The research presented in this book highlights the opportunities that arise if agricultural research is grounded in the realities of small-scale farmers and takes their contextual knowledge and understanding as the departure point for innovation. 

The main aim was to design, conduct and evaluate a collaborative learning process with smallholder dairy farmers to reduce milk losses and increase benefits. The author first develops a framework for understanding and conceptualizing collaborative learning processes that facilitate change and then empirically proves its feasibility and usefulness, taking her work with two small-scale dairy producer groups in Nakuru County, Kenya as examples. 

The study shows how farmers’ knowledge underlying and guiding their activities can be successfully explicated and integrated, followed by a process to co-develop and test innovations for improving the management processes in the participating farms, thus increasing their ability to respond, adapt and intentionally transform their farming systems in relation to the livelihood problems they face.

Lastly, novel approaches based on farmers’ perspectives are presented to evaluate the collaborative learning process and ensure that the goals are reached; furthermore, factors that influence and maintain the enthusiasm of farmers and scientists in a collaborative learning process are identified and could guide future decisions on designing and implementing collaborative learning processes in the framework of transdisciplinary research.

Most poor, rural households in the Andean highlands rely on agricultural activities for their livelihoods. However, the majority lives in areas with low agricultural potential and on degraded land. Their survival depends on natural resources, but the low quality of these resources forces the households to overuse and sometimes deplete them. Attempts by the government to establish strategies for the conservation of communal lands in highland peasant communities have not been successful. The overall output of this thesis are approaches to optimise the implementation of such strategies. This study analyses the reasons for the lack of success in the implementation of a conservation strategy for the case of the peasant community of San Antonio de Padua in Peru, through the understanding of livelihood strategies and collective action in the management of communal lands. The results show that local people have little opportunity to modify their livelihood strategies in order to include conservation activities in their everyday life. Moreover, the nature of collective action in the community is changing and the organisation receives little support from the local government. The existing strategy only contemplates environmental aspects. This gives little incentive for people to participate. In order to be successful, the strategy needs to also incorporate the economic, social, and institutional dimensions of sustainability. The approaches for optimal implementation of a conservation strategy involve the inclusion of programs directed to increase the income generation from agricultural activities, the empowerment of women in the community, the facilitation of inter-agency cooperation, the strengthening of the organisational and management skills of the community group, and the building of human and social capacities for effective participation and cooperation.

Farmer-participatory methods have become widespread in agricultural research for development. Researchers and donors have increasingly recognised that highly diverse local challenges to agricultural production, including climate change, may not be solved by top-down generic approaches, but require farmer-selected solutions. In participatory variety selection (PVS), for example, groups of farmers jointly select locally suitable germplasm varieties. But such a group-based participatory approach to variety selection for climate adaptation also brings new limitations: Farmer attendance is often limited, a shared plot does not always represent every participant’s on-farm conditions well, and PVS is difficult to scale because it relies on organised farmer groups and high external facilitation efforts.

This study explores a pathway to out-scaling PVS by using new methods from citizen science, which has become popular recently especially in ecological and environmental research. In Crowdsourcing Crop Improvement (CCI), many farmers perform a small experiment on their farm by growing small quantities of just three alternative crop varieties, observing their growth along the growing period, and reporting simple observations to researchers. This way, farmers may experientially discover a variety that suits their site-specific needs and preferences better than the current one. Researchers, on the other hand, may use CCI as a research tool to screen new crosses and validate new varieties by farmer-generated data from a large range of locations and environments, as well as to disseminate genetic diversity in the landscape. Based on intensive fieldwork in four regions of Honduras, Central America, and using a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods, such as choice experiments, this study evaluates CCI for its appropriateness to serve both farmers and researchers.

In today’s highly globalised world there is an increasing pressure on local cultures and economies towards conformity. The two dominant forces pushing towards this conformity are Western culture, mainly in its US version, and the capitalist free market ideology. Adaptation processes result all over the world and people experience this as change that is sometimes welcomed and sometimes feared. Especially Sub-Saharan Africa seems very much affected by these developments. Ancient customs are challenged, common conventions are questioned and the loss of tradition is lamented. On the other hand, African societies and their cultures and economies have never been completely static but have been evolving and developing ever since, i.e. change is not something that is per se a new and foreign experience. How then have these societies been coping with the ambivalent experience of tradition and change in the past and how are they coping with it today?

