideration that these trainers are
very different from school teachers, who are the target of
traditional population education training activities. A third task
of such a specialized training programme would be to train the
majority of the field extension staff and local leaders in the
appropriate new subject matters.
To accomplish the above-mentioned goals a series of training
activities will have to be designed and conducted in a planned and
systematic manner. Specific curricula and training support
materials will be required and the training activities will need to
be conducted in a participatory manner. The training activities
should also encourage women to engage in agricultural studies.
A reorientation of agricultural education and extension
programmes to incorporate SARD, including gender, population
education and environmental themes, should explicitly recognize the
inter-related nature of social, cultural, economic, environmental
and agricultural systems, so that the research and teaching they
generate should be multidisciplinary. A main focus should be on
establishing links between phenomena that have previously been
isolated for the purposes of investigation, so that the approach
would be systemic and holistic. Most importantly, the transfer of
knowledge should become reciprocal. It should start from the
assumption that a major vacuum of knowledge exists with respect to
the specificities of local agro-ecological systems, and therefore
in these circumstances, the principal transmitters become the local
people and the trainers/experts are the recipients.
7. Development of Innovative Ways of Learning
The primary role of an educational or extension institution
must be to articulate the concerns and assist the learning of its
clients: students, education and extension staff, other
professionals, field workers, male and female farmers and their
families. Teaching conceived as involving only the delivery of
messages must give place to joint action and planning by all
clients. The goal of this learning process is to ensure the
sustainability of the use of agricultural resources. Existing
commitments of providing education and advice on such matters as
production agriculture, specific techniques and crop
recommendations must not be jeopardized, but rather integrated with
the overall themes of gender, population, environment and
sustainable agricultural and rural development (SARD).
These multi-purpose roles and functions are extremely
difficult to achieve. However, they are not impossible. Some
educational institutions have managed to develop programmes with
innovative ways of learning that encourage the broad vision needed
to include the diversity of issues, including gender, population
and environment, in sustainable agriculture and rural development.
The integration of these new subject matters is best achieved by
involving all clientele in a participatory approach. For some
institutions this may involve a complete reorientation and
re-design of courses, including induction courses in field methods
and communication skills, retraining of teaching staff and the
development of new learning techniques.
At the same time, it must be acknowledged that agricultural
extension agencies have had difficulty in adapting roles and
functions. One of their principal problems has been the fact that
they have been loaded with additional, demanding tasks. In many
countries, they are treated as the front line for interaction with
farmers and rural people, dealing not only with transfer of
technology but also legislation, subsidies and input supplies.
Clearly, we should not expect them to bear yet another burden. The
challenge is how to provide guidance in matters of environmental
protection, gender and population in terms of agricultural
production and, at the same time, relate them to both the content
and the participatory process of development and delivery of
existing extension messages.
Examples of the Integration of Environmental and Population
Education Themes
1. Basic Training Module on Environment Conservation for
Agricultural Education and Training, Indonesia.
In recent years, FAO has actively promoted environmental
education in rural areas of developing countries through its
programme of natural resources and environment conservation,
through agricultural education and extension. In 1992, such a
programme was introduced in Indonesia through a project on "Natural
Resources and Environment Conservation". One of its aims was to
develop and produce a training module to be used in all
agricultural in-service training centres to orient agricultural
extension workers on the new subject matter. This activity was
initiated by FAO in collaboration with the Agency for Agricultural
Education and Training, Ministry of Agriculture, Indonesia. A
training module on environment conservation was developed by a
group of experienced agricultural trainers in 1992 under the
technical guidance and supervision of FAO through its Agricultural
Education and Extension Service (ESHE).
Upon its completion in January 1993, this module was applied
and tested in several courses which were offered in agricultural
in-service training centres and attended by field extension
workers. The experiences and results were discussed in a workshop
in May 1993 by extension officers from several relevant
institutions and agencies. Based on the discussions and
recommendations of the results demonstration workshop, the module
was tested and revised five times in order to meet local needs.
Upon completion of the revised training module, a training of
trainers (TOT) workshop was organized in February 1994 to orient
the Master Trainers from 32 Agriculture In-Service Training Centres
in Indonesia on the approach, concepts, techniques, methods, and
procedures of integrating environment conservation education into
agricultural extension. These trainers will apply the training
module on environment conservation in their respective in-service
training centres during a complete training cycle of 19 hours and
45 minutes. The training module consists of two units which are
interdependent and must be taught in the sequence presented in the
table on page 18a.
