Final evaluation of agricultural extension outreach project (AID loan 493-T-019)

Final USAID/Government of Thailand (GOT) evaluation covers the period 1976-82 and is based on review of project reports and on questionnaires administered to project personnel and beneficiaries during site visits. Project accomplishments were significant. Despite delays in signing the loan agreement and in obtaining contractors and shortfalls (by about a third) in both the World Bank's construction of regional, district, and subdistrict offices and the GOT's recruitment of extensionists, the DOAE initiated training for national and regional staff with minimal assistance and showed its growing organizational capacity by training and assigning personnel (a total of 5,300 vs. a target of 3,893) to all of the expanded (from 36 to 71) target of changwats (provinces). There is clear evidence that contact farmers are adopting extensionists' recommendations, although greater efforts are needed to ascertain farmers' needs. On the negative side, the Civil Service Commission's failure to approve the proposed level of subject matter specialists (SMS's) per changwat reduced changwat ability to provide Kaset Tambon's (KT's - subdistrict extension agents) with pre-service and inservice training and ongoing technical support. KT effectiveness has also been reduced by the GOT's inclusion of non-extension activities in their job description. Finally, modifications in the training sequence and programs - treating extension methodology before the technical content - rendered practical participation contentless and made future application questionable. Key recommendations are to: develop inservice training programs for all DOAE extensionsists; assign KT's to fill DOAE vacancies; gather more feedback from contact farmers; obtain reliable yield data from farmers; and have KT's make visits the year round.