Farmers training programme of Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research: An appraisal

Abstract

A large number of high yielding crop varieties, management practices, and other technologies have been
generated by Holetta, Debre Zeit and Melkassa Research Centres. While the core functions of Ethiopian
Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) are technology supply; popularization; national coordination and
capacity building and policy development; the research and extension division of EIAR is responsible for
catalyzing scaling up and scaling out technologies. Training of farmers, deve-lopment agents, and other
extension staff has been an important component of this task. This study was undertaken to appraise the
status of EIAR’s farmers training approach. One wereda was purposely selected in the localities where each
one of the three research centres has operated over the last seve-ral years. Equal numbers of respondents
were selected and qualitative and quantitative data were col-lected from each centre. Primary and secondary
data were also gathered using structured and informal interviews and analyzed. The quantitative data were
analyzed using descriptive statistical tools such as frequency, percentage and chi-square test. The result of
study shows that the most important problems identified in the training process were absence of training need
assessment, shortage of training time, and too much theory during training and limited use of indigenous
knowledge. Therefore, it is recom-mended that, during training process all the three research centres should
include training need asses-sment which is the first steps in designing a training and development program.