This learning unit provides business and non - business majors with the skills necessary to succeed as an entrepreneur. It aims also at familiarizing student with basic knowledge of marketing, Project Studies and Management and Entrepreneurship
The module Agricultural Extension is designed for Year 3 Rural Development Students. It is composed of three learning units:
- Agricultural Extension
- Land Use Management
- Farming System Development
Brief description of aims
Aim:
(i) This module will help students understand challenges and possible solutions for agricultural development, the dynamism associated with the way ‘extension’ is understood and students will explore the roles and professional attributes of practitioners.
(ii) The main objective of this course is to enable students, upon graduation, to master the broad understanding of the meaning, importance and rationale for systems thinking in terms of leading agricultural transformation for sustainable development.
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed the module, students should show ability to:
understand farmer behaviour towards changing agricultural technology
critically analyse farming systems and understand how these support agricultural development
Cognitive/Intellectual skills/Application of Knowledge
Having successfully completed the module, students should be able to:
identify challenges of agricultural development and know how to dress them using participatory approaches
Communication/ICT/Numeracy/Analytic Techniques/Practical Skills
Having successfully completed the module, students should be able to:
Write a report
Present the results
Execute extension work and commit themselves to the community work
General transferable skills
Having successfully completed the module, students should be able to:
*Develop small scale projects and generate farmers interest in these projects using the participatory approach
Indicative Resources:
Adams M.E. 1987. Agricultural Extension in developing countries. Longman Scientific and Technical, England.
Boyle P.C. 1965, The Programme Planning Process with emphasis on Extension. NAECAS,
Winsconsin.
Coombs P.H. and Ahmed M. 1974. Attacking rural poverty. How non formal education can help. The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
Leagans J.P. 1963. The communication Process in rurl development. Cornell international agriculture development bulletin-1, Cornell university, Ithaca, New York.
Supe S.V. 1987. An introduction to extension education. Oxford and IBH publishing co. Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi.
Joyce, L.M., Okigbo, B.N. 1986. Understanding Africa’s Rural Households and Farming Systems. Westview Press, USA.
The present module "Development Policies and Legislation is taught to students of third year, Rural Development.
Description of aims and content
Aim:
This course examines policy and practice in agricultural development. It approaches development by looking at the factors that help or hinder social and economic development in the world, in particular in developing countries, the theoretical and practical response to facilitate development and overcome the constraints, and the outcomes of these responses.
Content:
The first part examines specific policies and practice that seek to overcome the barriers which keep some countries underdeveloped. The arrangement of the topics aims to provide you a step by step discussion which reflects the growing understanding of development. We first examine the traditional approach of reducing poverty and combating the consequences of inequality by aid and income redistribution. We then look at the more proactive approach of using economic policies to achieve economic growth. This will be followed by supporting policies such as migration and urban policies. The next lecture will study the relationship between social development and economic development. However, social development can face its own challenges, i.e. demographic changes and changing supporting culture at the household level. Even if a country is experiencing economic and social development, the improvement may face bottlenecks imposed by institutions constraints. These constraints include unclear property right and the absence of the rule of law and democracy. Finally, we will look at the sustainability of development models in terms of environment and climate change.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Learn about the key theoretical debates over the approaches to development and critically assess the relevant arguments.
- To explain the role of actors in the development community and the way different aspects of development connect to and interact with each other.
- To identify real life cases to carry out independent research and write an essay to offer structured criticism of the policies and practices concerned.
- Identify challenges of agricultural development and know how to dress them using participatory approaches
- Develop small scale projects and generate farmers interest in these projects using the participatory approach
Indicative Resources:
Adams M.E. 1987. Agricultural Extension in developing countries. Longman Scientific and Technical, England.
Boyle P.C. 1965, The Programme Planning Process with emphasis on Extension. NAECAS, Winsconsin.
Coombs P.H. and Ahmed M. 1974. Attacking rural poverty. How non formal education can help. The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
Leagans J.P. 1963. The communication Process in rurl development. Cornell international agriculture development bulletin-1, Cornell university, Ithaca, New York.
Supe S.V. 1987. An introduction to extension education. Oxford and IBH publishing co. Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi.
Joyce, L.M., Okigbo, B.N. 1986. Understanding Africa’s Rural Households and Farming Systems. Westview Press, USA.
The module is composed of the following three components: (1) Agriculture and Food Policy, Off-farm Activity Development and Agribusiness Development and Strategies. The component of Development Policies and Legislation aims at empowering students with business skills to enhance their job prospects, help them develop entrepreneurial skills and talked about various toolkits used in creation of ventures.
Internship is done during the summer holidays to enable students to obtain quality time and exposure to the industry; however, the students are getting marks after the student’s industrial reports, industry’s supervisor assessment and the University evaluation report.