Looking at the Bakossi in southwest Cameroon, in the form of a case study the book is trying to attempt an answer to this question. After presenting the traditional Bakossi economy and society the socio-economic development of the past 130 years is reconstructed and thoroughly analysed, offering fascinating insights into highly intricate and complex processes. Among others, the key actors are identified, their motivations are studied and their multiple interactions are portrayed. The purpose of the book is to provide an adequate understanding of the internal and external forces and dynamics of tradition and change. This is an indispensable precondition for any meaningful intervention towards the comprehensive development of any given society aiming at a holistic improvement of the welfare of its people.

The People’s Republic of China has experienced tremendous changes in various aspects since its foundation in 1949. The social organization, economic and land policies, as well as size and structure of the country’s population have all been in transition. Such drastic changes have profound impacts on people including ethnic minorities and their environment. The same holds true for the Nabanhe National Nature Reserve (NNNR), situated in the Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna, close to the borders of Laos and Myanmar, and hence a part of the so-called “Greater Mekong Sub-region” (GMS). The prefecture has experienced tremendous changes in the recent decades. Agricultural production systems, land tenure arrangements, social settings, people’s livelihoods, and the cultural heritage experienced and still experience radical transformations. In this context, the environmental balance in the “biodiversity hotspot” region is facing a tremendous challenge. Responsible therefore are mainly the transition from the collective to private production system (“Household Responsibility System”) starting in the mid-1980s coupled with the introduction of agricultural and technical innovations such as rubber and hybrid varieties as well as the governmental incentives for agricultural mechanization and the usage of agro-chemicals. The considerable difference if compared to the situation in other developing regions on the globe is the breathtaking speed in which this transition occurs. 

This book shows the major findings of an in-depth analysis of the adoption processes of a set of more recent innovations that have been selected as case studies: Rubber, hybrid paddy rice, mechanization, and tea-intercropping systems in the NNNR. The work focuses on adoption processes of model innovations and their impact on people and environment. It presents the main driving and inhibiting forces for or against the innovation adoption. These adoption factors are further presented in detail and analyzed for each selected innovation in order to define the important preconditions for potential future innovations in the region that are more environmentally sound. 

Mit dem Zerfall der Sowjetunion 1989/1990 entstanden in Russland, siebzig Jahre nach Ende der Stolypinreformen, erstmals wieder private Bauernbetriebe. Ihre Zahl stieg von rund 40.000 Betrieben im Jahr 1990 innerhalb weniger Jahre auf 280.000 Betriebe an. AKKOR – der Verband der bäuerlichen Betriebe und Kooperativen in Russland – wurde ebenfalls 1990 als einer der ersten Verbände Russlands gegründet und setzte sich zum Ziel, sich für den Aufbau der privaten Bauernschaft in Russland und für eine stabile Existenz der bäuerlichen Betriebe einzusetzen.Das Hauptaugenmerk von AKKOR war lange Zeit fast ausschließlich auf die politische Interessenvertretung gerichtet, galt es doch, die Privatbauernschaft gegen die mächtigen sowjetkonservativen Kräfte aus Politik, Staat, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft zu behaupten. Mitgliederbindung und Mitgliederwerbung standen dabei zurück. Die Konsequenz daraus ist ein bis heute geringer Organisationsgrad. Instabile Eigentums- und Rechtsverhältnisse, mangelndes Vertrauen der russischen Bevölkerung, insbesondere im ländlichen Raum, in jede Form von Mitgliedschaft, aber auch wenig Erfahrung in Verbandsorganisation, taten dabei ihr Übriges.Heute, 25 Jahre nach Verbandsgründung kann noch immer nicht von einer auf allen Seiten geduldeten Parallelexistenz der großen Landwirtschaftsunternehmen und der privatbäuerlichen Betriebe gesprochen werden. Nicht zuletzt die Weltwirtschafts­krise 2008, aber auch die langjährige Lobbyarbeit führten AKKOR dazu, dass die bäuerlichen Betriebe in ihrer Bedeutung für die Entwicklung der Landwirtschaft Russlands zunehmend in das Interesse der russischen Politik rücken. AKKOR hat 

