In search of Actionable Insights for Successful Information Dissemination to Rural Small-Scale Farmers by Extension Workers: A Case Study of the Omaheke Region in Namibia
Extension workers in Namibia provide services and information to small-scale farmers, but it is believed that extension services are ineffective and produce little to no trust in small-scale farmers. The primary purpose of this study is therefore to explore actionable approaches for ensuring successful knowledge transfer to rural small-scale famers by extension workers. It is argued that problems in extension services can be understood as soft problems related to Knowledge Management (KM). Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) was therefore used as the method of inquiry for this study. The boundaries of this study are limited to extension workers (agricultural technicians) and small-scale farmers in the Omaheke region of Namibia. These actors in the extension services system were participants in the study. SSM allowed for a holistic understanding of extension services to be surfaced. Participants were able to surface the problem situation from their perspective and surface how they believe the situation can be improved. The SSM results reveal that, in the Omaheke region, extension workers operate in working environments that impede the successful flow of information, thus affecting their own access to information and the dissemination of information to small-scale farmers. Participants identified problems in the structure, processes and people of MAWLR and other actors in the extension system that lead to ineffective extension services. In particular, the poor interrelationships between MAWLR and other stakeholders lead to poor collaboration in pursuit of successful extension services. The poor information seeking behavior in extension workers and small-scale farmers was also revealed to be a contributing factor to poor access to information. Stakeholders then proceeded to indicate that actionable insights that can help improve the situation are key changes in budgets, need-based inquiry processes, endorsing bottom-up recommendations, prioritising the training of extension workers and establishing an oversight committee. These recommendations relate to KM processes and practices including the recognition of the need to enhance knowledge sharing practices in order to effectively strengthen knowledge transfer to small-scale farmers. Hence, extension services could be improved by proper management of information and knowledge, and so better KM processes and practices should be adopted in MAWLR. It remains unknown why the top-down approach to information dissemination remains the most used even if an agreement is in place to use both top-down and bottom-up approaches. Power relations affecting extension systems are also unknown; hence there is a need to extend this research by widening boundaries of the study to allow for the exploration of power relations using the critical systems approach. This may help to improve the chances of the successful implementation of the recommendations surfaced in this study.
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