Abstract
African women farmers have an urgent need for adequate agricultural extension information. Training extension agents in gender related issues should have high priority, considering that the majority of farmers are women and have different roles, resources, constraints, and responsibilities from men. This paper examines the extent to which these issues are incorporated into the curriculum of the two Malawian institutions of agricultural education that train extensionists. It also considers the degree to which they are recruiting women officers into fields other than home economics. Administrators and lecturers at both institutions express a desire to integrate gender matters into the curriculum and to recruit more females into agricultural extension; yet both fall far short in meeting these goals. The conclusion provides recommendations on how African institutions of higher learning that train extension personnel might better accomplish these goals and suggests that African MOAs need to employ more women in agricultural research, extension, training, and policy-making positions.
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Additional information
Pamela J. Riley, Ph.D., is Professor of Sociology at Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322-0730. Her research focuses on issues relevant to women in development, particularly in the area of appropriate technology. USAID funded this research as part of the Malawi Agricultural Research and Extension Project, in conjunction with the Government of Malawi. Special thanks are due to Frieda Nhlane and Catherine Chibwana for their advice and assistance and to the Malawi Ministry of Agriculture for requesting this study. The views expressed in this paper are the author's own.
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Riley, P.J. Gender issues and the training of agricultural extensionists in Malawi. Agric Hum Values 12, 31–38 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02218072
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02218072