Strengthening a dairy cooperative’s extension services in Kenya
BAMSCOS, a union of farmer cooperatives in Baringo, Kenya teamed up with KIT and Agriterra in an effort to further strengthen and professionalise its extension services. For BAMSCOS this was a crucial step towards improving the income and conditions of their members. Furthermore, by handling larger volumes of milk it would increase the viability of the union.
Working with partners for capacity building
KIT and Agriterra supported BAMSCOS by providing a well-designed capacity building and joint learning process. We looked at issues relating to the institution’s overall extension strategy and design as well as the capacities of staff in the field
KIT undertook an analysis of strengths and weaknesses of BAMSCOS’s existing extension service. This analysis informed the design for a three day strategy workshop with the union management and the board, and a five day training workshop with the extension staff and the farmer leaders. Subsequently, the management as well as the field staff received coaching on implementing the changes agreed upon. Trainers based in Kenya played a key role in this coaching. After about nine months, we conducted a review and analysis of their experiences on implementing the changes at the management and field level to consolidate all that was learned through this process.
“ The training model used was wonderful ”
Services delivered
Publications
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Professionalising a dairy cooperative’s extension services: experiences from Kenya
Extension capacity building requires an integrated approach that works at both the management and implementation level to be successful. The functioning of an agricultural extension team can be substantially improved through the increased use of virtual communication – made more apparent by Covid-19 – between team members themselves, and with farmers. Extension services are much […]
