An effective agricultural extension is seen as one of the major catalysts needed to effect agricultural modernization. Extension makes possible not just the transfer of technology but more so the mainstreaming of farmers and fishers into a process of helping them make their own decisions.

In doing so, extension enables farmers to improve farming methods and techniques and increase production efficiency and income, better living, and lift the social and educational standards of rural life.

Agricultural extension is a very important weapon in bringing economic and social progress as it:
bridges the knowledge gap between researchers and farmers;
promotes the application of knowledge and technology developed by the research establishment to end-users;
serves as a non-formal education of farmers;
is a communication process and is also a means of information sharing, and
is a process of empowerment of the weak and vulnerable constituents of society as they become informed and active participants in decision-making.
Putting responsibility in the hands of extension workers to realize agricultural extension programs can make services more responsive to local conditions, more accountable, more effective and more sustainable. How to realize this?

Competence in the effective and efficient delivery of extension service suggests aquisition and enhancement of necessary knowledge, skills and proper attitude. This will permit multiple approaches that account for user diversity and to develop partnerships with farmers and other sectors for extension service delivery.

Through the series of online courses on extension delivery sytem, we are providing you the opportunity to gain knowledge and improve your abilities in your most convenient time and place.

Four (4) online courses on extension delivery system are presented here. These are designed for new and existing Agricultural Extension Workers who are providing extension services to accelerate the adoption of development interventions and alleviate rural poverty. All these courses are self-study tutorials and are self-paced, allowing you to complete each course according to your schedule.

These courses with syllabus are posted for your guidance.

Course 1: Concepts, Components and Features of Extension; Philosophy, Principles and Purposes; The Clients in Extension; and The Extension Worker

This course will provide you thorough understanding of what extension is, who and what are the clients of extension, and what extension worker must be, to be able to deliver development endeavors in the community. This contains 4 modules to help you understand your challenging job and roles.

Course 2: Extension Approaches, Strategies and Methods

This course contains 3 modules which consist of the approaches, strategies and methods of motivating or persuading your clients to adopt development interventions to effect change in their lives.

Course 3: Extension Communication

This course provides you the step by step processes in communicating the technologies or information in the most simplest and most understandable way to the clients. It contains modularized lessons to help you grasp the logic and practice of making sure your clients achieve the goals you want them to achieve.

Course 4: Developing Local Leaders as Farmer-Extensionists

This course discussess the importance of local leaders in extension, requirements for an effective farmer leader-extensionist, and developing farmer-leader extensionist into effective extension worker.

The courses are certificate courses that will require you to finish the modules and the activities suggested. You may have the option to choose from the courses where you need to enrol if your are already serving as AEW for 10 years or more. However, if you are a new AEW, it is required that you enrol the series of courses from course 1 to course 4 to prepare you in the extension service.

You may finish one (1) course in two (2) months since each course is offered in rolling mode for a duration of two months.

For inquiries or additional information, you will find the mobile phone numbers and email addresses of our experts and course developers in the experts' and course developers' profile. You may also post your inquiries or messages to our e-extension message board.