Skills development and professionalism to promote food security policy implementation in South Africa

Abstract

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 contains clear guidelines within which government has to determine its policies and how the administration of the public sector has to be conducted. South Africa, as a developmental state, has policies in place to guide development and service delivery, however, surveys and debate on policy and practice indicate that government is not adequately meeting developmental goals as a result of a failure in implementation. Agriculture Extension is critical for the implementation of government’s strategic priorities and programmes of action especially for the Food Security Policy Programme. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the extent to which Agriculture Extension Education in higher education institutions reflect the policy agenda. The overarching aim is to raise awareness of the need for skills development and professionalism to be incorporated into Agriculture Extension curricula for the successful implementation of the Food Security Policy. The article supports a need for academic debate on Food Security Policy and discussion on monitoring and evaluation as a key theme for contemporary curricula as a point of enquiry for effective policy implementation.