UN Division for Sustainable Development

Case Study Detail Record

Organization type:	Government

Name of Ministry/Agency:	Deapartment of State

Country:	United States of America

Name of Focal Point:	Hiram Larew

Initiative Title:	U.S. Cooperative Extension System: The Largest Non-Formal Educational System in the World

Internet links:	http://www.csrees.usda.gov

Scope:	National: - United States of America

Status:	Ongoing

Timeframe:	Start: End:

Lead Institution:	U.S. Department of Agriculture

Stakeholders/Partners:	U.S. Land-Grant Universities, Farmers, Rural and Urban Community Members

Relevent issues:	- Food security and sustainable agriculture - Enhancing agricultural productivity through adequate and sustainable inputs - Community-based and indigenous approaches to food production - Diversifying agricultural production systems - Agrarian reform - Environmentally sound pest control - Water management in agriculture - Early warning systems for monitoring food supply and demand - Access to financing, investments or markets - Capacity building - Technology transfer - Research development - Integrating rural development strategies into broader development strategies - Rural-urban migration and its impact on rural development - Empowerment of local rural communities - Natural resources management - Improved access to basic services and infrastructure in rural areas - Capacity building - Integrated assessments of socio-economic and environmental potentials of land - Land-use indicators and relating monitoring systems - Information systems and use of GIS - Research on local and resource system, site-specific, low-cost technologies and extension services - Consultative land planning and development - Women's access to land and land decision-making - Strategic urban and peri-urban planning for poverty reduction - Land conservation and rehabilitation programmes - Community-based programmes for efficient land use - Soil fertility improvement practices - Management of land and water interactions

Objectives/Challenges:

The U.S. Cooperative Extension System was created in 1914 to aid in the diffusion of practical research knowledge. Both instruction and demonstration are used to improve practices and technologies related to agriculture, economics, energy, and other subject areas. Extension is based on a theory of “knowledge diffusion” to spread new ideas and technologies from universities and other organizations to end users, through peer-driven networks at the local level. Federal funding for these programs is matched with state and local funds.

Next Steps -
The U.S. Cooperative Extension System continually searches for better ways to serve traditional agricultural and rural audiences, while expanding agriculture related services to non-traditional subject-matter for urban and metropolitan areas. New directions include:
• Attention to agriculture-related issues areas such as geospatial technologies, disaster relief, global climate change, financial security, and workforce development.
• New program delivery approaches include web-based information and education system known as eXtension (pronounced e-extension). see www.extension.org and http://about.extension.org

Lessons Learned:

Extension services are effectively delivered with long-term partnerships across different organizations with common goals. The Cooperative Extension System involves many organizations, including: USDA Cooperative State, Research, Education and Extension Service, over 100 State Land-Grant Universities and Colleges, and over 3,000 county governments. Land-grant partners include historically black universities and colleges, Native American universities and colleges, and informal partnerships with Hispanic institutions of higher education.

Summary:

Key Results -

Extension of university research is responsible for the large increases in agriculture productivity and contributed significantly to growing the middle class in the 20th century by translating university generated research results into practice.

• Extension has served millions of clients in the areas of commodity production; food preservation and storage; food safety; natural resource management; farm management; small business development; livestock management and health; sustainable agriculture; public policy and regulatory compliance; aquaculture; horticulture; diversity; food and nutrition; community asset building; international programs; and life skills and leadership for young people through 4-H. Over a million community volunteers help Extension deliver programs in communities.

• A recent success story is the extension services of the Expanded Food and Nutrition Program, which delivered food and nutrition information to over 150,000 adults, 409,000 youth, and indirectly to 1.2 million low-income families in 2006.