deshalb heute die Chance, einen nachhaltig stabilen Bauernverband aufzubauen. Die Entwicklung und schrittweise Umsetzung eines mitgliederorientierten Dienstleistungsangebotes erscheint dafür dringend notwendig. Der DBV stellt bereits seit 2009 im Rahmen des Kooperationsprogramms des BMEL dem russischen Partnerverband sein Know-how zur Verfügung. Das Kooperationsprojekt DBV-AKKOR, mit finanzieller Unterstützung des BMEL, ermöglichte die vorliegende Untersuchung.Dieses Buch füllt eine wichtige Lücke, ist ein wichtiger Beitrag zur deutsch-russischen Kooperation, und ergänzt die Literatur zu interkulturellem Management und zur Organisationsentwicklung in Transformationsländern.

Das Buch zeigt Ergebnisse einer ersten bundesweiten Evaluierung von Beratung im ökologischen Landbau aus Sicht der Nutzer. Es gibt einen Überblick zur Beratungssituation in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und greift die Beratungsleistungen heraus, die von hauptamtlichen Beratern erbracht werden. Im Rahmen der Untersuchung wurden Qualitätsmerkmale für Beratung definiert. Inwieweit diese in der Beratung tatsächlich erfüllt waren, das haben die befragten 598 Öko-Erzeuger für die Jahre 2011-2013 beurteilt. Die Ergebnisse zur Inanspruchnahme geben Aufschluss darüber, wie viele Erzeuger Beratung in Anspruch nahmen und bei welchen Anbietern, wie viele Stunden nachgefragt wurden, auch welche Anlässe zur Beratung führten und welche Themen behandelt wurden. Geprüft wurde, inwiefern die Inanspruchnahme abhängt von den eingegangenen Bindungen zu den Anbieterorganisationen, der empfundenen betrieblichen Situation sowie von der Unternehmerpersönlichkeit des Betriebsleiters. Das Buch liefert schließlich Empfehlungen für die Beratungsanbieter wie z.B. Qualitätsmerkmale, die zur Verbesserung der eigenen Arbeit bzw. zur Evaluierung herangezogen werden können. Es werden Hinweise für Politik und Agrarverwaltungen der Bundesländer gegeben und schließlich erfahren praktisch tätige Öko-Erzeuger Qualitätsmerkmale, an denen sie gute Beratung erkennen können.

While ecological sustainability of organic agriculture (OA) has been frequently investigated, there are limited studies on its social sustainability, especially in developing countries. It seems OA proponents disregard and neglect the socio-economic aspects of sustainable development. Therefore, it is also important to acknowledge that in addition to ecological risks and benefits, there are also social risks and im- pacts. The contribution of OA to achieve socially sustainable development in developing countries (Iran as an example) is the focus of this book. Since this study, more specifically, aims to assess the social impacts and risks of OA, a hybrid model combining social impact assessment (SIA) and social risk assessment (SRA) to form a new approach called ‘Risk and Social Impact Assessment’ (RSIA) is introduced.

The field research of the Oued el Maleh valley situated in the periphery of Casablanca, Morocco was selected to study the direct relations between urbanization and peri-urban farmers. This agricultural valley counts many small-scale mixed-farming family farms that are in relation with urban dwellers visiting the valley during the weekends. But the rapid urbanization of Casablanca and Mohammedia mean that the valley will probably change in the near future. How to bring closer peri-urban small-scale farmers and urban dwellers to better integrate farmers into the urban planning system? 

The method used to apprehend urban-rural dynamics within the valley is prospective scenarios for which variables were selected to take into account urban and rural dynamics and public policies aspects of the territory’s development. These scenarios enable us to better understand the impacts of urbanization on agriculture and to determine which type of urbanization will lead to which type of urbanized agriculture. The scenarios highlight possible evolutions of peri-urban agriculture and emphasize at the same time the possible urban-rural synergies which could exist according to the type of urbanized agriculture. This makes it easier to integrate the rural aspects into the political and technical aspects of urban planning and to bring about participation of the concerned rural population.

