Creating a Worldwide Network of Excellence for Extension and Advisory Systems: Linkages between GFRAS, MEAS, WWES, and WEN Creating a Worldwide Network of Excellence for Extension and Advisory Systems: Linkages between GFRAS, MEAS, WWES, and WEN Andrea Bohn

Acronyms Modernizing Extension and Advisory Services MEAS Worldwide Extension Study WWES Global Forum for Rural Advisory Systems GFRAS Worldwide Extension Network (shared contacts for GFRAS, WWES, MEAS), as Excel spreadsheet and Facebook, Google group Worldwide Extension Network FacebookWorldwide Extension Network WEN

MEAS Project Objective: to define and disseminate good practice strategies and approaches to establish efficient, effective and financially sustainable rural extension and advisory service systems in selected countries. A Leader With Associates (LWA) Project funded by Goal: to help transform and modernize extension and advisory systems, so they can play a key role in both increasing farm incomes and enhancing the livelihoods of the rural poor, especially farm women

MEAS – Outputs and Services These services are expected to benefit a wide audience of users, including developing country policymakers and technical specialists, development practitioners from NGOs, other donors and consultants, as well as USAID staff and projects: 1 TEACH - Disseminating Modern Approaches to Extension Training Modules Technical Notes 2 LEARN - Documenting Lessons Learned and Good Practice through Best Practice Review Case Studies Evaluations Pilot projects and action research 3 APPLY - Designing Modern Extension and Advisory Services Program through assistance to selected host country organizations for the analysis, design, and reform of rural extension and advisory services. Country Assessments

Consortium Partners

MEAS – Representing a Paradigm Shift Decentralized, participatory Farmers in Advisory/Steering Committees or in Governing Boards EAS that is responsive to farmer demands/needs Bottom-up and Farmer Driven Example: Market opportunities for HV crops, livestock and fishery products Income generation that benefits staple crops, health, education, and general wellbeing Food security through increased availability and accessibility Market Oriented Examples: Small scale farmers, landless producers, gender equity in services, value chain development Improving rural livelihoods (healthy families, healthy communities, healthy environment) Tailored to Target Clients Organizing community, farmer/producer Groups, women groups Rural poor represented in advisory committees Training extension staff to be facilitators and knowledge brokers Building Social Capital Promotion of private sector approaches/mechanisms Exploration of public-private partnerships Private Sector Process /product and technological innovation Extension effectively linking research, and producers, to market opportunities Innovation

Audience of Users USAID staff and USAID projects Other funding agencies Networks and forums (e.g., GFRAS, AFAAS) Developing country policymakers Development practitioners from public, private and NGO extension organizations Technical specialists All significant organizations that participate in each country’s pluralistic extension system: including the public extension organization and its primary extension staff, Ministry of Agriculture policy makers and decision makers, other major extension service providers (e.g. NGOs and private sector firms) in the agricultural sector of the countries targeted through this grant. Experts who could lend expertise and knowledge that could strengthen the implementation of the MEAS program: the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS), the USDA and its state extension service agencies, as well as other professional (AIAEE, ESEE, etc.), and regional extension organizations (e.g., SAFE, AFAAS)

WWES Objective: to provide empirical data on the human and financial resources of agricultural extension and advisory systems worldwide, as well as other important information on: the primary extension service providers in each country (e.g. public, private and/or non-governmental) which types and groups of farmers are the primary target groups for each extension organization how each organization’s resources are allocated to key extension and advisory service functions each organization’s information and communication technology resources and capacity role that farmers play in setting extension’s priorities and/or assessing performance

A collaborative effort between International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) (with USAID funding), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Inter-American Institute for Cooperation and Agriculture (IICA) and the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services WWES

WWES – Planned Outcomes International Extension Directory: 1-2 page summaries of all participating Extension and Advisory Service providers with a staff of at least 15; but financial information is not shared. On-line Country Profiles: similar to ASTI, including ID pages, but including an country-wide analysis of all Extension/Advisory Service (EAS) providers. In-depth Studies (India and Malawi) Sub-regional and Regional Analyses: Using aggregate human and financial data, as well as other key factors, such a primary clientele served Selected Third-Party Publications Contact Database: For all participating extension/advisory service providers.  WEN BENEFITS: Information for policy and decision makers, Important strategic planning information, Networking among extension professionals across borders Dissemination of training modules, best practice papers, etc.

