Information for agriculture in Kenya
Identifieur interne : 000287 ( Istex/Corpus ); précédent : 000286; suivant : 000288Information for agriculture in Kenya
Auteurs : Gundu ShibandaSource :
- Information Development [ 0266-6669 ] ; 1991-07.
Abstract
Outlines the aims of the Kenya government with regard to agricultural development and describes the role, aims, structure, and problems of the Agricultural Extension Services Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. The role of agricultural research and methods of disseminating research information to farmers are described. The Agricultural Extension Services Division is responsible for the Agricultural Information Services, comprising a National Agricultural Documentation Centre, an Agricultural Information Centre and a central Library with ninety-three branches in provincial and district offices, Agricultural Institutes and Farmer Training Centres. In addition, there are thirty- two libraries in agricultural research stations. The aims, activities and problems of these services are described. More attention needs to be paid to communicating information directly to farmers.
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DOI: 10.1177/026666699100700307
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The role of agricultural research and methods of disseminating research information to farmers are described. The Agricultural Extension Services Division is responsible for the Agricultural Information Services, comprising a National Agricultural Documentation Centre, an Agricultural Information Centre and a central Library with ninety-three branches in provincial and district offices, Agricultural Institutes and Farmer Training Centres. In addition, there are thirty- two libraries in agricultural research stations. The aims, activities and problems of these services are described. 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The role of agricultural research and methods of disseminating research information to farmers are described. The Agricultural Extension Services Division is responsible for the Agricultural Information Services, comprising a National Agricultural Documentation Centre, an Agricultural Information Centre and a central Library with ninety-three branches in provincial and district offices, Agricultural Institutes and Farmer Training Centres. In addition, there are thirty- two libraries in agricultural research stations. The aims, activities and problems of these services are described. More attention needs to be paid to communicating information directly to farmers.</bold></p></abstract><custom-meta-wrap><custom-meta xlink:type="simple"><meta-name>sagemeta-type</meta-name><meta-value>Journal Article</meta-value></custom-meta><custom-meta xlink:type="simple"><meta-name>search-text</meta-name><meta-value>141 Information for agriculture in Kenya SAGE Publications, Inc.1991DOI: 10.1177/026666699100700307 Gundu Shibanda Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya. INTRODUCTION The Kenya government's interest in rural agricultural activities may lead one to ask: for whose actual benefit does the government get involved in rural farm production? Is it for the rural farmer or the government itself, or both? Many governments appreciate that the wealth of their countries is substantially derived from agricultural production, processing and export and recognize the importance of converting agriculture from bare subsistence to systems of intensive production to improve the health and nutrition of the people, to feed the people in commerce and employment and to expand and diversify production for export to earn foreign exchange. Dumont remarks (11 that the African pattern can be summed up in one word, underdevelopment. Without industry, without resources of energy except manpower, without modern methods of cultivation and consequently high yields, without buying power for the products of future industries, a new vicious circle forms which should be attacked by industrialization, certainly, but which can be broken more effectively and quickly through agriculture. Thus, progress in agriculture should not be considered as a preliminary to industrialization, but as an indispensable corollary. The Kenya government's interest in rural agricultural production is to increase food production and stimulate growth in agricultural employment, diversify and increase agricultural exports, ensure soil and water conservation and eradicate poverty. The Kenya government aims to achieve these objectives by: 0 modernizing traditional farming methods and ensuring provision of agricultural and livestock services through: ~ supplying relevant new technology for crops and livestock production to local farmers w transferring the necessary knowledge and skills to enable small scale farmers to adopt the new technology W timely availabiity of inputs at prices that make their use profitable ~ creating efficient channels to market outputs at competitive prices with prompt payment to the producers ~ ensuring that the farming community pays a fair share of costs whenever appropriate ~ encouraging the production of food and cash crops ~ promoting community participation in the provision of basic needs by W arousing people to recognize and take an interest in their problems and to want to overcome them ~ teaching people how to overcome their own problems W persuading people to act on this teaching so that ultimately they achieve a sense of satisfaction and pride in their achievement with the minimum assistance from the government ~ encouraging soil and water conservation by launching campaigns aimed at warning people against the causes of soil erosion and the dangers of cutting trees in the water , catchment areas ~ promoting rural programmes such as the special Rural Development Programme, integrated agricultural development projects and women's bureau programmes that are beneficial to the smallholders. AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION " ' Agricultural extension in Kenya is aimed at the farming communities regardless of farm size and areas of activity. The role of agricultural extension is seen in the context of linking mechanisms. Leonard (2) defines its functions as linking agricultural research centres and farmers and transmitting new technologies relevant to the farmers' current problems with a view to finding solutions. He cites Kenya as an example where extension now serves as a link between the cultivator and supplier, credit and markets. Supplies, credit and markets can be described as some of the functional components in any agricultural system. Supply and credit are basically concerned with obtaining the physical inputs for farming, while marketing deals with storage, transport and sale of farm outputs. Research forms the nucleus of extension because it is the focal point where new facts about farming are discovered, which can subsequently be disseminated to the farmers by extension. Adams (3) observes that weaknesses in any one of these functions can hold back the development of the whole system, thus making it pointless for an extension service to promote improved practices for cash crops in the absence of a market outlet, just as agricultural research would be wasteful if there were no means of diffusing the results to farmers. In any case, the most important thing is to get the farmers to accept new techniques in terms of high 22142 productivity. Otherwise, whenever there is a conflict between traditional and modern farming practices, the farmer will more often opt for the former. This means that farmers must be willing recipients of information, they must be seen as information seekers and information provision must be appropriately geared to their needs. Savile (4) feels that the aim of agricultural extension is to find out what the farming community feels it needs and what problems are involved, and then to supply the answer to those problems. He explains that the secret of success in extension lies in the approach to the problems of the farmer and his family, giving priority to their wishes; therefore the extension worker must never impose his will or government policy on the people. The Kenya government aims to improve agricultural production through its extension system. All efforts are geared towards modernizing traditional agricultural practices by encouraging farmers to adopt techniques that maximize production. A network of agricultural research stations is maintained all over the country carrying out scientific tests in various aspects of agriculture and livestock that relate to a particular agro-ecological zone. For instance, the Katumani maize programme based at Katumani Dryland Research Station, Machakos, carries out research into hybrid synthetic maize for medium-low potential areas of Kenya. The Kitale National Research Station carries out research into long rain maturing hybrid maize for high potential areas. Pigeon pea and sorghum-millet programmes, based at Katumani, are drought-resistant oriented. Extension system structure The government body charged with overseeing the extension system is the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. The extension system has undergone a series of reorganizations since 1970. These have been directed at streamlining the functioning units with a view to ensuring efficiency and effectiveness. At present the Ministry operates an Agricultural Extension and Services Division which comprises Agricultural Extension, Agricultural Information Services, Home Economics, Rural Youth and Farm Management branches. (5) One of the major functions of these systems is to promote extension by organizing and disseminating agricultural information to extension workers, farmers, pastoralists and all those other groups or individuals interested in farming. According to the final report of the Working Party on Agricultural Extension Services (6) the aims of the Kenyan extension system are: . to give the farmers advice, service and education which will enable them to run their farm and home business more successfully 0 to cover the whole range of farmers from the best to the poorest W to serve farmers producing mainly for subsistence and those producing large quantities for the market, since both merely stand on different rungs of the same ladder of agricultural productivity ~ to promote government policy in such areas as preservation of water catchment areas and soil conservation. To facilitate the achievement of these aims, the agricultural extension system works through Provincial Directors of Agriculture, District Agricultural Officers and Agricultural Assistant Officers (at Divisional level) and through Agricultural Institutes and Farmer Training Centres. Provincial Directors of Agriculture and District Agricultural Officers are charged with coordinating the extension programmes in their various stations away from the head office. The Farmer Training Centres are training stations for farmers and also act as sources of information for farmers and extension workers. The Agricultural Institutes and the Animal Health and Industry Training Institute (AHITI) train and supply agricultural assistants and animal health assistants who work as field extension staff, sometimes referred to as 'frontline extension staff'. Extension problems Where there are failures of some kind, there are problems of some sort. Kenyan extension is not a complete success story. Its partial success is due to having a ratio of extension workers to farmers of 1:310-seen as one of the highest in the developing world. It has already met the prerequisites of agricultural development for its most important agro- economic zones by having a good agricultural research establishment and a number of tested and profitable crop innovations to offer to the country's s small farmers. (7) Yet with all these advantages, Kenyan extension is seen to be inefficient. There have been