Latinos are the fastest growing minority group in the U.S. and are expected to be 25% of the population by the year 2050. Latinos also are more vulnerable and at higher risk for poor health outcomes including diabetes and other chronic health ailments than Anglos. Many of the serious effects of these diseases can be ameliorated with changes in diet and life style. These changes are difficult for ethnic minority populations who lack access to culturally sensitive health and nutrition education. Several innovative and culturally competent programs have been initiated to provide preventative health education to high risk Latinos. Las Comidas Latinas (The Spanish Meals) was developed to teach health and food safety to Latino families as part of a federally funded education program for low income, Food Stamp eligible families. The ecological model was utilized to examine the microsystem, mesosystems, exosystem, and macrosystem processes and changes that underlie the development and implementation of a culturally competent program. What characterized the relationships between and among program staff, other agency partners, and participants? And what organizational processes contributed to the development and success of this culturally competent program? Interviews with participants, staff members at the state, county, supervisory and direct service levels and partner agencies indicated that participants in Las Comidas Latinas reported warm and caring relationships that contributed to positive health and social gains for themselves and their children. Organizational factors at the macro, intermediate, and individual levels such as a positive view of diversity, environmental and political factors, policy changes, and involvement of Latino community leaders contributed to successful program development and implementation. Two major categories of recommendations have emerged for the field and other service programs: attending to cultural norms and enacting flexible organizational policies. Key findings in cultural relevance include: create a bilingual and bicultural workforce, promote a safe and welcoming environment, hire program paraprofessionals for their cultural knowledge, and seek information about the community to be served. Organizational recommendations are to persist in approaching the target community to be served, provide "space" for innovation, and recognize and value unexpected social benefits. Future research suggestions are included. / Graduation date: 2005

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The promoter system of agriculture extension has been widely studied and accepted as a tool for agriculture development where local resources are scarce. Much development work has been done in Panama using the promoter model. In order to ascertain the local success of this model, promoters trained by World Vision were visited. The adoption of sustainable agriculture practices were measured in five communities where 7 promoters were trained and placed in Veraguas, Panama. Despite the long-term presence of World Vision and trained promoters, only six farmers have adopted at least one sustainable agriculture technique as a result of these extension efforts. Low adoption rates do not necessarily indicate project failure, but does indicate several barriers. These barriers are explored as well as reasons farmers gave for land use. Reasons for S/A use are also explored. Finally, recommendations for improving extension methods and future research are made.

Requirements for the development of sustainable farm systems include the generation of site-specific management practices and heightened levels of awareness and empowerment within the farming community. The current model of technology development and transfer does not adequately facilitate the development of these characteristics. This study elaborates an alternative, participatory approach for agricultural extension, and presents the experiences of a group consisting of six farmers and a university co-research team, who employed this approach over a 17-month period to develop more ecologically sustainable farm systems. / The stages of a "process of development model" are: General Systems Description, Convergence, Implementation, Exchange, and Monitoring and Evaluation. This model is proposed as a means to expand the potential of participatory extension strategies to facilitate the development of sustainable agricultural systems. The primary implications of the participatory extension approach for the future roles of agricultural extension workers are outlined.

The training of agricultural extension graduates is an important contributor to agricultural / The training of agricultural extension graduates is an important contributor to agricultural development in both developed and developing countries. Extension workers help small holder farmers uplift their food production. In most African countries, the curriculum of agricultural extension institutions has been adopted from other countries. This causes higher education institutions to produce graduates with inadequate skills to meet the needs of African countries. With the transformation in South Africa, and the resultant unification of the extension system, the curriculum needs to be reviewed to meet the current needs of the employers. This research explores the potential of including structured experiential learning into the curriculum with the aim of bridging the gap that exists within the extension training systems in South Africa. The alumni from two institutions, one with an unstructured experiential learning programme and the other with a structured experiential learning programme were interviewed to find out the skills that they feel are needed and whether those skills can be effectively taught during the academic training of students. A convenience sampling method was used. The employer’s perceptions regarding the skills for effective extension work were also solicited. Both the alumni and the employers indicated that well planned and supervised experiential learning would help students acquire practical agriculture skills, and also orientate them to the new work environment. The educators indicated that the curriculum structure at times impedes the effective implementation of an experiential learning programme due to semester system and demands from other courses The research revealed that for effective experiential learning, it is important that universities work with communities in development programmes and to forge links with the industry. Although service providers may be willing to offer experiential learning to students, they are also limited in terms of resources. They cannot always accommodate students from tertiary institutions as there are number of them requiring experiential learning opportunities. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

The agricultural extension package program is initiated by the government of Ethiopia. It is initiated to reduce poverty and bring development in the country. The basic underpinning principle of this program is that, if the productivity of the farmer is increased, on the one hand it is possible to bring sustainable development in Ethiopia and on the other hand it will help to get the raw material for the industry and reduce the migration of the work force from rural to urban areas. Agriculture is the source of livelihood for over 80% of the population and the majority of the poor live in rural areas. About 59.5% of the population is illiterate. The government gives overriding primacy to the welfare of rural populace. Agriculture is also believed to be a potential source to generate primary surplus to fuel the growth of other sectors ofthe economy. The main feature of the target group is that majority of them are illiterate and their mode of production is subsistence. Of the many kinds of intervention to bring development; educating the society is the major one. Indeed the government offers training to the subsistence farmers with the intention of enhancing their productivity via development agents. DAs are there to facilitate empowerment of the farmers, lead the process of technology transfer and change the attitude of farmers. DAs work with subsistence farmers to introduce the modern system of farm and farm related activities. To do so a series ofteaching - learning processes are evident in the program. The purpose of the study is to see the kind of teaching - learning processes that are evident in the program and to see how the principles and theories of adult education relate to the program. Thus, the research tries to explore the learning approaches and practices evident in the extension package program, the perception of DAs and farmers about the training and the actual and potential role of literacy in an agricultural extension program. The research adopts an interpretivist paradigm and some aspects of critical paradigm to understand the data and the context. It is qualitative in nature. The study is conducted on a sample of 18 participants (15 farmers and 3 extension package workers). Semi structured interviews were conducted with three DAs, focus group discussions with twelve farmers, observation while the training was taking place in the field and document analysis to get factual information. The research results are reported in the form of discussion and findings. Indeed it is revealed that farmers are divided into two as the leader and follower farmers. Accordingly the types of trainings are divided into two as general and special training. Literacy ability ofthe farmers is one ofthe criteria to be eligible for special training. That resulted in the exclusion ofthe majority of farmers from the special training program. ERIC Keywords: Extension package program, Development agents, Literacy, Adult education, Follower farmers, Leader farmers / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

The purpose of this creative project was to develop a program on video tape that would briefly explain the local Cooperative Extension Office, the programs and the assistance available. Audio-visual material available prior to this consisted of one slide tape set approximately 10 years old. In the new video tape a short history of Extension, and an overview of each area of the local Extension Office are explained, using examples of how the local Extension Agents provide assistance to the community. The disciplines include 4-H, Agriculture, Family and Consumer Sciences and Community Development.Development of the video tape included planning, script writing, filming, editing and documentation of the project. The major task was to present the best, most informative material explaining the role of Extension with-out being long and boring. By showing preliminary tapes to control groups and making changes as suggested. A final format was established that should most effectively explain the Extension Office and its services.