Artur Cristóvão

Extension systems and change facilitation for agricultural and rural development

The field of extension is quite dynamic and new configurations and alternative extension systems and approaches have been emerging. This chapter explores the recent developments and debates critical questions such as: Is extension still relevant? What are the current trends and challenges in the field of agriculture and rural development and how are they affecting the structure, mission and delivery of extension services? How is extension being considered in the frame of the EU Common Agriculture Policy? We stress the growing involvement of multi-stakeholder networks of different sorts in extension work (with emphasis on private-profit or non-profit-organisations) as well as the adoption of participatory approaches. We also analyse the complex relationships between extension agents and rural actors. The major focus is on the changing roles of extension agents, underlining their current roles as learning-innovation-change facilitators and knowledge brokers. Examples drawn from proceedings of the European IFSA Symposia specifically address European cases, and illustrate the analysis.

Circles and Communities, Sharing Practices and Learning: Looking at New Extension Education Approaches

Abstract We live today in a ‘knowledge society’, but ‘knowledge transfer’ is no longer the dominant extension education paradigm. The principle of ‘learning to learn’ and the concepts of self-directed, collaborative and action learning are more crucial today then ever. The key principles are to stimulate knowledge discovery and facilitate learning through group exchanges and active participation, building on peoples’ motivations and projects. This conceptual background was key to the formulation and implementation of the two action-oriented projects which are analysed in this paper: two ‘Study Circles’ linked to the ‘Olive Oil’ and ‘Port Wine’ Routes of northern Portugal, created to share experiences, promote initiatives and enhance the performance of these two organisations in terms of rural development; and five different ‘Communities of Practice’, in distinct stages of development, functioning as lifelong collaborative learning instruments. Do such projects show the way to relevant extension education approaches and methods? Which strengths and weaknesses do they present? How did they evolve? Are there cultural bound constraints to their functioning and outputs? If yes, which strategies should be adopted in order to overcome them? What are the major lessons to be learned? One of the major conclusions is that extension and development facilitators can benefit from such approaches in different ways and levels. More than using personal networks, the challenge these agents face is to help build and maintain social networks like the ones studied, involving different development stakeholders from the institutional, research and practice arenas, serving as learning and action systems.

The Official Knowledge and Adult Education Agents: An Ethnographic Study of the Adult Education Team of a Local Development-Oriented Nongovernmental Organization in the North of Portugal.

Nongovernmental organizations, particularly those related to development work (local development-oriented nongovernmental organizations; LDNGO), and their agents have been assuming, in Portugal, an important role in the field of adult education. These organizations develop with the State, at the national level, and with supranational institutions and programs different types of relationships and arrangements, as a result of the activity in such educational arena. This article intends to question, on the basis of an ethnographic study of an adult education team of an LDNGO and using the pedagogical discourse model of Bernstein, the relationship that these agents establish with the official knowledge (pedagogical discourse) emerging from State-dependent intervention bodies. The results of the study shows that, even in strongly prescriptive working contexts, it is possible to develop an active relationship with the official knowledge and make recontextualizing uses of it.

The origins of the European IFSA: the first meetings and the agenda renewal

In the mid-1990s the farming systems movement had reached Europe. The European Group is related to the associations founded in the USA, Latin America, Africa and Asia some years before. These were partly designed to support research and development in the Global South. The European Group followed a novel approach in that it applied the systems concept to the highly diverse situations found in European farming. Hence, we recall the objectives of the first meeting held in Edinburgh in 1993, and then assess how research themes have shifted over the past 20 years, by reviewing the programs of the nine symposia held during this period. Looking back, it is clear that European Farming Systems Research has revealed many of the major preoccupations of European farming and the increasing importance of human and sociological factors, in addition to technical and economic issues. This development is most encouraging and indicates that a dynamic learning community exists among European farming systems researchers and extensionists.

Selling directly fresh and local products, looking at a new localized rurality: the case of PROVE Project in Portugal

espanolEn Portugal, los cambios en el mercado de productos agricolas y alimentarios han dado lugar a una enorme concentracion de la oferta en cuatro grandes distribuidores, que representan alrededor de las tres cuartas partes de las ventas. Este proceso excluye o dificulta el acceso al mercado de un gran numero de productores a pequena escala. Estos avances contribuyen en gran medida a la exclusion economica de los pequenos productores, al abandono de zonas agricolas, a la disminucion del numero de explotaciones y al estancamiento de la economia rural en muchas regiones. La supervivencia de estos pequenos productores y la revitalizacion de las zonas rurales requieren medidas innovadoras en varios campos, mirando a una nueva ruralidad localizada. La organizacion y acceso a los mercados son fundamentales. El proyecto PROVE, apoyado por la red Leader portuguesa, es una experiencia de venta directa/proxima, a traves de cestas de frutas y verduras frescas, teniendo como objetivos: apoyar a los productores en la promocion y marketing de sus productos, garantizar la frescura y calidad de los productos, y fortalecer los lazos entre las comunidades rurales y urbanas. Este trabajo presenta los resultados de un estudio que analizo la contribucion de este proyecto al desarrollo sostenible y mantenimiento de las dinamicas territoriales locales. La informacion que se presenta es el resultado del analisis de documentos y cuestionarios de encuestas a 56 productores en diferentes regiones del territorio continental de Portugal. Los resultados muestran que los agricultores aumentaron la zona y diversificaron la produccion, y mejoraron las condiciones de comercializacion y los ingresos del hogar. EnglishIn Portugal, changes in the market of agricultural and food products have led to a huge concentration of supply in four large distributors, who represent about three-quarters of sales. This process excludes or hinders the access to the market of a large number of small-scale producers. These developments contribute greatly to the economic exclusion of small producers, the abandonment of agricultural areas, the decline in the number of farms, and the stagnation of the rural economy in many regions. The survival of these small producers and the revitalization of rural areas require innovative measures in several domains, looking at a new localized rurality. Organization and market access are fundamental. The Project PROVE, supported by the Portuguese Leader network, is a direct/proximity selling experience, through baskets of fresh fruits and vegetables, having as objectives: to support producers in the promotion and marketing of their products; to ensure the freshness and quality of the products; and to strengthen the ties between rural and urban communities. This paper presents the results of a study that analysed the contribution of this project to sustainable development and maintenance of local territorial dynamics. The information presented is the result of document analysis and questionnaire interviews to 56 producers in different regions of mainland Portugal. The results show that farmers increased the area and diversified the production, and improved marketing conditions and household income.

Editorial: Change Dynamics in Knowledge Systems and Extension Services

Knowledge systems and extension have been permanent topics of discussion in European and other international meetings on Farming Systems Research and Extension. In each Symposium a variable number of extension-related papers have been presented, with different foci, addressing either theoretical or applied issues, most times critically examining conventional views, policies and methodologies, and proposing changes in the conceptual basis of extension, as well as alternative ways of working in the field. This Workshop of the 8th European IFSA Symposium was about extension approaches and strategies in this new and challenging time we are all facing, a time for ‘rethinking’ and ‘reinventing’ extension, using Leeuwis’s words (2004). The following main questions were proposed for analysis: (1) What are the changes in know-how production, exchange and use, considering the multiple and often complex relationships between scientists, extension agents and rural actors? (2) How are the new conditions of globalization, climate change, energy stress and reduced public impact affecting the structure, missions and delivery of extension services? (3) Who are the players in the field and what are their orientations and approaches?

A relação dos técnicos de educação de adultos com o discurso pedagógico oficial: um caso a norte de Portugal

Based on an ethnographic study of a team of adult education agents in an association of local development in the North of Portugal, this paper is aimed at studying the relation that these