cases of farmers planting maize within - three inches (7.5 cm.) of each other and mixing seeds and fertilizer before sowing, or applying fatal chemicals on their livestock. (8) It is not surprising that the leading Kenyan politicians have frequently denounced the extension system for failing to assist the farmer. If anything, farmers have continued to do their farming by using their own experience and local knowledge. Yet traditional methods and experience, except in dire extremity, have not contributed much output from land or to more than limited expansion of wealth that could be derived from the sale of crops and livestock. Indeed, leading national daily newspapers, supporting statements made by Kenyan politicians, have questioned the quality and availability of the agricultural extension services to farmers. (9) A politician's castigation of the agricultural extension service administered by a civil servant may be justified in view of the fact that through parliament he approves the allocation of 23143 funds to run the extension service to the farmer. A civil servant may accept the blame because he is the one responsible for formulating work programmes and projects and requests for the approval and allocation of funds to facilitate the implementation of these programmes. Why then has extension failed to implement promptly the desired objectives of disseminating information to the farmer? Adams (10) argues that many of the criticisms of agricultural extension have arisen from inadequate understanding of social and economic change within rural societies. He attributes many of these problems to: ~ Inappropriate information It is felt that problems of this nature are due to inappropriate technology borrowed from economically-sound countries. This kind of technology is not, therefore, readily accepted by local farmers. The extension services waste money by promoting techniques that are of no value to the smallholders and most recommended practices are insufficiently profitable to justify their inclusion in extension programmes. It is also known that certain extension agents lack good understanding of farm management, and so fail to reassure farmers about the benefits of the proposed changes. ~ Population problems Kenya has a ratio of extension workers to ' farmers of 1 :310, but the population growth rate of 3.8 percent per year hinders any meaningful improvement in the quality of the extension service. ~ Lack of practical skills It is argued that Kenyan extension workers often lack practical ability caused by poor selection and training. ~ Lack of support services The majority of farmers in the rural areas are illiterate. They cannot read messages or write on their own. They are characterized by poverty, which implies that they cannot buy farm implements, fertilizers or seeds, nor do they have access to information through radio or television. In certain areas it is not easy to reach farmers due to poor roads, telephone and postal services. Farming programmes on radio and television have their own drawbacks because they are usually in English or Kiswahili, whereas the majority of farmers would prefer to hear their own local vernacular languages. ~ Management problems These are the most complex problems in the Kenyan extension system. The extension services are organized with their head offices at the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Livestock Development headquarters in Nairobi and at provincial, district, divisional and local levels. The problem is one of communication between the headquarters and the other offices. The bureaucracy involved causes delays and distortion of extension messages. Programmes are planned and decisions taken at the national headquarters in Nairobi by senior officers who may be out of touch with the problems facing local farmers. The feedback given by the extension agents to the decision-makers and used in attempts at solving the smallholders' problems may not reflect the true situation. This is because the ' extension agents in the field feel reluctant to pass on information which may suggest that they are inefficient and therefore lead to their being criticized. The extension agents have their own problems too. They include lack of regular transport, equipment and technical guidance. Their work involves travelling around seeing farmers, filling in applications for credit and subsidies for farmers, filling in questionnaires and forms for the headquarters and setting up and maintaining demonstration plots and distributing supplies. This may be too much work for one person. With such - workloads, the field agents have little time either for their clients or for their own refresher training. The work they perform is not planned and is done without proper supervision from divisional extension officers. Due to lack of frequent supervision, most field workers rarely visit farmers and farmers have therefore lost confidence in them. AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH The majority of Kenyan farmers still apply traditional methods of farming. Even in areas where agricultural innovations may be acceptable, farmers continue to combine them with traditional practices due to the limitations of their educational, economic and cultural backgrounds. The government attaches much importance to agricultural research because it provides solutions to farming problems. It is through research that the modernization of agriculture can be achieved. Wapakala (111 remarked that agricultural research involves the development and testing of new production techniques including the provision of improved seed and cattle breeds. What then, are the implications of agricultural research for farmers in Kenya? In short, it provides answers to their problems, bringing increases in productivity, self-sufficiency in food and incomes. No farmer in Kenya will replace his traditional ways with new innovations without a guarantee of better farm returns; and such