Innovation for Agricultural Training and Education: Identifying Pathways Linking Agricultural Education, Training and Extension

Despite high investment in AET programs and institutions since the 1950s, there is growing dissatisfaction with the contribution of graduates to the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, who still face persistent challenges of hunger and poverty. This is in contrast to the tri-mandates of AET institutions - teaching, research, and extension, assumed to be complementary to one another, contributing to the skill learning of students and the extension needs of farmers. The spread of commercialization, trade liberalization, and technological advancement have created both opportunities and challenges for smallholder livelihoods. Small farmers currently need skilful and flexible agricultural extension services, which not only provide conventional technical knowledge, but also are equipped with "soft skills, such as leadership, communication, negotiation, facilitation, and organizational capabilities" to broker networks of small farmers and other value chain actors throughout the agricultural innovation system. Agricultural education and training institutions are responsible for producing agricultural extension professionals and administrators who would shoulder responsibilities of enhancing agricultural innovation system in a given country or region. In the mid-20th century, the world learned from the US and European countries that publicly funded agricultural education and extension had a dominant role for agricultural innovation. As a result, there have been many efforts to replicate western agricultural development model in the developing world, where hunger and poverty still persist. For instance, one of the largest investments was in the mid-1950s by USAID, which launched a program establishing land-grant universities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, similar to those in the United States. The impacts of USAID and other donors' investments in AET and extension were remarkable from the 1950s to 1970s. However, after the 1970s due to changes in global development priorities, funding in the agricultural sector was downsized in almost all of the developing world. Unfortunately, due to the 1980s African economic crisis, almost all Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries reduced investment in agriculture, and hence the impacts of past investments were not sustained beyond the 1980s. Long-term impacts of past policy negligence and low investment in agricultural education and training (AET) and agricultural extension systems during structural adjustment program from the 1980s to the mid-2000s had disabled SSA countries' production of capable and client-oriented agricultural professionals, who are able to address current local and global challenges affecting small-scale agriculture. Fortunately, since the 2000 World Bank report calling for more investment for rural development, agricultural growth has become a top priority on the global development agenda. Allied with that in 2002, the African governments ratified the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP), which calls for more investment and broader reform in agricultural research, extension, and education systems to achieve agricultural innovation in Africa. While there are many works in the literature that acknowledge the imperative of AET and extension linkages for agricultural innovation, practical examples or models demonstrating how multiple actors initiate and institutionalize that linkage leave a lot to be desired. The innovation system approach - that places emphasis on the role of diverse actors and interactions within complex systems of innovation, and the institutional context within which they operate - is seen as a potential framework for understanding and addressing these challenges. The literature review highlights key challenges underlying poor or underachievement of AET in sub-Saharan Africa, including inappropriate or fragmented governance structure, outdated and rigid curricula, traditional/inadequate teaching, crisis in staffing and lack of facilities. Attempted reforms and outcomes are also discussed, including the establishment of land-grant universities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and the impacts of USAID and other donors' investments in AET and extension. The review also highlights the need for more investment and broader reform in agricultural research, extension, and education systems to achieve agricultural innovation in Africa.