Phuhlisani Solutions

National Extension Policy

News

About

Forestry

Agriculture

Fisheries

Downloads

Links

Welcome to the National Extension Policy development website. The site will provide updates on the process of developing a new national policy on extension and advisory services for South African agriculture, forestry and fisheries. It provides a collaborative space for different development actors to contribute to the policy development process.

News / Events

Policy process site update The extension policy discussion document is still under consideration within the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Read more . . .
ARC concept towards sustainable agricultural development The Agricultural Research Council (ARC) of South Africa takes a look at extension services in the country Read more . . .
Critical commentary on the extension discussion paper Dr Michael Aliber argues that we need to pay much closer attention to the 'how' of finding real alternatives to current extension approaches. Read more . . .
International Trends in Extension Download the presentation as discussed at the national consultative workshops in October 2012 Read more . . .
Extension in South Africa Download the presentation as discussed at the national consultative workshops in October 2012 Read more . . .
Big turnout at policy dialogue workshops Around 120 people attend the Free State workshop while over 60 attend the session in Kimberley Read more . . .
Comments function upgraded We have now upgraded the comments function so that you can have a proper say. Read more . . .
Agricultural extension in South Africa: Status quo report Download the Phuhlisani report which provides a comprehensive review of the evolution of agricultural extension services in South Africa Read more . . .
Vibrant discussion at Elsenberg The first provincial consultative extension policy dialogue workshop brings diverse stakeholders together in the Western Cape Read more . . .
Policy dialogue workshops get under way in October Workshops planned for Western Cape, Free State and Northern Cape starting Tuesday 2nd October. Follow on Twitter #extensionZA Read more . . .
Harnessing global thinking on extension with Twitter How can South African's learn from African and international experiences in extension design and smallholder support? We are using Twitter to try and broaden the conversation. Read more . . .
Download the first 15 Extension Opinion pieces We have combined the first 15 extension opinion pieces into a single PDF. Download below Read more . . .
Summary and policy options discussion document Download the Phuhlisani synthesis report which summarises the in depth local and international reviews and sets out broad policy options for public discussion Read more . . .
Fisheries extension in South Africa: Status quo Download the Phuhlisani report on the status of extension and development services in the fisheries sector Read more . . .
OOPS! We have had over 50 people who have registered on the site but who have not had confirmation of membership. Apologies. This was an error on our side. You should all receive confirmation of membership immediately. Read more . . .
Forestry extension in South Africa: Status quo Download the Phuhlisani report on the status of extension and development services in the forest sector Read more . . .
Thinking outside the boxes Charlie Shackleton writing in Extension Opinion No 8 (See Forestry stream) argues that the current sectoral approaches to extension will have limited impact on poverty Read more . . .
A review of international trends in extension Download the Phuhlisani review which summarises key trends in agriculture, forestry and fisheries extension Read more . . .
Carnegie 3 brings together the national `social electricians` to share ideas and experience and discuss strategies to overcome poverty and inequality The conference surfaces the enormous breadth and depth of research with a rural focus. The lack of adequate support services for small holder producers emerges as a strong theme. Read more . . .
Comments function now enabled on all stories You now can respond and comment on all stories but space is limited - 250 characters or a little short of two tweets worth. Send longer responses by email. See contact page for details Read more . . .
Policy dialogue workshops Workshops scheduled in all nine provinces in October to discuss policy options for the future of public sector extension in South Africa. Invites going out next week Read more . . .
What should we expect from a National Extension Policy? A scan of the international experience highlights some of the key components we should expect to find in a national extension policy document. But what about the gap between policy and implementation? Read more . . .
Team workshop reviews research and examines policy options Members of the Phuhlisani team held a two day workshop on 6-7th August to review the state of extension and identify international trends Read more . . .
Now we can talk! Get registered by clicking on the link at the top right of the page and help shape national policy on extension and advisory services. Read more . . .
New animated Prezi takes you through the extension policy development process Click on the link to Prezi below and in five minutes you will have a better understanding of the process of developing new policy on extension and advisory services for agriculture, forestry and fisheries Read more . . .
Join the national conversation Phuhlisani facilitating dialogue towards the development of a new policy on extension and advisory services for agriculture, forestry and fisheries in South Africa Read more . . .
Extension for what? What is the purpose of extension and advisory services? What should be the priorities of research and extension systems? Read more . . .
Follow developments on Twitter Follow us on Twitter @extensionpolicy. If you need to know more about Twitter as a developmental social media tool see below Read more . . .
National Extension Policy website goes live! Keep informed about the process for developing a new national policy on extension and advisory services for agriculture, forestry and fisheries in South Africa. Read more . . .

