Key factors of success for decentralized public agricultural extension: an expanded view from a Ghanaian case study

Abstract

The research was based on a single-case study of a district agricultural extension organization that operates under a decentralization system that was judged by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in Ghana as successful. The results of the study emphasized the importance of the effects of both, external and organizational, factors on the performance of the case organization. The external factors included: (1) the political will to decentralize, (2) the level of decentralization of other government departments, (3) the provision of a clear legal framework for decentralization, and (4) the existence of established institutions that are willing to support the decentralization process. New external factors that were identified in this study were: (1) the drivers of decentralization, (2) stakeholders’ willingness and commitment to support the decentralization process, and (3) the community characteristics, in terms of land tenure arrangements and gender roles. The results confirmed the importance of the organizational factors prescribed in the literature: (1) stakeholder participation, (2) managerial and technical capacity, (3) operational funding, and (4) accountability. However, the study also identified five other interrelated organizational factors that influenced the success of the case organization. These included the needs to: (1) have extension agents with right attitudes to decentralization, (2) develop a needs-based extension programme, (3) expand the extension service focus and roles, (4) foster a cross-sector pluralistic extension approach, and (5) use needs-based groups for service delivery