Role of extension services in promoting multifunctional agriculture and integrated rural development in Serbia (original) (raw)
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Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services in Bosnia, Montenegro and Serbia: An Overview
International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development 6/2: 133-139, 2015
Agriculture is still important for socioeconomic development in rural areas of Bosnia, Montenegro, and Serbia (BMS), especially in terms of employment and income generation. Good extension is recognized as a key to agricultural development. The paper aims to provide an overview on public agricultural extension and advisory services (AEAS) in BMS. It is based on an extended secondary data review and primary data collected by questionnaires with rural people, as well as semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with agricultural advisors and extension specialists carried out in the years 2012-2013. Current agricultural extension structures has mainly been developed in the last two decades with international donors' help. Public extension structures exist besides other advisory services providers. Advisors use many groups and individual extension methods. Advisory services face many financial, management, and technical problems. Extension agents spend most of their working hours doing administrative tasks and lack systematic professional in-service training offers. Agriculture multifunctionality and the increasing rural economy diversification represent a real challenge for agricultural extension services. Public extension is largely focused on crop and animal production while rural development is only partially served. Rural advisory work is restricted to the activities of individual extension agents, as well as NGOs, donor projects, and private advisors. The involvement of other actors in rural extension work is crucial if the system is to meet rural people's needs. AEAS have been trying to address the emerging challenges through modernization of their extension approaches and communication media, as well as diversification and decentralization of their services. Nevertheless, there are still some weaknesses that should be overcome. Developing a pluralistic, participatory, decentralized, farmer-led, and market-driven advisory system is a milestone in the process of promoting rural innovation and diversification, and harmonization with the European Union's acquis.
Agricultural Extension Service in Serbia – Attitudes of Farmers
6th LIMEN Conference Proceedings (part of LIMEN conference collection), 2020
In modern agriculture, farmers face certain problems in obtaining necessary information and improving agricultural production. This paper aimed to reveal the standpoints of farmers related to the role of agricultural extension services (AES) as a source of information and farmers’ opinion on the quality of work of extension officers. In order to examine this goal, two municipalities were selected, Alibunar and Kruševac. A total of 65 farmers were included in the research and a survey of their attitudes was conducted. The analysis of farmers’ attitudes indicates that some of them are still not sufficiently familiar with the work of extension service. In the municipality of Alibunar, the most important source of information is other farmers, although half of them regularly use services of AES. Farmers in Kruševac are more focused on using the services of extension officers, which they value as the most important source of information related to agricultural production. Farmers from bo...
Agricultural extension and advisory services in Bosnia
2013
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) consists of two governing entities; the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) and the Republika Srpska (RS). Agriculture employs almost a fifth of the total labor force. Around 61% of the population lives in rural areas. Easy and timely access to reliable and updated information provided by extension services is crucial for agricultural and rural development. The paper aims at analyzing the public agricultural extension and advisory services (AEAS) in Bosnia. In particular, it analyses governance; human resources; gender; cooperation projects; decentralization; financing; role in building social capacity as well as advisory approaches, methods and media. Some recommendations to improve the AEAS performance are made. The paper is based on a literature review and semi-structured interviews as well as focus group discussions carried out in March 2011 with agricultural advisors in the RS. Modern AEAS started to exist in BiH in 2002 and are organized on entity level: the Agency for Providing Services in Agriculture in the RS and cantonal agricultural extension services in the FBiH. The National Extension Services for BiH project helped establishing cantonal and regional offices. The Advisory Services Agency has five regional offices. Advisors use many group (e.g. lectures, seminars, field days) and individual (e.g. farm visits, phone calls) extension methods and media (e.g. internet, leaflets, posters, brochures, mass media). Advisors focus mainly on crop and animal production, processing and marketing. They also assist producers to gather in cooperatives. Advisory services face many financial, management and technical problems. The traditional top-down approach is still widely used. Bosnian AEAS should be supported by providing them with the necessary means and resources as well as technical, managerial and soft skills to fully assume their crucial role. That is necessary to develop a well performing pluralistic, participatory, bottom-up, decentralized, farmer-led and market-driven advisory system.
