MARKET DEVELOPMENT
MoFA Is In Need Of Agric Extension Officers
MoFA Is In Need Of Agric Extension Officers
15/12/2014 (spyghana.com) - There is an ongoing consultation between the ministry of food and agriculture (MOFA) and the local government service to recruit extension service personnel to assist smallholder farmers understand innovations, technology transfer and best agricultural practices to boost productivity, says Dr Dorothy Effa, at the MOFA directorate of policy, planning, evaluation and monitoring.
“The meeting is on-going and therefore I cannot provide the full details at the moment,’’ she says at a workshop organised by Development Action Association (DAA) on the theme The Role of Rural Women farmers in Food Security in Accra.
The ministry is aware of the short fall in the number of extension officers and the large geographical area the few number has to cover as part of their duties, she says.
“We are aware that there are not enough extension officers on the ground but with the decentralisation process, it is the responsibility of the local government services to recruit extension officers,’’ Dr Effa said.
In the interim, the ministry encourages e-extension where many farmers can be reached with just mobile phone text message or information, she noted.
“The e-extension forms part of the West African Agriculture Productivity Program (WAAP) to link as many famers as possible through text messages and it is something that is working and will be up scaled,’’ Dr Effa said.
We also encourage people to work together as a group so that when an extension officer comes can reach many farmers as much as possible, so we have some information centres at the district level where farmers can visit for further information.
Mrs Comfort Anim, a palm oil producer and processor, from Asuboa in the eastern region says very few extension officers visit her community, adding that as a result of the number the extension officers are unable to visit many farmers to provide them with farming technologies.
Another trend of extension officers in the agriculture sector in the country is voluntary extension agents.
According to Mrs Victoria Tsekpo, the deputy director of Women in Agriculture Development at MOFA, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) normally train them with the appropriate technologies that farmers require.
Mrs Tsekpo said the voluntary extension officers are taken from the farming communities of the farmers and therefore they are always available to impact the knowledge gained to the farmers to improve their livelihood.
“Sometimes because the farmers are in a group those who are a bit educated are nominated to receive such training from NGOs and the whole group benefit from the training.
“It is a voluntary service but sometimes they give them some kind of benefits normally materials, as well as some kind of recognition that motivates them to continue to offer their voluntary services.
“It is not very vibrant in most communities but especially where strong gender issues arises particularly with male extension workers who are more in the system hence unable to reach the female farmers because of cultural concerns, in such cases the NGOs use that approach to bridge the gap of access to extension services,’’ Mrs Tsekpo says.
Extension has some risks associated with, so there possibility of being beaten is there, so the ministry tries to provide clothes to enhance their work, such as tape measure, uniform to identify them.
To qualify as an agriculture extension officer, one must have undergone certificate training in that area for those who have completed farm institute while for those who have finished senior high school can go for a diploma programme in agriculture to be certified as one. The same also applies to degree holders from universities.
The executive director of DAA, Lydia Sasu says her outfit believes that uniting rural women farmers is critical to overcome systematic challenges that limit their economic opportunities such as land, market, quality seeds and information.
“It is upon this background that the DAA in collaboration with Forum for Agricultural Research for Africa (FARA) is bringing rural women farmers from communities to meet policy makers and share their concerns,’’ Sasu stated.
“This is why DAA works closely with hundreds of rural women farmers across Ghana to advocate for policies that empowers women,’’ she said.
The Director and Head of Pesticide and Fertilizer Management Division at MOFA, Mrs Felicia Ansah-Amprofi says that providing women with the same resources like men could increase their individual yields, improve agricultural production and reduce the number of undernourished people.
“Countries should invest in women to make them more productive for the attainment of food security,’’ she emphasized.
“The meeting is on-going and therefore I cannot provide the full details at the moment,’’ she says at a workshop organised by Development Action Association (DAA) on the theme The Role of Rural Women farmers in Food Security in Accra.
The ministry is aware of the short fall in the number of extension officers and the large geographical area the few number has to cover as part of their duties, she says.
“We are aware that there are not enough extension officers on the ground but with the decentralisation process, it is the responsibility of the local government services to recruit extension officers,’’ Dr Effa said.
In the interim, the ministry encourages e-extension where many farmers can be reached with just mobile phone text message or information, she noted.
“The e-extension forms part of the West African Agriculture Productivity Program (WAAP) to link as many famers as possible through text messages and it is something that is working and will be up scaled,’’ Dr Effa said.
We also encourage people to work together as a group so that when an extension officer comes can reach many farmers as much as possible, so we have some information centres at the district level where farmers can visit for further information.
Mrs Comfort Anim, a palm oil producer and processor, from Asuboa in the eastern region says very few extension officers visit her community, adding that as a result of the number the extension officers are unable to visit many farmers to provide them with farming technologies.
Another trend of extension officers in the agriculture sector in the country is voluntary extension agents.
According to Mrs Victoria Tsekpo, the deputy director of Women in Agriculture Development at MOFA, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) normally train them with the appropriate technologies that farmers require.
Mrs Tsekpo said the voluntary extension officers are taken from the farming communities of the farmers and therefore they are always available to impact the knowledge gained to the farmers to improve their livelihood.
“Sometimes because the farmers are in a group those who are a bit educated are nominated to receive such training from NGOs and the whole group benefit from the training.
“It is a voluntary service but sometimes they give them some kind of benefits normally materials, as well as some kind of recognition that motivates them to continue to offer their voluntary services.
“It is not very vibrant in most communities but especially where strong gender issues arises particularly with male extension workers who are more in the system hence unable to reach the female farmers because of cultural concerns, in such cases the NGOs use that approach to bridge the gap of access to extension services,’’ Mrs Tsekpo says.
Extension has some risks associated with, so there possibility of being beaten is there, so the ministry tries to provide clothes to enhance their work, such as tape measure, uniform to identify them.
To qualify as an agriculture extension officer, one must have undergone certificate training in that area for those who have completed farm institute while for those who have finished senior high school can go for a diploma programme in agriculture to be certified as one. The same also applies to degree holders from universities.
The executive director of DAA, Lydia Sasu says her outfit believes that uniting rural women farmers is critical to overcome systematic challenges that limit their economic opportunities such as land, market, quality seeds and information.
“It is upon this background that the DAA in collaboration with Forum for Agricultural Research for Africa (FARA) is bringing rural women farmers from communities to meet policy makers and share their concerns,’’ Sasu stated.
“This is why DAA works closely with hundreds of rural women farmers across Ghana to advocate for policies that empowers women,’’ she said.
The Director and Head of Pesticide and Fertilizer Management Division at MOFA, Mrs Felicia Ansah-Amprofi says that providing women with the same resources like men could increase their individual yields, improve agricultural production and reduce the number of undernourished people.
“Countries should invest in women to make them more productive for the attainment of food security,’’ she emphasized.