Agricultural Extension Advisory Services: The Challenge of Implementing a Multifunctional Advisory Programme

Maura Farrell (), John McDonagh and Marie Mahon
Additional contact information
Maura Farrell: Rural Economy and Development Programme, Teagasc, Athenry, Co. Galway, Ireland
John McDonagh: Geography Department, National University Ireland, Galway
Marie Mahon: Geography Department, National University Ireland, Galway

No 806, Working Papers from Rural Economy and Development Programme,Teagasc

Abstract: Since the turn of the twentieth century, a rapidly changing rural environment has forced agricultural extension services to undergo readjustments and major restructuring in order to remain relevant and valuable to farming communities. A dramatic decline in farm income, a significant increase in part-time farming and the emergence of a new multifunctional type agricultural regime has forced the Irish extension service (Teagasc) to make significant modifications to their organisation, programmes and methods of delivery. One programme indicative of this restructuring is ‘The Options for Farm Families Programme’ which adopts a holistic approach whereby extension advisers transfer knowledge and advice to farmers relevant to their future ‘options’. Drawing from an action evaluation of the Options Programme this paper explores the views and attitudes of programme participants, managers and advisers in relation to its delivery to farm family participants. Although many benefits of the programme are identified, what also becomes apparent are problems of programme awareness and levels of participation; paternalistic delivery methods and prescriptive rather than consultative structures under which the programme operates. Furthermore what emerges is the importance of programme evaluation and the realisation that the willingness of farmers to explore their ‘options’ is very dependent on the way in which knowledge is disseminated to the farm family and the levels of engagement at which the extension advisory service operate.

Keywords: Agricultural Change; Action Evaluation Research; Advisory Programme; Options for Farm Families Programme (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 29 pages
Date: 2008
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.teagasc.ie/rural-economy/downloads/workingpapers/08wpre06_a.pdf First version, 2008 (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 404 Not Found (http://www.teagasc.ie/rural-economy/downloads/workingpapers/08wpre06_a.pdf [301 Moved Permanently]--> https://www.teagasc.ie/rural-economy/downloads/workingpapers/08wpre06_a.pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:tea:wpaper:0806

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers from Rural Economy and Development Programme,Teagasc Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by John Lennon ().