Stages of Development of Agricultural Extension Service in Bosnia and Herzegovina
АГРОЗНАЊЕ, 2017
The paper elaborates on the evolution of agricultural extension service development in Bosnia and Hercegovina in the period before and after the 90-ties. In order to make a review of agricultural extension in characteristic periods, historical method of data analysis sourced secondary in combination with analysis and synthesis method. The review was conducted according to a standardized template to nine criteria stating both their advantages and disadvantages. Review of the current state of agricultural extension services by entities has been based on analysis of data from primary and secondary sources and personal observations by author. Results of the research show that the Agricultural Extension Service in Bosnia and Herzegovina has gone through three stages and three different models of extension service development: Technology Transfer Model, The Farm Management Model and The Rural Extension Model. Taking into consideration the problems and weaknesses that were identified some ...
Glasnik zaštite bilja, 2019
The advisory service in the Republic of Serbia is specific, has a long tradition, has undergone significant organizational changes, and today's agrarian structure is characterized by a large number of agricultural holdings with a relatively small number of agricultural advisers. The agricultural advisory service is important for the improvement of agricultural production, because the quality of the advisory work determines the speed of progress in agriculture, and in that sense it is important to perceive the factors influencing its functioning and the attitudes of the employees' advisors. A survey disputed in PSS Požarevac was mirrored in the interview of five advisers working on the improvement of agricultural production in the Braničevo district, within the framework of the advisory service. The advisers expressed their views on the characteristics of the organization and the advisory work they deal with, the cooperation with agricultural producers, highlighted the diffic...
Strengthening the Market of Agricultural Advice and Extension in Romania: New Actors Involved
Romanian agricultural research
Delivery of adequate guidance and advice to farmers is one of the key elements for a successful implementation in Romania of the Common Agricultural Policy post-2013 program. After the decentralization of the governmental advisory and extension system, the former network continues to perform as Chambers of Agriculture subordinated to the local public administration of the County Councils, but the organization of the HOHFWLRQ SURFHVV IRU IDUPHUV UHSUHVHQWDWLRQ in chambers still lasts. The paper focuses on the outputs of two joint World Bank and Romanian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development projects aiming, among other objectives, to reform, to back up and strengthen the Romanian agricultural advisory system. Within the frame of the two projects, new actors are emerging on the advisory market: (i) Integrated Agricultural Offices GHVLJQHG RQ WKH PRGHO ³RQH VWRS VKRSVWDElished in 4 pilot areas and (ii) Socio-Economic guidance providers established in 15 counties.
Development policy advisory public service in agriculture in the Republic of Serbia
Ekonomika, 2016
Under the advisory public services in agriculture mean all institutions that publicly declare that they are in the service of agriculture. The main objective of the establishment of these services is to facilitate agricultural production. These services include: various institutes such as the Institute of Agriculture seed, protection from disease and dr., Agricultural services, veterinary, anti-hail service,
2013
The aim of this document is to produce a state-of-the-art of the academic literature in order to identify theories and concepts available for: a) describing the structure, the dynamics and the functioning of agricultural advisory services; b) understanding how these services are embedded into national Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS), and into various agricultural and rural policies across the European Union (EU) countries; c) providing some conceptual elements to support the methodology for an inventory of agricultural advisory services in EU 27 countries (WP3 of the PRO AKIS project), and for the selection of case studies (WP4 of the PRO AKIS project) . Recentreviews of the literature indicate some challenges for the analysis, the implementation and the evaluation of agricultural advisory services (Faure et al. 2012, Birner et al. 2009). These reviews stress the need to switch towards a best fit perspective: "promoting "one-size-fits-all" approac...