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Strengthening Agriculture Extension Services for Smallholder Farmers Background The increasing complexity of challenges facing agriculture (climate change, resource degradation, meeting changing consumer tastes, rising demand for food of higher quality etc.) dictate that farm models of the future will have to be knowledge intensive, requiring greater management of a wider range of factors. Smallholder farmers will not be exempted from these trends and the most successful ones are likely to be the early adopters. The way agriculture extension services are organized and delivered will be key in helping smallholders to manage the increasing complexity in agriculture. Different models of extension service exist. This webinar brings together senior policy makers from Africa and India to share their experiences in providing agriculture extension services to small and marginal farmers. Participants Agriculture practitioners, policy makers and researchers from Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and India. Webinar Details and Time The webinar will be hosted by the World Bank over WebEx on Thursday, December 17, 2020 from 14:30 Hours to 16:45 Hours, Indian Standard Time (IST). Event details are: Meeting Link: https://worldbankgroup.webex.com/worldbankgroup/j.php?MTID=mf9986a74045e376d9e720749e78b1eb7 Meeting number: 180 557 9720 Meeting password: Mapn6CjvC35 Agenda The webinar starts with four presentations by delegates from Ethiopia, Rwanda and India; followed by an open discussion, where the participants could ask questions to the speakers and also briefly share their experience. Note: All timings mentioned in the following table are in Indian Standard Time. IST is 2 Hours 30 minutes ahead of EAT, 3 Hours 30 minutes ahead of CAT and 5 Hours 30 minutes ahead of GMT.

Start End Time Session

2:30 PM 2:35 PM 5 minutes Introduction by Abel Lufafa, Senior Agriculture Specialist, World Bank, India

2:35 PM 2:45 PM 10 minutes Opening remarks by Dr. Mandefro Nigussie, State Minister for Agriculture, Government of Ethiopia

2:45 PM 3:00 PM 15 minutes

Agricultural extension service in Ethiopia: Achievements and challenges and case study on Customized extension Dr Tewodros Tefera, REALISE Program Manager, Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics, Ethiopia

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3:00 PM 3:25 PM 25 minutes Lab to Land through Network of KVKs - Farm Science Centers Dr. Ashok Kumar Singh, Deputy Director General – Agriculture Extension, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)

3:25 PM 3:40 PM 15 minutes

Extension service delivery in support to smallholder farming in Rwanda Dr. Charles Bucagu, Deputy Director General, Agricultural Research and Technology Transfer, Rwanda Agriculture Board

3:40 PM 3:55 PM 15 minutes The Experience from Karnataka State in India Mr. B. K. Dikshit, Commissioner - Agriculture, Government of Karnataka, India

3:55 PM 4:35 PM 40 minutes Moderated Discussion

4:35 PM 4:40 PM 5 minutes Closing Remarks Mr. Vikas Choudhary, Senior Agriculture Specialist, World Bank, Ethiopia

4:40 PM Vote of Thanks by Himmat Patel, World Bank, India Speaker’s Bio Dr. Mandefro Nigussie

Dr. Mandefro Nigussie leads the agriculture development in Ethiopia as the State Minister of Agriculture. Prior to this, he held positions as the Director General of Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), Country Manager of AGRA and Deputy Regional Director of Oxfam America. During his career, Dr. Mandefro has led the development of several agricultural policies and published various articles in books, journals, proceedings and research reports. He has taught and supervised postgraduate students in different universities, and also advised PhD and MSc Students. Dr. Mandefro teaches advanced statistics, biometry, quantitative genetics, experimental design, biometrical genetics and heterosis breeding in six universities. He is a fellow member of the Ethiopian Academy of Science and has served as Board chair and board members of various institutions. He currently leads the Agriculture Sector Policy Reform of Ethiopia and is also a member of the Independent Science for Development Council (ISDC) of the CGIAR. He holds BSc, MSc and PhD in Plant Sciences, Agronomy and Genetics and Plant Breeding, respectively.

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Dr. Ashok Kumar Singh

Dr. Ashok Kumar Singh started his career as an Agricultural Scientist in the year 1987, now working as Deputy Director General (Agricultural Extension) in Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi since 2014. Presently engaged in task of empowering farmers, farm women and youth by technology dissemination and knowledge sharing through a network of 721 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (Farm Science Centers) connected with Research Institutes. His team is pursuing important programmes through KVKs on self-sufficiency of pulses, climate resilient agriculture, crop residue management, nutri-sensitive agriculture, doubling farmers income and other issues.

Dr. Charles Bucagu

Dr. Bucagu Charles, is the Deputy Director General (DDG) at Rwanda Agriculture Board since April 2018. Before joining RAB, he served as the Dean of the School of Agriculture and Food Science at the University of Rwanda from 2014-18. He has been in teaching and research for over 17 years and his research mostly focuses on the use of trees and shrubs in particular farming environment, targeting appropriate options for integration in agricultural production systems. Dr. Charles’s research has focused on smallholder farming systems in Rwanda with particular emphasis on exploring the diversity of mixed agroforestry-based farming systems within different agro-ecological zones and identifying the role of agroforestry in addressing problems related to soil nutrient deficiencies and poor quality of livestock feeds. He has authored and co-authored a number of papers in reputable international journals.

Source: African Potato Association Mr. B K Dikshit

Mr B K Dikshit is from the cadre of Indian Forest Services and is currently the Agriculture Commissioner, Department of Agriculture in the state of Karnataka in India. Prior to this, he was the Additional Principal Chief Conservator for Forest Resource Management Division, Karnataka Forest Department. He has worked at different wings of Forest Department as Registrar of Karnataka State Open University, Mysore, and also in Lake Development Authority, Forestry Research and as Chief Evaluation Officer, Karnataka Evaluation Authority. As part of that, he won “Skoch award for e-auctioning” and “Skoch award for timber allotment for bona fide users”.