innovations should take into account the farmer's problems and available resources. Research work 24144 needs to be consumer-oriented. In making research consumer-oriented, the researcher ought to consider the following: ~ identification and understanding of the real needs of farmers and the constraints facing agricultural production ~ design of experiments to attempt to solve the problems so identified W the successful completion of the experiments and correct interpretation and analysis of the results ~ decisions as to which of the research results should be disseminated to farmers and in what form ~ methods of dissemination to farmers. The government of Kenya has a strong interest in encouraging and promoting agricultural research. It has expanded and set up national and provincial research stations all over the country. Each of them carries out investigations into certain agricultural practices as they apply to different ecological areas of Kenya. DISSEMINATING RESEARCH INFORMATION TO FARMERS In Kenya, research findings are disseminated both through agricultural extension agents as intermediaries, and also directly to farmers by the following methods: ~ Publications Researchers disseminate their findings by writing annual reports, bulletins, and handbooks. ~ Group approach Involving field days and field demonstrations at the research stations. ~ Farmers' training centres Farmers are taught animal and crop husbandry through demonstrations. W On-farm demonstrations Planned by researchers and extension staff in every district, division and location. ~ Mass-media announcements Information on what farmers should be doing at that time or how they should be planning ahead. ~ Visits Individual farmers are encouraged to visit the research stations to discuss any prevailing problems. Problems in using research information . Relevance The research done is not always relevant to the needs of individual farmers. It does not take into consideration the capability and conditions of the farmers. ~ Language ' The research findings are written in English, and the terminology used is often too scientific to be understood and adopted by the farmers. The majority of farmers cannot read or write in English and direct access to agricultural research findings is therefore limited to those few who can read and understand that language. ~ Responsiveness Kenyan farmers have many problems, such as illiteracy, poverty and family commitments, which influence their capacity to receive and understand agricultural messages and leads to many different interpretations of them. W Use of extension agents Agricultural extension agents are normally intermediaries between researchers and farmers. But despite their training in technical skills, Ashcroft (12) has shown that extension agents often know little about how to communicate ideas to farmers. In certain cases, they cannot understand the language used by researchers. W Illiteracy Most documented research findings are aimed at educated farmers. Since most farmers are , illiterate, such documents benefit the minority farming group. ~ Attitudes According to Mhithi (13) the government agricultural research stations are often considered by farmers as ivory towers, expensive and fancy government farms, and therefore meaningless. AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION SERVICES The Agricultural Information Services of the Agricultural Extension Services Division comprise the National Agricultural Documentation Centre, the Agricultural Information Centre and a central Library with a total of some ninety-three branches in provincial and district offices, Agricultural Institutes and Farmer Training Centres. In addition, there are thirty-two libraries in agricultural research stations which were formerly administered directly by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, but which now come under the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, Muguga. The central Library and the National Agricultural Documentation Centre operate from the Ministry headquarters in Nairobi. Their main objective is to improve the availability and distribution of books, journals and unpublished documents with a bias towards Kenyan agriculture. The National Agricultural Documentation Centre deals mainly with unpublished and non-conventional materials, and undertakes, among other things, the following tasks: . 25145 40 tracing, collecting and analyzing documents dealing with Kenyan agriculture and issued either in Kenya or abroad since 1900, particularly unpublished documents ~ preserving the documents in microfiche form W publishing Kenya Agricultural Abstracts W organizing services to users. The Agricultural Information Centre operates from Kabete, a few kilometres away from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development headquarters. Its major activities involve gathering and simplifying technical information from the research stations and other technical organizations for use by the farmers and field agents. Such information is disseminated through posters, radio programmes, handouts, films, and slides. The government sees it as essential to encourage and promote agricultural information services in order to ensure provision of information to farmers without delay and at no cost. The growth of the library service has been impressive since its inception in 1907. During the colonial administration, the library was well used by European settlers and farmers. (14) The agricultural library service received better recognition in the colonial era than it does today. Then the library was viewed as an important service providing information in support of policy decisions, while the European farmers, whose cultural background was very different from that of the few literate African farmers of today, were able to perceive that the use of the library made a positive contribution to their productivity. The presence of committed qualified library staff also