Mit über 30 Interviews mit landwirtschaftlichen Betriebsleiterinnen konnten vier verschiedene Gruppen von Betriebsleiterinnen erkannt werden. Die Betriebsleiterinnen sind in unterschiedlichem Ausmaß in die Arbeiten und in die Verantwortung der Betriebsführung involviert. 

Vor allem die Gruppe der sogenannten „Vollzeitbetriebsleiterinnen“ ist mit enormen Herausforderungen konfrontiert. Dazu gehören oft Konflikte innerhalb der Familie, Probleme in der Partnerschaft, die Vereinbarkeit von Familie und Betrieb, Urlaub und Freizeit, die Handhabung von Technik und Fragen der Selbst- und Fremdwahrnehmung. 

Aber auch die Teilzeitbetriebsleiterin, die Betriebsleiterin im Nebenerwerb und auch die helfende Betriebsleiterin sehen sich mit den Fragen um die eigene Lebensführung, Partnerschaft und Bewältigung der Arbeitsaufgaben konfrontiert. 

Betriebsleiterinnen werden kaum als eigene, obgleich differenzierte Gruppe wahrgenommen. Fragen der Interessensvertretung, von Unterstützungs- und Bildungsangeboten, stellen sich in dieser Perspektive jedoch neu. 

Local soil knowledge, or ethnopedology, combines elements of natural and social sciences in a holistic way. Considering local people’s opinions, it is seen as a key factor to develop and implement sustainable agriculture – especially in countries where its application failed due to top-down decisions by the government.

This book combines the studies on local soil knowledge conducted within the framework of the German-Thai-Vietnamese research project SFB 564, also known as The Uplands Program. It analyzes the local soil knowledge of the main hill tribes in the SFB’s study regions in Thailand and Vietnam. Ethnopedological results are compared to pedological data to evaluate the depth of local knowledge.

While silage and hay making are ancient strategies to overcome periods of forage shortage in temperate climates, it is hardly practiced in the tropics and subtropics. This study contributes to the hitherto scarce information about the impact of extension interventions on the adoption of forage conservation technologies. The study forms part of a BMZ-funded CIAT project entitled ‘Demand-Driven Use of Forage in Fragile, Long Dry Season Environments of Central America to Improve Livelihoods of Smallholders’. The study evaluates the adoption of silage and hay technologies as result of participatory research and extension interventions in Honduras. Two silage promotion strategies, namely promotion of innovation (PI) and promotion of adoption (PA), applied to different adoption stages, are distinguished in order to evaluate how and in which situations extension activities can reach higher impact. An emphasis is on the potential of little bag silage, e.g. as a tool for participatory silage research and extension. Moreover, the effect of feeding different farm-produced conserved forages on livestock production and profitability is assessed using participatory on-farm experiments as well as a system approach.

Even a cursory visitor of rural areas in China will notice the transformation which is characteristic of what has been and still is happening even in remote areas of China. The pace of these changes can only be described as breathtaking: whole regions which until recently have been largely under traditional land-use systems are changing to a highly commercialised, private profit oriented agriculture.

This paper presents the basic findings of an in-depth analysis of the knowledge-flow processes of a set of more recent innovations, which have been chosen as cases studies: rubber, hybrid paddy rice and Yunnan hemp in the Nabanhe National Natural Reserve (NNNR). The NNNR is located close to the borders of Laos and Myanmar. As elsewhere in China, farming systems, land tenure systems, household economies, social life and cultural traditions in the NNNR are in transition, and ecological balance and biodiversity are meeting tremendous challenges. 

This work focuses on the innovation and modification of agricultural knowledge. It observes the changes within the agricultural knowledge system, identifies the external entities providing new agricultural knowledge and mechanisms of agricultural knowledge flow and dissemination within communities. It analyses dissemination conditions, e.g. social networks, opinion leaders and public space, and compares the results of different mechanisms for internal and external agricultural knowledge flows in order to further determine the characteristics of efficient dissemination.

The environmental conservation policies and practices puzzle policy-makers, practitioners, and scientists alike. The case of Sub-Saharan Africa is particularly intriguing. This region suffers most from environmental problems including loss of biodiversity, deforestation, soil erosion, and desertification. Pastoralists, farmers, and urban dwellers have sensed the resulting stresses in different ways. Many of the governments of the respective countries in the region have taken mainly technical measures to reverse the problems. The governments take protected areas as policy instruments for biodioversity and wildlife conservation. Nevertheless, the achievements are often not to the level of the expectations as specified in the policy documents.

