Reinvigorating Extension Services for Market-led Agriculture within the Context of the Malabo Declaration
AFAAS is a continental platform for mutual learning and innovation among agricultural extension and advisory services providers across Africa. From its inception, AFAAS had aligned itself with CAADP Pillar IV (technology generation, dissemination, adoption and training). Through this alignment, AFAAS has been contributing to African Union’s goal of delivering average growth rate of 6% GDP. Cognisant of the fact that the African Union Commission (AUC) has recommitted itself to enhancing CAADP momentum based on the Malabo declaration of June 2014, which emphasises accelerating agricultural growth and transformation for shared prosperity and improved livelihoods. AFAAS is reaffirming its partnering with AUC in translating the commitments of the Malabo Declaration into results. In particular, AFAAS will play the pivotal role of enhancing the utilisation and adoption of: productivity enhancing technologies; value adding processes; and, loss reducing practices; largely among smallholder producers.
AFAAS held its first Africa Wide Agricultural Extension Week in Gaborone Botswana in August 2013, which brought together over three hundred delegates from more than fourty countries within and outside Africa. The delegates underscored the fact that Africa faced key challenges in agricultural productivity, because farmers did not get optimal value for their efforts and from their land potential. Some of the key factors causing this include, among others, the Policy environment, capacities, delivery systems, approaches and tools like ICTs – hence the theme of this second Extension Week.
Sub themes
- Policies, institutional arrangements and support systems;
- Resourcing agricultural extension (financing and investment);
- Capacity development in agricultural extension for enhancing resilience of livelihoods and production systems;
- Approaches and Tools: Good practices; and Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Knowledge Management in Agricultural Extension.
Objectives
The main objective of the Extension Week is to deliberate and agree on the key processes and elements for reinvigorating agricultural extension services toward Market-led agriculture for shared prosperity and improved livelihoods in Africa.
Specific objectives
i. Explore the elements for reinvigorating agricultural extension;
ii. Explore sustainable options for improving effectiveness and efficiency of AEAS investments;
iii. Facilitate networking, information and knowledge exchange in agricultural extension across Africa and beyond
Expected outcomes
i. Elements of enabling environment for the effective delivery of agricultura lextension and advisory services for market led agriculture agreed;
ii. Sustainable options for improving effectiveness and efficiency of AEAS investments and delivery shared;
iii. Synergies for achieving the CAADP agenda explored and strengthened
iv. Profile of agricultural extension at continental level raised
