Authors : Tecer Atsan and Ziya Yurttas
Abstract: Participation and ownership are two important concepts to be taken into consideration for rural extension projects to secure effectiveness and sustainability. In other words, the farmers as well as the technical staff and administrators need to take part in the decision making process from the early stages to the end of project activities and consider the project as their own so that desirable changes can be brought about on the part of the target population and maintain the momentum of these changes after the formal project period is over. It is unfortunate that in some major extension projects some concepts such as participation and ownership are not given due importance which results in an ineffective use of resources or outright failure. The comparison of two projects that were implemented in Eastern Turkey in the last two decades can clearly show the importance of participation and ownership in extension. The objective of this study is to highlight the importance of participation and ownership in extension projects and put forward recommendations for future extension activities. Extension components of ERDP and UPRDP will be compared with regard to participation and ownership and conclusions will be made as to how ERDP failed and UPRDP succeeded and became a model for succeeding extension projects such as LEAP. The conclusions will be applicable not only in the project area at hand but elsewhere too.
Tecer Atsan and Ziya Yurttas , 2006. Participation and Ownership in Agricultural Extention: Two Cases in Eastern Turkey. Agricultural Journal, 1: 202-205.