This book is based on a study of the protected areas of Ethiopia by taking the Nech Sar National Park as key case. Ethiopian wildlife conservation policy prohibits direct uses of the land and other natural resources from national parks. This approach resulted in conflicts between conservation authorities who follow the national exclusive conservation policies and local people who use the resources for their livelihoods. The Nech Sar NP had experienced more than about thirty years of governance (since 1974) in this manner. In addition to lack of success over the decades in conservation, a long-term management contract by an international nongovernmental conservation organization, African Parks Foundation, which had sufficient financial and personnel capacity, is failed after three years. Based on the findings of the empirical study, the book clearly and concisely presents lessons learned along with future policy and research directions for Ethiopia. The book also shows applicability

Vietnam has made a remarkable achievement in poverty reduction, with the number of people living below the poverty line falling from 58% in 1993 to 29% in 2002. In addition to the “Doi moi” policy, which introduced the shift from central planning to market economy, and poverty alleviation programs, the official establishment of the public agricultural extension system in 1993 has also contributed to this achievement. Since the official establishment of the public extension system in 1993 with the issuance of Decree 13, the public extension policy has been renewed and improved. In 2005, after 12 years of development of agricultural extension, the government issued Decree 56 to replace Decree 13. The most recent extension decree, Decree 02, issued in 2010, shows the government's continued effort and engagement in improving the countries’ extension situation.

The study overall aims at analyzing the recent development of policy and implementation of public agricultural extension in the NMR of Vietnam by connecting two elements of the policy process, i.e. policy formation and policy implementation. From the study, conclusions and suggestions about public extension policy change for more successful and efficient extension implementation are presented.

Non-wood forest products (NWFPs) serve as subsistence food, cash crops and as a ‘safety net’ for the rural poor around the world. They are especially important in China, which is the largest NWFP producer, processor and trader in the world, with millions of small-scale farmers participating in these value chains. 

Utilization and trade of NWFPs contribute in multiple ways to the development and economic growth of participating small-scale farmers. By selling collected or produced NWFPs, farmers become part of a value chain that links them to consumers on local, national, international or ethical/alternative markets. These different markets have very different influences on a farmer’s livelihood. 

This book is concerned with the extent to which farmers are able to participate in and benefit from involvement in different NWFP value chains. Linkages between markets and small-scale farmers in local, national and international, as well as alternative value-chains are compared to reveal which approaches are more beneficial for farmers and therefore justify support from consumers and development partners.

Der gesellschaftliche Wandel rüttelt an den Grundfesten bäuerlicher Identität. Häufig sind betriebliche, familiäre, finanzielle oder gesundheitliche Existenznöte die

Folge. Die Landwirtschaftlichen Familienberatungen und Sorgentelefone leisten hier einen unverzichtbaren Beitrag zur Humanisierung des Agrarwandels. Sie helfen Bäuerinnen und Bauern, als Personen im Wandel zu bestehen, eigenständige Lösungen zu entwickeln und gemeinsam mutige Schritte zu gehen.

Für hilfreiche Beratung ist es unabdingbar, bäuerliche Familien in ihrer geistig-emotionalen Situation zu verstehen. Dabei ist die 3.000 Jahre alte griechische Oikos-Idee mit dem Ehepaar als Kern der Familienwirtschaft auch heute noch grundlegend. Verbunden sind damit häufig tradierte Vorstellungen von einer „guten Ordnung“. Daraus ergeben sich vielschichtige Konflikte im heutigen Zusammenleben auf den Höfen. Bäuerliche Haltungen sind jedoch auch eine wichtige gesellschaftliche Ressource, Stichwort Nachhaltigkeit.

Auf der Basis einer historischen Analyse entwickelt die Autorin ein systemisches paarzentriertes Modell als Hilfsmittel für die landwirtschaftliche Familienberatung. Sie verfolgt damit das Ziel, die Kommunikation in bäuerlichen Familien zu verbessern und eine lebensdienliche Verbindung zwischen Tradition und Moderne zu ermöglichen.

