BAR TODAY || Official Quarterly Publication of the Bureau of Agricultural Research

The training and visit (T&V) method of extension that the World Bank introduced 25 years ago in Africa had varying degrees of success, Dr. Edgardo Quisumbing, WB research manager, said in a seminar held at the ATI-BAR Lecture Room on June 23. The seminar was a part of a series sponsored by the Bureau of Agricultural Research for disseminating information on the issues and concerns of the R&D system.

According to Dr. Quisumbing, the ultimate aim of the researchis is to help farmers improve themselves by increasing their yield and augmenting their income.

T&V succeeded in Somalia and Zimbabwe where the extension managers became effective in handling both human and material resources.

But it failed in Kenya, he said, for the following reasons:

Low salaries of extension workers. Their monthly $6 take-home pay can support a family of five for only four days

Limited number of good extension workers: conditioned to passive obedience by their colonial past, African managers tend to "fait for orders rather than act on their own initiatives

Knowledge gap between researchers and extension workers: while the former are degree holders, the latter usually are mere high school graduates

Unwillingness of the government to fully support extension work

Dr. Quisumbing said that the WB research project in Kenya also failed due to improper management and (or because of) dominance of non-researcher political appointees in the government research agency.

Patterned after India's research model, the Kenya Agriculture Research Institution (KARl) was established with the merging of all research institutions and absorbed over 6,000 employees, the majority of whom were political appointees and not at all involved in research.

Halfway through its implementation, the research project utilized only $80,000 of the $45-M budget. Having learned from the Kenyan experience, Uganda's research centers opened all positions and rigid criteria for selection was set. About 25 percent of the "deadwood" was not hired.

Dr. Quisumbing also stressed that the ultimate aim of research is to help small farmers improve themselves by increasing their yield, subsequently augmenting their income.

Drawing from his experience with the Kenyan agricultural R&D system, he added that researchers should not only focus on developing technologies but also on how the farmers can adopt them.

Dr. Quisumbing observed that field researchers found satisfaction in seeing their technologies change people's lives. This convinced him that researchers must involve themselves in extension work.

He ended his talk by pointing out that the two considerations in decentralization process are human resource capacity and financial management. He noted that the Philippines is five years ahead of Africa along this line.

Asked during the open forum if he could recommend a. management training program for the DA research managers, Dr. Quisumbing, a graduate of the Harvard University Management School, said that he did not believe that there is any 'best' school or program management because management skills are inherent to a person. They reflect the whole development of one's personality and a formal training can only enhance these management skills and give confidence to managers in carrying out their jobs. Therefore, it is short as saying that a human resource development program must be in place to address such concern.