• The Debate with Respect to Extension
While
much of the public policy debate related to extension has focused on either so-called
privatization or commercialization as means of reducing government out-lays,
other aspects need consideration. The commercialization experience of
Agriculture, while not without its problems, provides examples of some of the
arguments for commercialization. Commercialization is perceived to have had a
positive effect on moving "beyond the farm gate" into an involvement
of the extension staff in the entire
production-processing-transporting-marketing chain. There also has been the
shift in focus to a client orientation and a concern to identify and produce
results rather than simply to engage in activities.
In
economically developed countries with a predominance of larger-scale commercial
farming, increasingly the technologies of modem, industrialized farming are
being developed by non-government industrial institutions; such technologies
are appropriable for private marketing and generally have little need for
government extension. In developed economies, it is more difficult to argue for
publicly funded extension for rural industries containing fewer producers who
are closely linked and integrated with research systems.
The
weaknesses of privatization are more apparent in the context of developing
countries, where the situation may be quite different. For instance in African
agriculture, funding by user fees may not be viable. An erroneous assumption
may be that recipients of government services are generally being subsidized by
the government.
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This Learning Resource was Created by the Regional MSc AICM Program at the Haramaya University RDAE Department with Support of AgShare Project.