It all started with the monitoring
findings that were shared with the district authorities on 29/08/2012 showing
that subcounty Naads coordinators were “ providing half baked services to skills to the community” not based on the Naads guidelines and the
methodology of Agriculture extension. The district Naads coordinator
acknowledged that most subcounty Naads coordinators were employed directly from
school without consideration for work experience and the NAADS program budget
did not provide for any capacity building fund this financial year. This was
confirmed in the opening remarks of the chief administrative Officer Ntoroko
district where he argued the participant to take the training organized by Good
Hope foundation for rural Development a member of RWECO very important as it is
not easy for the district to get money for capacity building especially under
production sector. He highlighted the
major challenges affecting the NAADS department as disorganized farmers
where they tend to work as individuals,
low technology uptake as most where
farmers need to be guided as much as possible and co-funding has remained a
challenge as most farmers have not been sensitized on its importance,
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| CAO Ntoroko, presenting at the Naads sector meeting held on 25,Oct, 2012 |
I confirmed that salary is not a motivation
for better performance for staff since the Subcounty NAADS coordinators are
highly paid staff compared to other civil servant yet they are not performing
to the expectation to the expectation of the community members. “There is nothing
on the ground on the ground to justify your existence and you prepare report s based
on personal judgment but not the findings in the field,. Do the Service
providers and Subcounty NAADS coordinators know the work ethics?” Exclaimed the Chief administrative Officer
Ntoroko DLG.
Seventeen Naads coordinators and
service providers were taken through the process of work planning and reporting
so as to improve on their implementation as well as reduce “arm Chair Report”. The principle of extension was another key
area which the Naads coordinators and service providers were refreshed and this
was summarized in two words when you hear you will forget when you hear and see
you probably forget and when you hear, see and practice you will never forget.
Therefore, the subcounty Naads coordinators and service providers were advised
not to intimidate the farmers but improve their capacity to become better
farmers. The trainer advised the NAADS
coordinators to perform their duties while aspiring to leave a legacy as
Ntoroko district is a unique area with unique problems in extension services. The
subcounty Naads coordinators and Service providers were informed that t they
are holding a public office where they should adhere to code of conduct and
work ethic like other public officers. The personnel officer, Ntoroko district
was lead facilitator in the principles and code of work. He emphasized that
Subcounty NAADS Coordinator needs to conduct themselves in a professional way
so that the farmers can appreciate and respect them.
When asked whether the farmer groups have
constitutions to address the challenge of disorganized farmer groups which work
as individuals a handful of arms were up. Thanks for the support RWEO support
through Good Hope all the Subcounty Naads coordinators were taken through the
process of writing a constitution, a work plan and a proposal. A topic of
setting up DEMO’s where the facilitator emphasized that the farmer should have
ownership of the demo and able to learn from it. Farmer
field days were also another important topic that was covered during the two
days training. Other topics covered were basic principles in animal husbandry,
preparing a business plan and the logical frame work approach.
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| Ntoroko District LCV at the Naads meeting on 26th Oct, 2012 |
The training was attended by 25 including the
district Naads Coordinator, service providers, and subcounty Naads coordinators
of Ntoroko district. It facilitated by personnel officer Ntoroko district, the
senior production and marketing Officer Kabarole district local government,
SATNET and RWECO staff. In his closing
remarks the LC5 chairperson thanked RWECO for the good partnership with the
district especially in advocacy against shoddy work and asked the service
providers and NAADS coordinators to use the knowledge gained to improve service
delivery in NAADS by advising farmers other than misleading them.
Rwenzori Consortium for Civic
Competence (RWECO) is funded by Hivos to implement Enhancing Civic competence
to strengthen Social Accountability in the Rwenzori Region
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| SATNET demonstrating the Ntoroko District Naads Coordinators on 24th Oct. 2012 |
By Sheila K
RWECO
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