Institutional and Technical Challenges of Agricultural Extension in Addressing the Needs of Smallholders in North Gondar Zone, Ethiopia

Abstract

Abstract Agricultural extension service is one of institutional support services systems, which is expected to promote sustainable livelihoods of the smallholder farmers and transform the sector into modern and production system. With objective to assess the challenges of the agricultural extension system in addressing the needs of the smallholders, the study used cross sectional survey using quantitative and qualitative techniques. Data were generated from both primary and secondary sources using household survey from randomly taken households, focus group discussions, key informant interview, observation and review of relevant documents and empirical works. The results of the study show that despite structurally decentralized system of public agricultural extension system, it has been challenged by institutional and technical pitfalls. Institutionally, the farmers training centers have many bottlenecks. The mismatch between the needs of smallholders in crop and livestock production and available agricultural technologies and extension advisory and technical supports has been identified as technological predicaments of the system. The study has also revealed that inefficient technical demonstration and communication skills of extension agents, as a result of institutional, geographical and absence of system based reward and incentives to be among the challenging issues of the public agricultural extension in the study area. The results of the study suggests public agricultural extension service provision to be demand driven with full participation concerned stakeholders and led by technically equipped expertise.