International Journal of Agricultural Science Research and Technology in Extension and Education Systems
Volume:13 Issue: 4, Dec 2024

The Lead Farmer Approach (LFA) has emerged as a vital strategy for agricultural extension services in developing nations like Malawi, aiming to disseminate new technologies and practices among smallholder farmers. This study investigates the impact of LFA on follower farmers' (FFs) knowledge and practice of Conservation Agriculture (CA) in Malawi. Employing a mixed-methods research design, the study conducted household surveys and focus group discussions in the Kalira Environmental Protection Area, Ntchisi district. Results indicate a significant improvement (p < 0.05) in FFs' knowledge of CA post-LFA, with notable advancements in crop rotation and minimum soil disturbance understanding. The LFA also positively influenced FFs' CA practices, particularly in minimum soil disturbances, permanent ground cover, and integration of agroforestry trees. While intercropping and crop rotation showed no significant change, the overall impact underscores the effectiveness of LFA in enhancing FFs' understanding and adoption of sustainable agricultural practices. The findings contribute valuable insights for governments, development agencies, and researchers working toward promoting CA and sustainable agriculture through the LFA approach, emphasizing its potential scalability and long-term sustainability

Many countries of the world consider the development of information and communication technology as one of the most important development infrastructures, including the impact on organizational agility through information collection and management. In this research, the aim is to analyze the impact of external variables of information communication and technology on organizational agility in Khuzestan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. The research was applied in terms of type and purpose and descriptive-correlational in terms of obtaining data. The statistical population consisted of 100 faculty members of Khuzestan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. With the help of Krejcie and Morgan table and simple random sampling method, a sample of 80 people was determined. To achieve the results, data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire (ICT Questionnaire and Organizational Agility Questionnaire). The validity of the questionnaire was done using the opinions of university faculty members outside the target community and the reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha coefficients (α = 0.96), which was distributed among the sample and the results were analyzed. Data were analyzed using SPSS and LISREL software. According to the research findings, the effect of management variables, rules and regulations and software technology is equal to 3.76, 2.71 and 5.63, respectively. The results showed that among the effective variables, management variables, rules and regulations and software technology have a greater impact on organizational agility in the university.

Good governance leads to economic growth although most countries of the world lack it. Little attention had been given to isolate the effect of the governance system on agricultural productivity which necessitate this research. This research is a global study on the relationship between regime type and agricultural productivity drawing data from three main sources. A total of 14 models and scenarios were estimated to isolate the continents and or regime types that could exacerbate or enhance global Total Factor Productivity (TFP). The results indicates that full democracy is practised in about 10% of the countries. TFP is highest in most countries that practice full democracy (FD) while it was lowest in countries under authoritarian regimes. From the results of the estimation of all the models, only agriculture contribution to GDP had about .45% impact on TFP over the period of this data. However, it would appear that changes to TFP is more likely to occur in countries within continents rather than in countries practising similar regime type. In terms of which regime or continent caused the greatest variability; Asia is on top of the continents while authoritarian regimes are on top of the regime type. The study recommends the institution of political reforms in countries operating imperfect democratic regimes to enhance investment in agricultural R&D especially in Africa, Asia and CIS. In addition, countries not practicing FD should work towards improving their TFP by at least 50% of the current level and translate the free resources to other sectors.

The functionality of the Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOS) sorely depends to members’ savings. Specifically this study aimed to determine SACCOS’ members saving capacity and to identify factors leading to low members’ savings. Ninety SACCOS members were selected and used in this study. Data were collected using structured questionnaire, checklist of interview and documentary review. The collected data was analyzed descriptively whereby percentages and multiple responses analysis were computed. The study findings revealed that SACCOS members in Kwimba District have low saving capacity of below 10,000TZS per month. Among the revealed factors leading to low member savings included; un-payment of interest to members’ savings, few sources of income among members and lack of faith with SACCOS as a strong financial institution hence members fear of losing their money when they consider depositing to SACCOS. Stiff competition from other competitors that offer loans without savings was also among the factors leading to low member savings. The study concludes that low member savings among SACCOS members in Kwimba District is sorely associated with; demographic characteristics of individual SACCOS member, SACCOS as an institution and external environment particularly SACCOS competitors. The study recommends that; SACCOS management should work upon the identified hindrances of low member savings in order to improve member savings capacity and the entire functionability of the SACCOS in Rural Kwimba District. The study as benefited the SACCOS management to strategize on how to increase members savings capacity hence improve liquidity and functionality of the entire SACCOS.

Equity of access to primary health services is critical for the most vulnerable and marginalised people in our societies. Despite global efforts to establish universal health care systems, women continue to be among society's most underserved citizens in both poor urban and rural settings. The main barriers may include economic, geographic, cultural, or institutional factors. Monitoring access inequalities to primary health care services is critical in providing policymakers with an evidence-based solutions more equity-oriented policies, programmes, and practices towards improving long and healthy life for all people in the society. The main purpose of the study was to explore what factors influence women’s access to health services provided through government and civil society health programmes. It also examines the evolution of nutritional programs under government and civil society organizations in Bangladesh to provide insights on their design considerations to inform future design, deliver, and access of health care programmes by women in Bangladesh. Findings indicated that only 50% of rural women had access to health programmes. In addition, young and education women with high exposure to public awareness opportunities had more access health programmes. Further, health programme delivered through government and civil society design and delivery mechanisms reached out to more women. The study concludes that understanding women's circumstances and taking institutional design into account for operational effectiveness are crucial for the design and delivery of health services to rural areas, given these challenges.

Risk is an integral part of agriculture. risk management is the process of choosing an appropriate strategy from among different options to reduce risk. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to identify the factors affecting the effectiveness of farmers' risk management strategies in Khuzestan province. The research is exploratory in terms of its purpose, in terms of the nature and type of data study of the newly emerging foundation, and in terms of time, it is a survey research. The statistical population of the research consists of professors, managers and leading farmers and experts who had sufficient experience in the field of agriculture. The sample size included 15 experts. The analysis method in the qualitative part is the content analysis method. The research results in the qualitative part identified 10 main factors (individual factors, environmental factors, economic factors, market factors, product insurance, human factors, educational-promotional factors, agricultural characteristics, social factors and political-institutional factors), and 28 dimensions. (Age, education, family size, background, access to credit and financial services, income, savings and investment, price, economic situation of the country, ownership, severe market fluctuations, approximate distance from the garden to the sales center, middlemen, government guaranteed purchase , promotion of agricultural insurance culture, land characteristics, climatic factors, pest and disease, manpower information, education, promotion factors, crop cultivation, social trust, use of indigenous knowledge, social participation, stability of laws and regulations, communication with foreign neighbors, government support). finally led to the identification of 99 effective concepts on the effectiveness of risk management strategies.