Agriculture

The Green Choice Alliance Living Farms Reference and M&E Framework Farayi Madziwa of Conservation South Africa writes about an incklusive M&E framework for sustainable agriculture Read more . . .
Finalising a draft extension policy Setting out the steps before a draft policy is gazetted released for public comment. Read more . . .
Extension Opinion No.25: Grow the organic small farming movement Rob Small of the Farm and Garden Trust highlights the low cost of citizen extension support and critiques state fixation on GMO and hydroponic agriculture. Read more . . .
Extension Opinion No.24: Views from the Western Cape Department of Agriculture Adriaan Conradie, Faan Mathee and Jan Theron reflect on agricultural policy and the ways forward for extension Read more . . .
Extension Opinion No.23: Promoting self organisation and building on local initiative Derick Fay, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Riverside has conducted research on land and livelihoods in the Eastern Cape. He highlights lessons from the Siyazondla programme. Read more . . .
Extension Opinion No. 22: Institutional dimensions of extension policy Bonginkosi Zondo, senior Agricultural Advisor in the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture examines institutional dimensions of extension policy - form, staffing, funding and stability Read more . . .
Extension Opinion No. 21: Supporting farmer driven livestock extension services in Communal Areas Jack Blaker and Lyle Kew of Mngcunube Development present evidence that training and supporting local livestock owners to sell and dispense basic animal health medicines gets economic results. Read more . . .
Extension Opinion No. 20: Ten ideas to make extension more effective Dr Sheona Shackleton and Nic Hamer, the co-ordinator the Jongaphambili Sinethemba Project run through the Department of Environmental Science at Rhodes University make practical suggestions to reorient extension. Read more . . .
Extension Opinion No.19: Many smallholder farmers excluded from farmer support and development programmes Ivan Cloete, Western Cape Provincial President of AFASA argues that new policy must recognise the many black smallholders operating in conditions of insecure tenure on State owned land. Read more . . .
Extension Opinion No: 18: The future is in managing bio systems Hans Klink who is active in the South African organic sector argues that energy inefficient industrial agricultural systems need to be replaced and that sustainable climate smart organic agriculture should be at the top of the extension agenda. Read more . . .
Extension Opinion No 17: Emerging farmers need intensive support Prof Raymond Auerbach from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University argues that emerging farmers need five years of intensive support and highlights key skills and aptitudes needed for extension staff to do their job. Read more . . .
Extension Opinion 16: A view from Free State Agri Dr Jack Armour of Free State Agri, the provincial affiliate of AgriSA reflects on what commercial farmers in the Free State expect of the agricultural extension services. Read more . . .
Extension Opinion No 15: The Pondoland perspective Richard Bolus from the Wild Coast Farm and Forest Organisation sets out a detailed agenda for more effective extension services in communal areas. Read more . . .
Extension Opinion No 14: Improving the viability of Urban Agriculture Jane Battersby from the African Centre for Cities draws on research which cautions that technocratic ‘solutions’ to urban food insecurity will fail if they do not address how formal food systems impact on the viability of local markets. Read more . . .
Extension Opinion No 13: Feedback based performance management Andre Proctor of Keystone Accountability examines how to build farmer voice into measurement and performance management for a more farmer-driven extension service Read more . . .
Extension Opinion No 12: The importance of localisation - implications for extension Janet Cherry and Pierrelouis Lemercier of the Nelson Mandela Bay Transition Network draw out lessons for the design and focus of extension from a recent review of urban agriculture. Read more . . .
Extension Opinion No 11: The untapped potential of homestead agriculture Prof Albert Modi argues that the erosion of extension services and the marginalisation of agriculture in the school curriculum undermines the potential of homestead agriculture. Read more . . .
Extension Opinion No 10: Improving district level co-operation between public, private and NGO sectors is key Louise de Klerk CEO of the Timbali Technology Incubator proposes strategic district collaboration to prevent duplication of services and orient stakeholders to small farmer needs Read more . . .
Extension Opinion No 9: Extension in the Western and Northern Cape Provinces David Catling, former director of the Land Development Unit reflects on the evolution of agricultural extension services in the two provinces and assesses current extension needs. Read more . . .
Extension Opinion: No 7: The challenge of building resilient livelihoods Jeremy Burnham from the Sustainable Community Investment Program (SCIP) argues that current approaches to extension service delivery builds dependency rather than enablement. He outlines the SCIP alternative. Read more . . .
Extension Opinion No 6: Mainstreaming conservation and biodiversity - the extension challenge Farayi Madziwa from Conservation South Africa critically reviews agricultural extension and examines how to promote agriculture productivity and economic viability whilst simultaneously conserving biodiversity and agricultural resources Read more . . .
Extension Opinion No 5: Developing specialist extension services for new dairy farmers Jeff Every, CEO of Amadlelo Agri sets out his ideas for a partnership to improve support services for new entrants to a competitive dairy industry which has seen a dramatic reduction in its farmer base. Read more . . .
Extension Opinion No 4: Pro poor extension Mike Murray highlights the limits of extension approaches based on transfer of technology and argues for a pro-poor approach to extension. Read more . . .
Extension Opinion No 3: Scale up in New Ways - Not More of the Same Michael Aliber and Ruth Hall do the (sobering) maths to count the cost of extension and argue for alternative ways of scaling up extension support. Read more . . .
Extension Opinion No 2: What can be done in the former homelands? David Cooper writes about the challenges of providing extension services in the former homeland areas and suggests a changed role for government. Read more . . .
Extension Opinion No 1: What a useful extension programme would look like Andrew Cochrane the Manager for LIMA Rural Development Foundation in Mpumalanga and Limpopo contributes the first opinion piece on the state of extension in South Africa and what can be done to make extension systems more effective and responsive Read more . . .
South African research and development focusing on resource poor farmers Review a selection of recent research undertaken by the Agricultural Research Council with a focus on small holder farmers Read more . . .
Improving linkages between research, extension and small holder farmers Internationally reviews of research and extension systems frequently highlight a ‘disconnect’ between agricultural research scientists, extension staff and small holder farmers. How can we close this gap? Read more . . .
What contribution can agriculture make to poverty reduction? Overcoming challenges to realise potential Read more . . .
The structure of South African Agriculture The National Development Plan - Vision 2030 and the New Growth Path highlight the potential of agriculture to create jobs and support livelihoods. In order to realise this potential we need to take a sober look at the structure of the sector. Read more . . .

