An expenditure review of the agricultural extension system in South Africa

Abstract

There is growing consensus on the importance of agricultural extension support services as an integral component of ensuring effective implementation of government policy interventions and efficient facilitation of development programmes in rural areas. Agricultural extension service provision is part of a wide range of services required to help producers acquire relevant knowledge and skills to increase and sustain the productivity and competitiveness of their enterprises. Agricultural extension support is viewed by many as an enabler on food security. Improved agricultural extension support leads to increased production and improved processing in all the sub-sectors of agriculture (i.e. crop, livestock, forestry and fisheries), improvement of quality of life and promotion of environmental friendly practices and other objectives. However, literature reveals that the public sector extension in South Africa is not yet geared to satisfy the needs of resource-poor smallholder producers to break away from the bondage of poverty and food insecurity. This dissertation is aimed at reviewing public expenditure on agricultural extension support services so as to provide evidence-based recommendations to inform implementation of the newly developed national policy on extension and advisory services. The study also provides an initial baseline for future review and tracking of public expenditure on agricultural public extension support and the quality and quantity of the human capital of agricultural extension personnel. The study was conducted using budget allocation and expenditure data collected through a survey questionnaire directed at provincial departments of agriculture. Data analysis employed descriptive statistics, narrative interpretation and t-Tests of differences in means. Descriptive statistics focused more on counts of extension personnel according to qualifications, years of experience, age and gender. The narrative analysis focused on classifying the narrative information into similar themes and patterns. A Paired Samples t-Test was run to determine significance in differences between the mean of budget allocation and the mean of expenditure on Extension Practitioners and farmer programmes. Zero-based budgeting system was used to determine whether the current budget allocated was sufficient for implementation of the newly developed national policy on extension and advisory services. Results of the survey revealed that although the ratio of Extension Practitioner to farmer is still low in South Africa, particularly for smallholder producers, there has been an increase in the number of Extension Practitioners since the implementation of the ERP in 2008. Recruitment of additional Extension Practitioners increased human capacity on the ground. More than 70% of current extension personnel complied with the minimum norms and standards of having at least a four year degree, which is a considerably good indicator of the quality of extension service rendered. Budget execution rates were high for both the Extension Practitioners and the farmer programmes, with budget execution for farmer programmes better than Extension Practitioners. Such trends indicate an efficient system of budget execution for the benefit of the farmers. Furthermore, there were statistically significant differences between mean budget allocation for Extension Practitioners and farmer programmes. Differences between the mean expenditure on Extension Practitioners and mean expenditure on farmer programmes were also statistically significant. The mean budget for farmer programmes was greater than the mean budget for Extension Practitioners for the five years leading to the conclusion that farmer programmes received significantly more budget allocation compared to the budget allocated to Extension Practitioners. Consistent to budget allocation, mean expenditure on farmer programmes was higher than mean expenditure on Extension Practitioners leading to the conclusion that expenditure on farmer programmes was significantly higher than expenditure on Extension Practitioners in the five financial years. Hence, it can be concluded that farmers received value for money. The cost of implementing the newly developed national policy on extension and advisory services was found to be far higher than the current budget allocation. It is recommended that government allocates more funds to public extension service provision. The implementation process could be phased with short-term, mediumand long-term implementation plans. Provincial departments of agriculture should make available a percentage of funds through their equitable share. Additional financing to solve the problem of fiscal sustainability through a user-pay principle, cofinancing of services and private funding is also recommended.