In the uplands of northern Vietnam, traditional pig production plays a vital role in supporting farmers’ livelihoods as well as in their cultural life. Despite the rapid development of the pig production most pigs are still kept in traditional livestock husbandry systems. A detailed analysis of actual management practices may contribute to the improvement of extension services for farmers to help smallholders to improve the pig husbandry of specific breeds. This book seeks to systematically examine smallholder pig keepers’ management practices as well as their underlying knowledge backgrounds and knowledge networks. The present study combined qualitative and semiqualitative data collection methods in order to examine pig husbandry management practices and to determine smallholder pig keepers’ underlying rules from the farmers’ point of view.

The study is part of a research subproject entitled ‘Community-driven breeding and management programmes building on local resources, local knowledge and organisation opportunities at village, regional and national level’ embedded in the Thai-Vietnamese-German Collaborative Research program ‘Sustainable land use and rural development in mountainous regions of Southeast Asia’ project, known as the Uplands Program (SFB 564), funded by the German Research Council (DFG).

The term “Livestock Revolution” stands for an increasing demand for animal source food resulting from changes in peoples’ diets and consumption behavior, especially in developing and threshold countries. This, in turn, leads to a rapidly growing livestock production which – theoretically – holds an enormous potential for the development of smallholder livestock producers in those countries, who are often considered to be the (future) winners of the Livestock Revolution.

Using the example of smallholder pig and chicken production systems in Colombia and Nicaragua, the value chains these producers belong to, as well as the individual business models they follow, are assessed to evaluate critically smallholder livestock producers’ real potential for participation in the Livestock Revolution.

More than 850 interviews with the different value chain stakeholders in both countries suggest that, despite a rapid increase in demand for animal source food, smallholder producers are lagging behind and have so far not achieved to keep the market shares they had few years ago. Shrinking market shares make them become the losers of the Livestock Revolution – in both the short but even more the long run. This book explains why and to whom market shares are getting lost. It also gives concrete examples on how smallholder business models and value chains could be improved in the future.  

Risk and uncertainty have often been considered major reasons for a reduction in the rate of adoption of innovations. However, this subject is still in the process of gaining prominence in post-socialist regimes such as Vietnam, where a profound economic liberalization process launched in 1986 has opened the way for relatively independent decision-making and reduced the number of authoritarian diffused innovations, thus providing smallholders with new opportunities. Hence, this book seeks to discuss optimization strategies in farmer learning and knowledge acquisition given the financial, organizational and socio-cultural restrictions of uplands areas in Vietnam. Associated with this is the question as to how upland smallholder farmers can organize themselves and learn towards reducing uncertainty in the innovation adoption process which is further addressed in the core part of this study. Likewise, collective approaches towards knowledge generation and diffusion are explored as viable options to reduce uncertainty through information.

The study forms part of a research project entitled ‘Potential and Constraints of Participatory Research Approaches for Sustainable Development in the Mountainous Regions of Southeast Asia’ (subproject A1), which is embedded within the broader framework of a German-Thai-Vietnamese collaborative research program (SFB 564) called The Uplands Program. As a sub-project with a strong socio-psychological orientation within the broader project framework, A1 seeks to explore how people can best be integrated into innovation processes and how various innovations developed within other sub-projects can be disseminated to farmers.

Recent rural development policy and approaches in the developing world have focused more on policy dialogue, good governance and decentralization in reaching the MDGs. Subsequently however, agricultural extension services have suffered, with poor funding and generally underpaid and under trained manpower. Despite many agencies recommending pluralistic extension models delivering services according to demand and market opportunities, their realization has been problematic. 

Increasing scarcity of food, fuel, feed and fiber, combined with new risks posed by climate change has catapulted agriculture back onto the political agenda. Issues of food security, environmental protection and sustainable economic development pose new and major challenges to the agricultural sector, and to extension in particular. 

To meet this critical gap in knowledge, the University of Hohenheim, with support from the BMZ and GTZ has edited a 3rd fully revised edition of the handbook to be published in 2009 by Margraf, available to citizens of ACP countries via the CTA. 

