Summary
Summary DIAGNOSTIC
ASSESSMENT, JUSTIFICATIONS AND PROPOSAL OF A FRAMEWORK FOR THE RENEWAL OF AGRICULTURAL ADVISORY SERVICES
CONCEPTUAL
The current offer of agricultural advisory services is far from meeting the needs, in terms of quality and quantity, of producers and other stakeholders in the different value chains and territories of sub-Saharan Africa. Although the situations vary greatly from one country to another in sub-Saharan Africa and even within certain countries, it has been widely noted that the offer of services for certain groups such as women, livestock farmers and young people is even weaker. A few countries, however, have introduced special policies and programmes that focus on agricultural advisory services, but making them operational is highly partial and dependent on external funding. The lack of agricultural advisory services tailored to all the different situations and their different potentials (farms, territories and value chains, some of which are prosperous while other are not) is slowing the economic development of sub-Saharan countries: overall agricultural yields remain low, the number of poor people in rural areas is increasing, natural resources are being degraded or are becoming increasingly rare and malnutrition remains very high. The major investments in infrastructure and equipment that are being made to support agriculture are not enough to spur that development. Infrastructure/equipment and advisory services are both essential, but without effective agricultural advisory services those investments do not generate a satisfactory return, are not profitable and are often not sustainable. Extension services – Advisory services – Assistance. Extension services and advisory services are both necessary, and recent theoretical and practical advances do not mean that extension services should be replaced by advisory services – the former is an integral part of the latter. Agricultural extension services (though often referred to as “training and visit”) still have their place and are still the most suitable and least expensive option when it comes to developing technology transfer (in a prescriptive model). Agricultural advisory services refer to all the methods that are used to help producers make decisions, and more specifically to help them solve problems (helping producers or groups of producers within the advisory-services scheme identify problems and come up with solutions). Lastly, the notion of assistance (accompagnement), which is frequently used by farmers’ organisations, refers more to supporting producer initiatives and mediation/facilitation with other actors in the agricultural sector (banks, microfinance institutions, shopkeepers, input suppliers, etc.) over the long term. Extension services, advisory services and assistance are all necessary and complementary. The renewal of agricultural advisory services addresses three needs:
An economic need to improve food and nutritional security (which remains a priority in many sub-Saharan countries), to improve return on investment in the agricultural sector and ensure the sustainability of those investments over the long term, to reduce poverty, and to boost the income of people in rural areas and family farms; A social need to provide decent jobs, to reduce migration, to achieve better distribution of revenue along value chains and within territories, and to consider the needs of vulnerable groups, particularly women and young people, as well as other marginalised groups such as livestock farmers and herdsmen; 6 | TECHNICAL REPORTS – No. 55 – MAY 2022
