Assessing Extension Agent Training Needs, Barriers and Training Methods in Jordan

One of the major obstacles to agricultural development in Jordan is the weakness of extension programming which is still traditional and based on personal judgement. The aim of this study was to examine the attitudes, adoption barriers and in-service training needs of Public Extension Agents (PEAs) towards the adoption of Needs-Based Extension (NBE). An instrument to assess attitudes, barriers and training needs was designed and used to collect data from 73 PEAs in Jordan. Face and content validity were confirmed by a panel of experts, and internal consistency of the study scales were demonstrated by alpha coefficients ranging from 0.75 to 0.90. Parametric and nonparametric methods were used to analyze the data. The results showed that most PEAs had positive attitudes towards adopting NBE services, but adoption was constrained by internal and external barriers; supporting culture to NBE, finance and skills to undertake surveys and need analysis. The involvement of public extension staff in the survey contributed to in-service training and the application of NBE programs. Priority areas for training were determined using weighted discrepancy scores, with the most important being information technologies, agribusiness management and conducting needs assessment respectively. Study tours and professional training were perceived as the most important training methods. There were few significant differences among the PEAs with respect to the attitude and competence scales. These results indicate the need to undertake needs assessments of PEAs to improve extension programming in Jordan.