Much has changed since the last edition in 1987. This revised 3rd edition updates exist-ing knowledge with new insights in line with recent developments and experience. It covers more and broader perspectives, both rural as well as important ruralurban linkages, agricultural technologies and agriculture in developing nations facing increasing integration into globalized markets and value chains. It references all five continents, with regard to good practices and achievements as well as the pressing issues. There is also a brand new volume dealing with capacity building.

The revised 3rd edition is both tool and training guide, essential for all those involved in agricultural extension, whether impoverished or smallholder farmers or commercial farmers and companies, and equally suitable for use from field level up to university courses.

Recent rural development policy and approaches in the developing world have focused more on policy dialogue, good governance and decentralization in reaching the MDGs. Subsequently however, agricultural extension services have suffered, with poor funding and generally underpaid and under trained manpower. Despite many agencies recommending pluralistic extension models delivering services according to demand and market opportunities, their realization has been problematic. 

Increasing scarcity of food, fuel, feed and fiber, combined with new risks posed by climate change has catapulted agriculture back onto the political agenda. Issues of food security, environmental protection and sustainable economic development pose new and major challenges to the agricultural sector, and to extension in particular.

To meet this critical gap in knowledge, the University of Hohenheim, with support from the BMZ and GTZ has edited a 3rd fully revised edition of the handbook to be published in 2009 by Margraf, available to citizens of ACP countries via the CTA. 

Much has changed since the last edition in 1987. This revised 3rd edition updates existing knowledge with new insights in line with recent developments and experience. It covers more and broader perspectives, both rural as well as important ruralurban linkages, agricultural technologies and agriculture in developing nations facing increasing integration into globalized markets and value chains. It references all five continents, with regard to good practices and achievements as well as the pressing issues. There is also a brand new volume dealing with capacity building.

The revised 3rd edition is both tool and training guide, essential for all those involved in agricultural extension, whether impoverished or smallholder farmers or commercial farmers and companies, and equally suitable for use from field level up to university courses.

Recent rural development policy and approaches in the developing world have focused more on policy dialogue, good governance and decentralization in reaching the MDGs. Subsequently however, agricultural extension services have suffered, with poor funding and generally underpaid and under trained manpower. Despite many agencies recommending pluralistic extension models delivering services according to demand and market opportunities, their realization has been problematic. 

Increasing scarcity of food, fuel, feed and fiber, combined with new risks posed by climate change has catapulted agriculture back onto the political agenda. Issues of food security, environmental protection and sustainable economic development pose new and major challenges to the agricultural sector, and to extension in particular.

To meet this critical gap in knowledge, the University of Hohenheim, with support from the BMZ and GTZ has edited a 3rd fully revised edition of the handbook to be published in 2009 by Margraf, available to citizens of ACP countries via the CTA. 

Much has changed since the last edition in 1987. This revised 3rd edition updates exist-ing knowledge with new insights in line with recent developments and experience. It covers more and broader perspectives, both rural as well as important ruralurban linkages, agricultural technologies and agriculture in developing nations facing increasing integration into globalized markets and value chains. It references all five continents, with regard to good practices and achievements as well as the pressing issues. There is also a brand new volume dealing with capacity building.

The revised 3rd edition is both tool and training guide, essential for all those involved in agricultural extension, whether impoverished or smallholder farmers or commercial farmers and companies, and equally suitable for use from field level up to university courses.

The Volumes 

We recommend reading the first volume completely and then to use the others for reference purposes. Here you find a brief over-view:

Volume 1:  Basic Issues and Concepts 

[Ed. by V. Hoffmann, Maria Gerster-Bentaya, A. Christinck and M. Lemma]

Volume one lays out basic issues and concepts of agricultural extension in a problemorientated, demand driven and sys-temic/systematic approach. Improve the design, planning and implementation of work programs and activities, enhancing the quality of advisory work for the benefit of both client and society alike.

Volume 2:  Examples and Background Materials

[Ed. by V. Hoffmann, A. Christinck and M. Lemma]

The second volume supplements and illustrates the first by providing a wide range of practical examples and background materials.

Volume 3: Training Concepts and Tools 

[Ed. by Maria Gerster-Bentaya and Volker Hoffmann]

The completely new third volume is of special interest to those involved in the training of extension workers as well as to academic staff. It provides comprehensive guidance and assistance in areas such as training concepts and tools, course outlines and modules.