Capacity Building: Key to Agricultural Extension Survival

he agricultural sector is under increasing pressure to bridge a growing concern for hunger and economic deprivation. At the centre of discussion is increase in agricultural productivity at a scale increasingly complex. This complexity challenges the capacity of both extension workers, farmers, farming systems and even the environment. This means that what matters for agricultural development and achieving the above situation is the capability of people to be effective and productive economic agents. It is here that capacity building comes in. Therefore, building and strengthening organizational and institutional capacity is seen as the heart of development practice. There is hardly anybody who is a fully-fledged adviser having completed a technical school, college or university course. And throughout the persons life, innovations and changes of all kinds mean that additional or different knowledge, skill, and attitudes are required to face the new challenges posed by our changing environmental conditions. It is therefore crucial for any extension organization to think about how to qualify its staff for the tasks ahead of them. Enhanced food production is essential to food security. Human capacity building is key to efficient food production as well as rural development, especially for developing countries. Solving the problem of food security needs a forceful infusion of developed human resources, otherwise food production will be hindered. Extension professionals are increasingly required to have well developed technical skills across a broad range of farming systems, well developed socio-political perspectives on the place of farming in society through constant building process. This paper outlines the importance of capacity building to rural development and agricultural extension, capacity building methods for agricultural extension workers