Each unit is accompanied by a Trainers' Guide and a
Participant Training Guide.
The Trainers' Guide consists of:
1. Delivery Guide
2. Questions and Answers for Pre-Test
3. Questions and Answers for End Evaluation
4. Training Aids
The Participant Training Guide consists of:
1. Introduction
2. Pre-Test
3. Job Assignment Sheet
4. Training Progress Sheet
5. End Evaluation
6. Information Sheet (with supplementary information and case
studies)
2. Strategic Integration of Population Education into
Agricultural Extension Services (PEDAEX).
The inter-regional project "Strategic Integration of
Population Education into the Agricultural Extension Services
(PEDAEX)" was designed to assist some of FAO's member countries in
developing strategies, methodologies, and in conducting pilot
activities to systematically integrate population education into
national agricultural extension services (for more details on
project design see Annex I and project management plan, Annex II).
The project was executed by the Human Resources, Institutions
and Agrarian Reform (ESH) Division of the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, through its Agricultural
Education and Extension Service (ESHE) and in consultation and
cooperation with the FAO Population Programme Coordinator's Office.
Money was provided by the United Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA).The project became operational in September 1986 with the
following objectives:
1. To develop planned strategies for implementing population
education through agricultural extension systems, and specifically
designed and packaged training and extension support materials
which have population education contents;
2. To disseminate the lessons learned on the strategies of
implementation of population education integration into the
agricultural extension services.
The project was successfully completed in December 1991 with
pilot activities conducted in eight countries: Honduras, Jamaica,
Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Tunisia, Rwanda and Thailand. Important
output-oriented activities, following a PEDAEX conceptual framework
and operational process, were undertaken in these eight countries
(for the suggested framework of the PEDAEX operational process see
Annex III and for the suggested PEDAEX implementation steps see
Annex IV). The PEDAEX pilot activities included, among others: an
international planning and strategy development workshop, which was
conducted in FAO headquarters in May 1987; baseline Knowledge,
Attitude, and Practice (KAP) surveys; a planning and strategy
development workshop; establishment of task forces/steering
committees; national workshops on strategy planning, message design
and multi-media materials development; training of extension
workers in the use of specifically designed PEDAEX
extension/training support materials, and management of PEDAEX
field implementation. Formative and summative evaluation studies of
PEDAEX activities were also conducted in the eight countries.
Evaluation results and lessons learned from project experiences
were shared in an international workshop on "PEDAEX Experience
Sharing and Results Demonstration" held in MeknŠs, Morocco in
November 1991. More specifically, during the project implementation
the following results were achieved:
- International Workshop on "Planning and Strategy of
Integrating Population Education into Agricultural Extension
Services" held in FAO headquarters Rome, 18-22 May 1987 with
participants from 10 countries.
- PEDAEX pilot activity project proposals for eight
countries developed and approved for funding by UNFPA.
- PEDAEX task forces or steering committees established in
eight countries.
- Baseline/KAP studies conducted in eight countries.
- National workshops on "PEDAEX Strategy Planning, Message
Design and Extension/ Training Support Materials Development" held
in eight countries for 191 participants.
- Various specifically-designed prototype PEDAEX
extension/training support materials pretested, revised and
reproduced in eight countries.
- A total of 286 extension officers in eight countries
trained in management of PEDAEX field implementation and use of
multi-media extension/training support materials.
- PEDAEX field implementation carried out in eight
countries, and as of December 1991, it was reported that an
estimated total of at least 102,000 farmers and/or their family
members had been reached.
- Three travelling seminars/process evaluation activities
conducted in four regions (Asia, Africa, the Near East and Latin
America and the Caribbean)
- Summative evaluation studies of PEDAEX activities
conducted in eight countries.
- International workshop on "PEDAEX Experience Sharing and
Results Demonstration" held in MeknŠs, Morocco, 11 - 15 November
1991 with participants from 16 countries.
Figure 1 shows a summary of the project's implementation
activities and Figure 2 shows a summary of the project's
performance indicators and outputs.
