Professor J. Mark Erbaugh, College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences The Ohio State University

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1 Improving the Training of Frontline Extension Workers (FEWS) in Tanzania: A Pilot Curriculum Reform Initiative with the Ministry of Agriculture Training Institute (MATI) at Ilonga Professor J. Mark Erbaugh, College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences The Ohio State University Symposium Revalorizing Extension University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign April 2 5,

2 Pilot Initiative Collaborators: SUA s Department of Agricultural Extension and Community Development (DAECD); the Ministry of Agriculture s Department of Agriculture Training (DAT), the MATIs, President s Office of Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG); Funded by the USAID/Tanzania, Innovative Agricultural Research Initiative (iagri), and The Ohio State University. 2

3 MATI Context MATIs administered by Ministry of Agriculture s Department of Agriculture Training (DAT). MATIs responsible for training frontline extension workers (FEWs) at the certificate and diploma levels deployed at the village and ward levels. SUA s Department of Agricultural Extension and Community Development (DAECD) provides training at B.Sc, M.Sc, and PhD levels and for most MATI tutors/lecturers. 3

4 MATI Project Goal: Need: Stakeholder concerns about the quality & training of FEWs - Lack skills to contribute to the changing needs of the Tanzanian agricultural system. Overall Goal: To improve the quality of graduates from MATIs by strengthening the training of frontline extension workers. Specific objective of the assessment: Make recommendations for curriculum revisions and staff development at MATI-Ilonga, for improving its training program. 4

5 MATI Graduates Competency Assessment Implementation Strategy: 1) Strengthen working collaborations/relationships between SUA s DAECD, DAT in the MoA, the MATIs, and other stakeholders 2) Incorporate stakeholder inputs into the assessment process. Methodology: Competency based approach used to review MATI curriculum and identify and prioritize areas for improvement. Assessment conducted with four stakeholder groups: graduates, employers, farmers and MoA DAT staff. First step: Develop list of competencies needed by FEWs: Compiled by panel of experts: DAECD, MoA, the Principal (MATI Ilonga) and OSU. Identified 23 competencies: divided into functional (cross cutting) and core (technical) competency areas.

6 1 st Step: Identified Competencies Functional Competencies General knowledge of Extension Program Planning Program Implementation Monitoring & Evaluation Communication Skills Leading Discussions & Advocacy Skills Interpersonal Skills Basic Administrative Knowledge Leadership Skills Professional Ethics Information Communication Technology Gender Issues in Extension Food Processing and Storage Skills Effects of poor health on labor force and general livelihood Entrepreneurship Business skills Value chains Climate change Environmental Conservation Core Competencies Livestock husbandry Crop Husbandry Fisheries Land Resource Management 6

7 MATI Graduates Competency Assessment Second step: Prepare survey instrument for stakeholders to assess competencies on the basis of importance and on stakeholder perceptions of graduates ability (competency). Competency statement ratings: 5 point Likert-type scale ranging from 5=Very High Importance/Ability to 1=Very Low Importance/Ability. Third step: Analyze responses using Weighted Discrepancy Scores (WDS) for each competency statement to indicate priority areas for curriculum revisions and in-service staff training. 7

8 IMPORTANCE Stakeholder-respondents considered most of the 23 competencies to be very high or high in importance. All stakeholders considered the most important competencies to be Communication skills, Climate Change, Business Skills, Value Chains and Land Resource Management; 8

9 ABILITY Summary: Graduates rated competency abilities the highest; MOA rated competency abilities the lowest. Highest ability ratings were for Program Implementation, Communication, Livestock Husbandry, Basic Administration Knowledge and Interpersonal skills. Lowest ability ratings for Fisheries, Value-Chains, Food Processing, Business Skills and ICT. 9

10 TRAINING NEEDS/ Weighted Discrepancy Scores (WDS) All stakeholders indicated that the five highest rated training needs (highest mean WDS) in order were: Value Chains, Business Skills, Climate Change, Fisheries, and Land Resource Management. All stakeholder groups except graduates, indicated Value Chains and Business Skills as high priority for improved training. Graduates and MALF gave ICT the third (#3) and fourth (#4) highest WDS, respectively. Employers and Farmers gave Food Processing and Storage Skills the fourth (#4) highest WDS. 10

11 Implications and Recommendations 1. Two competency areas require curriculum enhancement and staff training: Farming as a Business (value chains and business skills) and Conservation Skills (climate change and land resource management). 2. The Ministry of Ag. recognized the value of using a competency based approach and engaging stakeholders in the review of MATI curriculum. 3. The Way Forward: Scaling the approach to other MATIs in priority regions of the country. 11