Development of an Agricultural Training Model for Smallholder Farmers and Extension Agents in Rice Post-harvest Value Addition in the Southern Region of Sierra Leone
Philip Jimia Kamanda *
Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, Njala University, Njala Campus, Sierra Leone.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Assessment of the rice post-harvest value addition resources for extension agents revealed that the majority of the resources were insufficient. Human resources, equipment, and supplies for adding value to rice, services, and buildings are some of these resources. The majority of smallholder farmers are impoverished and have low social standing in their communities; hence, the best way to define them is as peasant farmers, according to the overall findings. The privilege of family ownership over lands is one of the farmers' distinctively peasant traits. A study was conducted to develop an agricultural training model for smallholder farmers and extension agents (farming actors) in rice post-harvest value addition in the Southern region of Sierra Leone. The study sought to identify the training needs and competencies of the farming actors in rice post-harvest value addition with a vision to identify their required training contents. Three ethical issues that guided the conduct of the study include informed consent, anonymity, and confidentiality since the study dealt with human participants. A multi-stage random sampling technique was employed to select 400 smallholder farmers from 157,114 households by the use of Yamane's formula. A census of 50 extension agents operating in the region was also done. The training model development was aided by undertaking a training needs assessment. The model is largely a synthesis of the study objectives of the rice post-harvest value addition study. The assessment revealed that farming actors have limited resources, low value addition competencies, imperfect market situations, inadequate extension services, low profit margins, low livelihoods, peasant farming, and low motivation for extension agents. The extension agents have the greatest need for training in the usage of the coned heap style to pack paddy after harvest and heaping for no longer than a day before threshing, which are among the least priority training needs. Last but not least, the extension agents require thorough training in the use of a threshing machine as well as the use of feet to thresh paddy on concrete or drying floors.
The study further reveals low competency levels for the farming actors. The key expressed training needs of the farming actors include milling, packaging and marketing, and storage of rice, whilst the majority of the respondents preferred group training methods in rice post-harvest value addition. For effective training, the study further shows that training support, such as subject matter specialists, input suppliers, service providers, and infrastructure, among others, is to be provided. The study also provided a dynamic extension model as an alternative option to the generic training model type since farming situations are constantly changing. This dynamic model ensures that as the context issues change, there is a need for the farming actors to respond to those changes. It is therefore recommended that regular needs assessment, provision of support services, and monitoring of farming actors be done for full utilisation of the proposed model. The extension training model for smallholder farmers and extension agents in rice post-harvest value addition in the Southern Region of Sierra Leone developed a context-specific training model to be adopted by the agricultural extension system of Sierra Leone.
Keywords: Competencies, extension agents, farming actors, rice post-harvest value addition, smallholder farmers, training model