The results achieved and the experiences gained during the
inter-regional project have shown that the integration of
population education into agricultural extension programmes is
possible, desirable and consistent with the overall policy and
strategy of national Ministries of Agriculture.
Formative and summative evaluation studies of PEDAEX pilot
activities, conducted in the eight participating countries, have
revealed that the strategy and methodology, as well as the
extension/training support materials developed and field-tested in
the respective PEDAEX pilot activities, appeared to be appropriate,
effective and useful.
The institutionalization of PEDAEX during the implementation
of pilot activities in eight selected countries has initiated an
inter-ministerial and intra-departmental collaboration and
coordination process, and such collaboration was made possible,
among other things, through, the establishment in each
participating country of a PEDAEX Task Force, whose members
consisted of representatives from concerned ministries, departments
or agencies, such as population, health, education, etc.
It was demonstrated in the eight pilot activities that PEDAEX
has the support of extension planners and policy makers, provided
that such population education activities are related to, and can
potentially reinforce, the agricultural development objectives.
The participatory approach used in the implementation of pilot
activities, which involved extension workers in the planning and
organization of PEDAEX activities, contributed strongly to the
institutionalization and sustainability of PEDAEX and in reaching
the ultimate target clientele - small farmers and their families.
In addition, it was found that the integration of population
education concepts into the regular work plans of extension
workers, and the application of innovative PEDAEX strategies and
methodologies, can help to revitalize and enhance the effectiveness
and credibility of agricultural extension services. By informing
farmers and their families about population- related consequences
on agricultural productivity, farm management, the effectiveness of
farm inputs and the efficiency of the farm labour force, as well as
the overall farming environment, extension workers can educate them
on the advantages of having smaller families and thus contribute to
increase farm inputs and to farmers' well-being.
PEDAEX pilot activities have increased the access of rural
communities and small farmers to population education. Agricultural
extension workers, who are in regular contact with rural farm
families can deliver population education messages to rural farmers
and their families more easily than other field extension workers.
However, closer collaboration and joint programming of field
implementation activities are needed between relevant government
agencies and NGOs, especially service delivery agencies related to
population/family planning and health/nutrition programmes. The
demand generated by population education must be properly met
through effective and well timed referral services, by other
relevant field inputs/supply delivery agencies (i.e., health,
family planning, environment, women, etc.) to avoid frustration
caused by a situation of rising expectations among rural families.
In addition to the PEDAEX pilot activities, national projects
for population education integration are operational in Egypt,
Malawi, Kenya, Uganda and the Philippines.
Improving Agricultural Extension Work with Rural Women
Although women make up a significant portion of farmers,
especially in developing countries, agricultural information is not
effectively reaching and benefiting them. The participation of
rural women in extension activities remains low. Part of the
problem is that current courses of study in extension methodology
do not address gender issues and how to work with rural women, and
the sex of extension agents (the majority being males).
In order to provide governmental educational staff and others
responsible for rural development planning with practical
suggestions to support the integration of environmental and gender
concerns into home economics and agricultural curricula, FAO has
prepared a technical document with the title "Integrating
Environmental and Gender Concerns into Home Economics Curricula"
which is being finalized for publication. This document is meant to
help trainers and planners in conceiving and introducing innovative
approaches to educational development, rural development, extension
programmes and technology/knowledge transfer by providing
guidelines and suggestions for more effectively reaching rural
households.
In addition, an instructional unit for extension workers on
working with rural women was developed as a follow-up to the
project "Improving the Level of Agricultural Extension Service
Support for Rural Women" which was financed jointly by FAO,
Denmark, The Netherlands, Norway and the Arab Gulf Fund. This
instructional unit is still a draft working document and is
considered to be a first step in addressing the need for reference
materials designed to be incorporated into the extension
methodology component of the agricultural extension curriculum.
The first phase of the project activities consisted of
carrying out five case studies in Kenya, Malawi, Sierra Leone,
Zambia and Zimbabwe. The second part was a workshop which brought
together participants from the case study countries as well as
representatives from the agencies which supported the project.
Training was identified by the workshop participants as a
weak link in the process of having extension staff understand the
role of women in agricultural production and in ensuring that men
and women benefit equally from extension services. It was further
found that the methodology portion of the extension education
curricula did not sufficiently emphasize improving extension work
with women. Trainers also cited a lack of instructional materials,
which made effective training difficult.