WEN The Worldwide Extension Network Started with the list of respondents to the WWES survey Combined with GFRAS contact list, status Nov Complemented with contact information on participant lists from several recent extension conferences, ESEE, APLU International Section mailing list to AIAEE members, USAID staff, Survey MonkeySurvey Monkey Google group Worldwide Extension NetworkWorldwide Extension Network Facebook Objective To create a worldwide network, so extension professionals, scholars and leaders worldwide can be made aware of extension conferences, workshop, training activities, as well as other important information, including newsletters (MEAS, GFRAS). Ideally, WEN will be interactive and serve as a platform for communication.

GFRAS Men and women farmers worldwide need advice and support to improve their lives. Agricultural advisors provide education and coaching to farmers to bring about increased incomes and reduced poverty. But these advisors often operate in isolation and without support. The Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services promotes and supports these advisors, their organizations, and rural advisory services institutions to improve the quality of their work. GFRAS positions its work among the target stakeholder with the following three functions: 1.Providing a voice within global policy dialogues and promoting improved investment in RAS 2.Supporting the development and synthesis of evidence-based approaches and policies for improving the effectiveness of RAS, and 3.Strengthening actors and for a in RAS through facilitating interaction and networking. Mission: to provide a space for advocacy and leadership on pluralistic, demand- driven rural advisory services within the global development agenda.

Linkages WEN GFRAS MEAS WWES

Functions WEN GFRAS MEAS WWES Investment into improving EAS Prerequisite for Communication Repository of information, neutral platform Advocacy and Leadership

MEAS –WWES Connection Information collected from each country as part of WWES is made available to MEAS in preparation of work in the field Country specific and regional outcomes of MEAS will be published through WWES Both led by faculty and staff at the University of Illinois

MEAS –GFRAS Collaboration USAID, as the common funding source, expects MEAS project activities to be coordinated closely with those of GFRAS! The GFRAS constituency could help MEAS to define or validate the training needs through GFRAS’ regional networks and various ways to gather the information through them Joint GFRAS-MEAS commissioning of a paper on human resource needs in extension for Africa for the FARA conference in December 2011 ( (and at similar events) Through the GFRAS working group on capacity strengthening, led by Virginia Cardenas and Francisco Aguirre Collaborating on technical papers / publications on topics such as Capacity development and education Role of rural advisory systems Evaluation initiative

Guiding Principles (for MEAS) MEAS’ purpose is to assist USAID staff, development partners, and developing country public, non-governmental, and private institutions in providing more effective, sustainable, and efficient extension and advisory services to rural people. Design to Share In accordance with our guiding principle of designing all that we do to be shared, this presentation is licensed as © Copyright University of Illinois, MEAS. Licensed Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported ( We are a consortium of problem solvers with expertise in agricultural extension. We give meaning to experience through country needs assessments and recommendations, case studies, training modules, technical notes, design and implementation of solutions. We are inclusive – working with other extension specialists wherever possible. We are transparent in all that we do – we make it visible. All that we do is designed to be shared and made discoverable by everyone everywhere. We evaluate the impact of what we do.

Terms of Use © Andrea Bohn, MEAS project. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License Users are free: to Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work to Remix — to adapt the work Under the following conditions: Attribution — Users must attribute the work to the author(s)/institution (but not in any way that suggests that the authors/ institution endorse the user or the user’s use of the work).

Disclaimer This presentation was made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development, USAID. The contents are the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.

Consortium Partners