table of contents

Appendix:

Study of Information Flows in Technology Generation and Transfer within the Agricultural Sector of El Salvador

Summary

Consultant: Lesser Linares

The technology generation and transfer system is a crucial factor in the modernization of the agricultural sector, and largely depends on the quality of information and knowledge flows among the different components of this system: public institutions (the Ministry of Agriculture MAG, the Center for Agricultural and Forestry Technology CENTA, the Fisheries Center CENDEPESCA), private organizations (associations, consultants, development programs, NGOs), researchers, extensionists, technicians, and others.

Due to the importance of this issue, the Rural Development learning circle of Conectándonos al Futuro selected this area as one of the strategic focus points of its analysis of rural issues, and contracted a study on information flows in the technology system. A case study region was selected on the basis of its high potential for productivity, known as irrigation region #1 in Zapotitán, and four types of products were chosen for study: rice, vegetables, sugar cane, and livestock, which are typical of that region.

The study was conducted using a survey, with a sampling of 200 producers, covering beneficiaries of some type of agricultural extension service, and including a range of small, medium, and large-scale producers. The survey also covered CENTA extensionists, crop specialists, and CENTA management. The results of the study are as follows:

• Coverage of extension services is broad, due to historical priorities on irrigation zones within the technology system, as well as to the proximity of the chosen region to CENTA headquarters and to the capital city.
• A number of technical assistance institutions work in the region: besides CENTA, there is also Technoserve (USAID), FUSAI (an NGO), sugar refineries, and the dairy institute PROLECHE. CENTA has the broadest coverage (this is also true nationwide).
• There is very little coordination among the different extension groups: they do not coordinate to define either their schedules or their methods.
• Despite standards governing the participatory design of extension plans which include local producers, the vast majority of extension services conducted by CENTA are not based on this method. The technical staff determine the contents of the assistance to be offered throughout the year, without taking producers’ needs into account.
• This means that technical staff recommendations are limited to crops they know personally, or which are easy to manage, such as rice, and at the expense of vegetables.
• The medium- and large-scale producers receive more extension services than the small producers, and their rates of satisfaction are much higher than among the smaller farmers. This demonstrates a bias in extension services, a trend which must still be validated at the national scale.
• Producers are not provided access to market information, or if they are, it is infrequently (twice a year).
• As a result, it comes as no surprise to see that farmers use neighbors or peers, instead of established institutions, as their principal source of extension information.

Conectándonos al Futuro, San Salvador, El Salvador

Updated  25-06-1999

[Table of Contents]  [Executive Summary]  [Introduction]   [Chapter I Context]  [Chapter II Building]  [Education]  [Migration]  [Local Development]   [Rural Development]  [Micro-Small Enterprise]  [Learning Organizations]  [Infocenters]  [Government]   [Democracy & Citizenship]  [Business Competitiveness]  [Culture & Identity]  [Quality of Life]  [Conclusions]

Appendices: [Methodology]  [Project Implementation]  [Monitoring & Evaluation]   [Local Development]  [Migration]  [Rural Technology Transfer]  [Water Resources]  [Electronic Commerce]   [Public Information]  [Government ICTs]  [Evaluation of 3 Organizations]   [Electronic Conference]  [Participants]  [Bibliography]   [Glossary of Acronyms]

All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce all or part of this publication as long as the complete source is cited: Conectándonos al Futuro de El Salvador, "Strategy for Building a Learning Society", San Salvador, 1999, http://www.conectando.org.sv/English/Strategy/