The instructional unit in preparation for the training of
extension workers focuses on rural women. It specifically aims to
help extension workers to:
1. identify the needs and priorities of rural women;
2. improve women's participation in extension activities
through identifying and overcoming common obstacles to women's
participation and using methods that promote it;
3. work more effectively with women farmers through improved
ways of contacting and communicating with rural women.
The unit consists of six topics and a resource listing of
additional materials. The topics are:
Topic 1: Working with Rural Women: Why?
Topic 2: Information on Rural Women.
Topic 3: Contacting Rural Women.
Topic 4: Time and Location of Extension Activities.
Topic 5: Access to Credit, Inputs and Technology.
Topic 6: Communication Methods and Techniques.
Resource Listing: This list contains printed and audiovisual
resources that could be used as additional teaching aids for the
topics.
=================================================================
CONCLUSION
It has been recognized that extension and education support
for agriculture can have a much greater impact on farm families if
it is based on an integrated approach consisting of important
interdependent gender, population and agricultural elements for the
improvement of their well-being. Since the ultimate goal of both
agricultural education, extension and population education
programmes is directed towards the improvement of rural farm family
welfare, a relationship between these programmes can be mutually
beneficial.
Rapid population growth contributes to natural resource
degradation and increased rural poverty. When increased production
is the primary goal of agriculture, serious deterioration of the
natural resource base may occur. In order to promote alternative,
environmentally sound approaches new directions and subject-matter
contents for farmers' education and training will be required. Such
innovative approaches need to address gender, environmental,
population education and sustainable development themes as they
relate to agricultural and rural development.
In order to be able to meet the challenges of sustainable
rural development, agricultural education and extension programmes
need to upgrade their training activities to incorporate gender,
environmental, population education and sustainable development
themes into their education, extension and training activities.
Only qualified agricultural teachers and field extension workers
can provide farmers with appropriate information on gender,
environmental and population related issues. Training in
problem-solving skills with regard to the identified gender,
population and environment problems can lead to a better educated
rural population who will in turn contribute to sustainable
agricultural productivity, and improved quality of rural life.
Agricultural education and extension institutions/agencies
should be involved in both technology transfer and human resources
development and should focus on working with the majority of
small-scale farmers and their families. Small farmers especially
need to be informed about the complex inter-relationships between
gender, population, environment and agriculture in order to
persuade them to work towards a sustainable agricultural and rural
development.
Rural women in most developing countries fully participate in
various types of agricultural work. Besides their integral part in
the family labour force they also function as farmers in their own
right. It is, therefore, important that they should get access to
appropriate extension, education and training programmes, including
population education and environmental themes. Agricultural
education, extension and training tasks can be facilitated and are
more likely to succeed if more gender-sensitive technologies and
training activities are provided.
The successful implementation of farmer-centred education and
training requires a planned and institutionalized approach to
agricultural education and extension. Policy commitment and support
are pre-requisites for the institutionalization of agricultural
education and extension with a sound legal framework, clear scope
of responsibilities and adequate operational resources.
Clearly defined policies on the role and responsibilities of
agricultural education institutions for research, teaching and
extension, especially with regard to the additional subject matters
of gender, population education and environmental imperatives are
also indispensable. In this respect it is important to note that
population education themes need to be specifically related to
agricultural production issues. By addressing population problems
as they are related to agricultural production, farm management and
farm inputs agricultural extension programmes can promote family
planning programmes in the rural sector. Population education in
the context of agricultural education and extension programmes can
create awareness about population issues and tell farmers where and
when to go for family planning services.
It is important that the cadres of the agricultural and
population sectors collaborate to plan and implement coordinated
activities in the rural areas. Family planning service providers
and population education facilitators should work closely together
in identifying the behaviour and attitude changes required and the
different target groups to be addressed.
The efforts to restrict population growth, reduce poverty,
achieve sustainable agricultural and rural development and at the
same time protect the environment must be mutually reinforcing.
Agricultural education and extension programmes can be utilized by
interested governments to reach rural target groups in their
endeavour to strive for progress in all these areas in
collaboration with relevant institutions/agencies.