Fisheries

A contradiction between the NDP and the DAFF small scale fisheries policy No place for small scale fisheries in the recently released National Development Plan? Read more . . .
Supporting small scale fisheries To date much of government policy focus has been on regulating the fisheries sector. Ways to support small scale fishers and the sector as a whole will be a key component of the new extension policy Read more . . .

Forestry

Reaching the unorganised through community radio. Highlighting available forestry extension materials. Rory Mack identifies potential for community radio to reach unorganised producers. James Ballantyne notes that good materials are available in Zulu and other languages. Read more . . .
Highlights from the discussion space No 1 Members are registering and starting to contribute to online discussion. An important thread is developing on the shortage of up to date extension materials for agro forestry. Read more . . .
Extension Opinion No 8: Extension needs to be more about livelihoods Charlie Shackleton argues that a sectorally divided approach to extension is doomed to failure as people depend on multiple sources of livelihood. Read more . . .
What about the woodlands and the contribution of natural resources to the livelihoods of the rural poor? Charlie Shackleton asks who is responsible for natural resource management and how this function should be addressed. Read more . . .
Transitions in the forest sector An estimated 40% of plantations in South Africa are set to change hands from state and private ownership to black community ownership. Extension and technical support services are currently inadequate to manage this transition. Read more . . .

iscod blog

Shanghai International Fair Wardrobe Fittings Furniture Chemical Upholstery Furniture Components International Furniture Fair home Furniture Show Upholstery Machinery Copyright © 2012 Phuhlisani Solutions. All rights reserved International Furniture Expo Furniture Expo in China exhibition in china 2013 Furniture Show Las Vegas Furniture Expo Highpoint Furniture China International Fair
Development by Logos Flow™ & hosting lFlow Online™