Extension Officers? Perceptions of Extension and Innovation in South Africa

LANDINI, FERNANDO; DAVIS, KRISTIN

Kimberley

Conferencia; 53rd Conference Of the South African Society for Agricultural Extension; 2019

South African Society for Agricultural Extension

Extension and innovation approaches guide extension workers´ practice. In this conference, we assess South African extension workers? beliefs about extension and innovation, compare them with other countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil and Nigeria) and reflect critically on them from the point of view of land reform. In other to do that, the results of questionnaire, which included a Likert-type scale named Beliefs about Extension and Innovacion Scale, are presented. Results show that South African Extension workers tend to support a Transfer of Technologies approach and to critizise farmers on their problems more frequently than in most countries. Likewise, local practitioners tend to be less self-reflective. This extension profile is inconsistent with the guidelines of South African land reform.