The process of adaptation to the new imperatives and the
integration of new subject- matters into the agricultural education
and extension programmes will need additional funding. Retraining
requires the provision of workshops and seminars and the
integration of new subject-matters may need an additional staff
member in each organization with specific responsibility for the
development and delivery of appropriate messages. As pointed out
in the introduction, one of the principal constraints of
agricultural and rural development has been the continuous
underfunding of the agricultural sector. It is, therefore,
essential that additional resources be allocated for these
important activities, which should be seen as a complement to
traditional population education activities in schools.
==================================================================
REFERENCES
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO),
1994. Women, Population and Environment in Agricultural and Rural
Development - Policy Challenges and Responses (by Dr. Zoran ROCA).
______, 1993a. Planning for Effective Training. A Guide to
Curriculum Development. Rome, Italy: FAO, 271 pp.
______, 1993b. Agriculture: Towards 2010. Rome, Italy, 320 pp.
______, 1992a. Sustainable Development and the Environment: FAO
Policies and Actions, Stockholm 1972 - Rio 1992. Rome, Italy: FAO,
89 pp.
______, 1992b. Empowering the Rural Poor. FAO Experiences in
Participatory Rural Development. Rome, Italy: FAO, 31 pp.
______, 1991. Improving Training Quality. A Trainer's Guide to
Evaluation. Rome, Italy: FAO, 157 pp.
______, 1990a. Women in Agricultural Development-FAO's Plan of
Action for Integration of Women in Development. Rome, Italy: FAO,
______, 1990b. Report of the Global Consultation on Agricultural
Extension. Rome, Italy: FAO, 217 pp.
______, 1989. Review of the State of Food and Agriculture, FAO
Council, 1989.
______, 1984a. Harare Declaration on the Food Crisis in Africa.
Harare: 13th FAP Regional Conference for Africa, July 1984
(W/RO294/E/9.84/1/150)
______, 1984b. Rural Development, the Position of Rural Women, and
Fertility. (Author: Moore, C.), Rome (mimeo).
______, 1977. Population and Agricultural Development. Rome, Italy:
FAO 130 pp.
IFAD 1992. The State of World Rural Poverty: An Inquiry into its
Causes and Consequences. New York University Press for IFAD
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), 1994.
Population and Food in the Early 21st Century: Meeting Food Needs
of an Increasing World Population. Washington D.C., 1994
Kilimanjaro Programme of Action for African Population and Self
Reliant Development. Arusha: Second African Population Conference,
January 1983.
Maalouf, W.D. Role of Agricultural Extension Programmes in
Population Education. In: Workshop Report on the Planning and
Strategy of Integrating Population Education into the
Agricultural Extension Services. Rome, Italy: FAO, 20 pp.
(Report on the Sub-Regional Seminar on) Population and Development
for Parliamentarians from Eastern and Southern Africa. Nairobi:
Centre for African Family Studies, 1983.
Rogers, A. Adults Learning for Development. London: Cassell
Educational Ltd. 1992, 248 pp.
Rogers, A. Teaching Adults. Open University Press, Philadelphia,
1986, 197 pp.
Speth, J.G. (1994). Towards a New Global Strategy. People & the
Planet, Vol. 3 Nr. 3 pp 34-36.
Swanson, B.E., Farner, B.J., Bahal, R. 1990. The Current Status of
Agricultural Extension. Pp 43-76 in ESHE (Agricultural Education
and Extension Service; Human Resources, Institutions and Agrarian
Reform Division) and B.E. Swanson (Ed.) in FAO, 1990, Report
of the Global Consultation on Agricultural Extension. Rome, Italy:
pp 43-76.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 1994. Human
Development Report, New York. 226 pp.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO), 1993. World Education Report. UNESCO, Paris, France, 172
pp.
United Nations/Government of Malawi. Situational Analysis of
Poverty in Malawi. New York 1993.
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) 1994. Population,
Environment and Development: Proceedings of the United Nations
Expert Group Meeting on Population, Environment and Development,
United Nations Headquarters, 20-24 January 1992. New York, 285 pp.
______, 1993a. Developing Information, Education and Communication
(IEC) Strategies for Population Programmes. Technical Paper No.1.
New York, 56 pp.
______, 1993b. Reconceptualization of Population Education.
Technical Paper No. 2. New York, 46 pp.
______, 1991. Population, Resources and the Environment: The
Critical Challenges. New York, 154 pp.