boosted the library's efficiency and effectiveness. The library thus provided valuable services both to the staff of the agricultural department and to farmers. Both groups were information seekers and therefore willing recipients of the library's services. The establishment of agricultural libraries in the research stations, provinces, districts, Farmer Training Centres and Agricultural Institutes was aimed at reaching the farmers wherever they were. Today the library mainly serves the information needs of Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development staff, including planners, researchers, agricultural scientists and students. Its main services are as follows: ~ Information user services These services are operated from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development headquarters library. The borrowing of documents is restricted to Ministry staff, while reference service is available to all readers. Non-members have to obtain special permission to consult documents. ~ Bibliographic services These services aim to record all agricultural ' material held in the main library and the various provincial, district and divisional level offices, in order to facilitate interlibrary loans between the various libraries and avoid unnecessary duplication of holdings. ~ Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI) services The central library maintains group interest profiles for the various research stations, offices, institutes and training centres. Incoming journals are scanned and articles which match the profiles are copied and despatched to the appropriate location. This service is operated manually. ~ Current awareness services The library produces and distributes a quarterly list of new accessions and a bulletin of selected journal articles. The Agricultural Documentation Centre also produces Kenya AgriculturalAbstracts. Newly acquired materials are also publicized through displays at the central library. All these information services favour the employees of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. The farmers, whether literate or illiterate, seem to have been completely forgotten, even though the organizational structure of the library service provides the necessary framework for providing outreach to farmers. Among the problems which have to be overcome before this can be done are: ~ Lack of financial and moral support. w Lack of interest and negative attitudes among the staff the library is supposed to serve, and whose support it requires in order to develop satisfactory services. ~ Reduced levels of service after independence due to the departure of a large part of the European farming community. ~ Lack of dynamic library leadership. ~ High turnover of professional library staff due to poor conditions of service. The library cannot expand its services due to the lack of qualified staff; branch libraries are manned by staff with only library certificate qualifications or below. ~ High levels of illiteracy among farmers, who need materials written in local languages and free of scientific jargon. w Lack of the reading habit among even literate farmers, who prefer to use other means of obtaining information and consider that libraries are only for highly-educated people. ~ Lack of awareness of the existence of agricultural libraries and their services on the part of farmers. Farmers need to have access to adequate information to enable them to understand and assess their own problems. The agricultural library service should collect and provide, through its service points 26146 at all levels, various forms of information, including leaflets, books, farm visit notifications, slides, printed radio programmes and field notifications. This means that the library must: ~ be aware of the farmers' actual needs and compile agro-ecological, community or geographical information profiles ~ improve its information collection, storage and retrieval systems to cater for the farmers' special needs ~ improve the quality of information passed to the farmer ~ be aware of and cooperate with all other local agricultural organizations having interest in farming in collecting and disseminating information to farmers. The library, at all its service points, needs to educate farmers as to where they can turn for assistance when the need arises. To do this the library needs to: ~ compile local directories and create local files in addition to leaflets on agricultural sources of information, supplemented by local maps showing information centres or agricultural service points ~ publicize itself to the farming community ~ educate farmers about their rights of access to public agricultural institutions and their personnel for advice and information. The agricultural library and its branches should act as referral centres by receiving and directing enquiries to the appropriate place for necessary action. To ensure that such referral services are satisfactory for the enquirers, there is a need for the library to: W follow-up on behalf of the farmer in case the quality of answers is doubtful ~ compile directories of agricultural subject specialists. CONCLUSION An agricultural information system is a very important component in the improvement of farmers' agricultural productivity. In Kenya, the appropriate infrastructure already exists. What is required is to innovate and strengthen the existing facilities. This will ensure that relevant farming information is supplied under optimum conditions of time, format and expenditure. References Outlines the aims of the Kenya government with regard to agricultural development and describes the role, aims, structure, and problems of the Agricultural Extension Services Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. The role of agricultural research and methods of disseminating research information to farmers are described. The Agricultural Extension Services Division is responsible for the Agricultural Information Services, comprising a National Agricultural Documentation Centre, an Agricultural Information Centre and a central Library with ninety-three branches in provincial and district offices, Agricultural Institutes and Farmer Training Centres. In addition, there are thirty- two libraries in agricultural research stations. The aims, activities and problems of these services are described. More attention needs to be paid to communicating information directly to farmers. Dumont, Rene. False start in Africa. M. Boyars, 1968 . Leonard, K. David. Reaching the peasant farmer: organization, theory and practice in Kenya . Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1977. Adams, M.E. Agricultural extension in developing countries. Harlow , Longman, 1982. Savile, H.A. Extension in rural communities. London, Oxford University Press, 1965. Kenya. Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. Agricultural Extension and Services Division. Working manual. 1984. Kenya. Ministry of Agriculture. Working Party on Agricultural Extension Services. Final report. 1970. Leonard, op. cit. Daily Nation, 19 July 1984, p. 6. Kenya Times, 20 July 1984, p. 6. Daily Nation, op. cit. Adams, op.cit. Wapakala, W.W. In: Burke, E., ed. In search of a system for dissemination of research findings and technology in Kenya. Nairobi, Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi, 1973. pp. 20-24. Ashcroft, Joseph and others. Extension and the forgotten farmer: first report of a field experiment. Nairobi, University of Nairobi Institute of Development Studies, 1973. Mbithi, M. Philip. In: Burke, E., ed. In search of a system for dissemination of research findings and technology in Kenya. Nairobi, Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi, 1973. pp. 51-62. Luckham, M.E. The oldest library in Kenya? East African Library Association Bulletin, vol. 17, no. 7, 18-20. Abstract Gundu Shibanda is a Senior Assistant Librarian at</meta-value></custom-meta></custom-meta-wrap></article-meta></front><back><ref-list><ref><citation citation-type="book" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Dumont, Rene.</surname></name><source>False start in Africa</source>. <publisher-name>M. 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Philip.</surname></name> In: <name name-style="western"><surname>Burke, E.</surname></name>, ed. <source>In search of a system for dissemination of research findings and technology in Kenya</source>. <publisher-loc>Nairobi</publisher-loc>, <publisher-name>Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi</publisher-name>, <year>1973</year>. pp. <fpage>51</fpage>-<lpage>62</lpage>.</citation></ref><ref><citation citation-type="journal" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Luckham, M.E.</surname></name><article-title>The oldest library in Kenya</article-title>? <source>East African Library Association Bulletin</source>, vol. <volume>17</volume>, no. <issue>7</issue>, <fpage>18</fpage>-<lpage>20</lpage>.</citation></ref></ref-list></back></article></istex:document></istex:metadataXml><mods version="3.6"><titleInfo lang="en"><title>Information for agriculture in Kenya</title></titleInfo><titleInfo type="alternative" lang="en" contentType="CDATA"><title>Information for agriculture in Kenya</title></titleInfo><name type="personal"><namePart type="given">Gundu</namePart><namePart type="family">Shibanda</namePart><affiliation>Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya.</affiliation></name><typeOfResource>text</typeOfResource><genre type="research-article" displayLabel="research-article"></genre><originInfo><publisher>Sage Publications</publisher><place><placeTerm type="text">Sage CA: Thousand Oaks, CA</placeTerm></place><dateIssued encoding="w3cdtf">1991-07</dateIssued><copyrightDate encoding="w3cdtf">1991</copyrightDate></originInfo><language><languageTerm type="code" authority="iso639-2b">eng</languageTerm><languageTerm type="code" authority="rfc3066">en</languageTerm></language><physicalDescription><internetMediaType>text/html</internetMediaType></physicalDescription><abstract lang="en">Outlines the aims of the Kenya government with regard to agricultural development and describes the role, aims, structure, and problems of the Agricultural Extension Services Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. The role of agricultural research and methods of disseminating research information to farmers are described. The Agricultural Extension Services Division is responsible for the Agricultural Information Services, comprising a National Agricultural Documentation Centre, an Agricultural Information Centre and a central Library with ninety-three branches in provincial and district offices, Agricultural Institutes and Farmer Training Centres. In addition, there are thirty- two libraries in agricultural research stations. The aims, activities and problems of these services are described. More attention needs to be paid to communicating information directly to farmers.</abstract><relatedItem type="host"><titleInfo><title>Information Development</title></titleInfo><genre type="journal">journal</genre><identifier type="ISSN">0266-6669</identifier><identifier type="eISSN">1741-6469</identifier><identifier type="PublisherID">IDV</identifier><identifier type="PublisherID-hwp">spidv</identifier><part><date>1991</date><detail type="volume"><caption>vol.</caption><number>7</number></detail><detail type="issue"><caption>no.</caption><number>3</number></detail><extent unit="pages"><start>141</start><end>146</end></extent></part></relatedItem><identifier type="istex">C92D9D05902553272B2392539C6CC80DFB93DFC7</identifier><identifier type="DOI">10.1177/026666699100700307</identifier><identifier type="ArticleID">10.1177_026666699100700307</identifier><recordInfo><recordContentSource>SAGE</recordContentSource></recordInfo></mods></metadata><serie></serie></istex></record>Pour manipuler ce document sous Unix (Dilib)
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