Training extension agents in Nepal

NUMBER 123 * ED Preciss Operations Evaluation Department July 1996 Training extension agents in Nepal The Nepal Agricultural Manpower lier training programs had produced goods and by shortages of building Development Project was designed to graduates who were more interested materials that resulted from the train critically needed extension agents to in university degrees and desk jobs Indo-Nepalese trade and transit help farmers increase their productivity. than in extension work. Also, at that dispute and the effects of the demo- When the project was completed ten years time, training at all levels was poor, cratic transition. The faculty was in later, it had achieved its physical objec- and the facilities were inadequate. a relatively remote area of Nepal, tives and helped establish an academic The Nepal Agricultural Manpower and one satellite campus was in a faculty of agriculture, but it had not de- Development Project, financed by hilly area that was hard to reach. veloped a system for training effective an $8 million IDA credit (approved Thus supervision and communica- extension agents. The project diverged in 1984 and closed in 1994), and $4 tion were difficult. from its original objectives because of the million in US Agency for Interna- economic and political processes under- tional Development parallel financ- By the early 1990s, the problems way at the time in Nepal and in an effort ing, was designed to address these had become so complex that the to respond to implementation problems. problems. The project sought to train project had to be completely re- By the end of the project, the teaching technical assistants for the T&V sys- vamped or abandoned. The gov- material and methods had become more tem mainly through a terminal one- ernment considered an operation academic and training less directed to year diploma program in Tribhuvan in higher education important, par- communication with farmers and practi- University's Institute of Agricul- ticularly at the sites in the remoter cal work on farms. tural and Animal Sciences (IAAS) in areas of Nepal. It thus wanted to Rampur and two satellite campuses. save the project. IAAS sought the A recent OED audit* notes that advice of an international panel several factors might have helped the To enter the program, students of agricultural educators, who sug- project stay on course: involvement of had to pass a secondary school gested strengthening the faculty farmers, particularly women and mem- equivalency exam, with a focus on so it could provide four-year de- bers of hill tribes, in project design to science. A special effort was made grees and conduct research. Project ensure a clear understanding of their to recruit women and members of objectives were reformulated ac- needs; close attention to sociocultural hill tribes. During appraisal, a man- cordingly. The terminal one-year factors in establishing selection criteria power study was conducted to esti- diploma program, designed to pro- for students; and an emphasis on links to mate the demand for trainees. The duce technical assistants, was re- farmers and practical work, together with study based its estimates on the placed with a four-year bachelor's consciousness-raising to improve stu- assumption that the government degree in agriculture and veterinary dents' understanding of the importance would be able to absorb the trainees. of close communication with farmers. Implementation proceeded slow- Performance auidit report, To help farmers increase their pro- ly during the first two to three years "Nepal: Agricuiltural Manpower ductivity, Nepal needed more exten- of the program and then slowed Development Project," by Helen sion agents. In the early 1980s, the to a standstill. Ministry of Agricul- Abadzi. Report No. 15793, Lune prevailing model for extension was ture budgets shrank, and graduates 1996. Performance auidit reports the training and visit (T&V) system. could not get jobs. Students resented are available it Bank executive That model was based on the view being in a terminal diploma course directors and staff front the Iiter- that assistants with several years' high and demanded a degree option, iial Documents Llnit and fronm school education and brief training in causing campus unrest. The project's Regional Information Services agriculture could provide effective problems were further exacerbated Cetiters. technical assistance to farmers. Ear- by inflation in the prices of imported  medicine. Under student pressure * Low female and tribal participation. Lessons at the time of Nepal's transition to IAAS had difficulty recruiting democratic rule, the government women and members of hill tribes * In any extension project, an under- opened the degree program to all because few from those groups had standing of farmers' needs is critical. enrolled diploma students. the required qualifications. With Project design should then be tailored much effort, the institute was able to meet those needs. That means close With the democratic reforms to increase female participation links to and open communication came a new campus administration, from about 1 percent in 1984 to with farmers, a faculty operation which managed to implement the 12 percent at project closing in geared toward systematic practical project. After receiving four exten- 1994. But the women were from work on farms, relevant curricula sions, which lengthened project du- middle-class families and mainly design and material, and if needed ration to nearly ten years, IAAS interested in desk or research modification of school calendars to completed nearly all planned origi- jobs. Initial project design did coincide with agricultural work. nal and revised physical activities. not take this sociocultural factor into account. * Socioculturalfactors should be Results factored into project design to ensure * Weak instructional delivery. Sub- that the training program focuses on The physical components were ject matter was not sufficiently attracting students truly willing to well implemented. The campus ac- linked to extension work. For ex- work with farmers and on farms. In quired new and refurbished faculty ample, students learned the Latin Nepal, the gap between the stu- and staff housing, classrooms, labo- names of plants but not the names dents and farmers might have been ratories, student dormitories, and that farmers use. Moreover, in- bridged through better selection conference halls. Laboratories were struction encouraged rote memo- criteria, greater attention to con- equipped and became functional, rization of concepts in English, sciousness-raising among students, and school farms were established. which most of the junior students systematic links with farmers, and Curricula and textbooks were pro- understood poorly. Textbooks much practical work. Despite expert vided, and many faculty members were available only through the recommendations, this all-impor- received fellowships. A campus library, which had only one text- tant aspect of training was not master plan was developed to book for every ten students. And, developed. optimize use of space. But by them- professors recommended a multi- selves these achievements were tude of textbooks, without provid- * Examination of outcomes against the insufficient to provide Nepal with ing a structured set of materials to benefits initially expected should be a suitably trained graduates who could guide the students in their study. clearly outlined part of Bank supervi- effectively help farmers increase pro- sion. Nepal's experience showed ductivity. Among the reasons: The project's change in focus that project outcomes can veer off midway through implementation course even though physical activi- * Lack of practical training and contact shifted it away from training for ties are substantially completed. with farmers. Relatively little time extension without adequate devel- Bank supervision focused more on was spent on practical work. The ex- opment of alternative links to whether the project had acquired tensive school farms were cultivated farmers. The result was a project the tangibles rather than on assess- by laborers, not by students. As a that instead of producing extension ing whether those were actually result, many students interviewed agents, as its original objective had meeting the project's purpose. by the audit mission felt that they intended, ended up developing an were not being trained to face actual academic institute of agriculture. * Government commitment, backed agricultural problems. This lack of While developing such a faculty is by a dedicated and determined project practical experience (also found in a laudable goal in itself, its priority management team, can sometimes agricultural faculties of neighboring within the country strategy had not turn a failing project around. Both countries, see Agricultural Higher Edu- been clearly established. What had these factors were weak during the cation, OED Precis no. 30) was par- been determined was Nepal's criti- early stages of the project. Govern- ticularly significant because students cal need for transferring technol- ment ownership strengthened with who passed the institute's entrance ogy to farmers. But weaknesses in the revised project, and a new cam- examinations tended to come from project design and pressures of pus administration brought renewed middle-class families of small towns dealing with daily implementation determination to the project manage- and lacked significant exposure to problems appear to have obscured ment team, helping it resolve the ob- farmers' lives and concerns. the operation's long-term goals. stacles slowing implementation. OED Precis is produced by the Operations Evaluation Department of the World Bank to help disseminate recent evaluation findings to development professionals within and outside the World Bank. The views here are those of the Operations Evaluation staff and should not be attributed to the World Bank or its affiliated organizations. This and other OED publications can be found on the Internet, at http:// www.worldbank.org/html/oed. Please address comments and enquiries to the managing editor, Rachel Weaving, G-7137, World Bank, telephone 473-1719. Internet: rweaving@worldbank.org July 1996