Volume 14, Number 1 DOI: 10.5191/jiaee.2007.14106 Agricultural Extension Services in the Mountain Areas of

Dr. Anastasios Michailidis Lecturer of Agricultural Economics Department of Agricultural Products Marketing and Quality Control School of Agriculture Technological Education Institution of Western Terma Kontopoulou St., 531 00 , Greece E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract Small ruminant production is one of the main agricultural activities for farmers in the Mountain villages in the region of West Macedonia in Greece. Educational and training programs concerning animal production toward women in the research area are far from an acceptable level, despite women’s significant role in production. A survey was conducted, in ten villages in the Florina’s Mountains, with 100 women to find out women’s role in the labour distribution, decision-making, reasons for rearing small ruminants and the importance of the agricultural extension service as an information source. Data were statistically analyzed using categorical regression, frequencies, percentages and means.

Keywords: Categorical Regression, Greece, Information Source, Ruminant, Women farmers

Acknowledgements: This research was supported through funding from the Technological Educational Institution of West Macedonia, Florina, Greece. Spring 2007 71 Volume 14, Number 1 Introduction providing this service has been strictly Small ruminant production is reduced because of monetary deficits. In characteristic of Mediterranean regions with many developing countries the percentage of a general tendency towards milk production, public extension workers to the farmers as well as meat consumption (Ronchi & approach the ratio of 1:3,000 while this ratio Nardone, 2003). Small ruminant production is 1:400 in the rest of the countries is very important agricultural activity in the (Swanson, Farner, & Behal, 1990). Not only region of West Macedonia and especially in extension but also veterinary services no the Mountain villages around the city of longer have enough funds to meet the Florina. More than five thousands people increasing needs of the farmers (Schwartz, live in these areas and they consist of the 1994; Umali, Feder, & de Haan, 1994). poorest farmers in the country. These people Tambi, Mukhebi, Maina, and Solomon have very little access to basic resources like (1999) stated that in developing countries it shelter, clean water, sanitation systems, has always been felt that the provision of schools, roads and markets. This huge zone these services is responsibility of the of Mountain lands can only be utilized well government regardless of whether they are by small ruminants. The main characteristics provided for efficiently. of the areas utilized for small ruminant Gender disparity in extension production are marginal lands, programs has long been acknowledged predominantly rural, common availability (Erbaugh, Donnermeyer, Amujal, & and a very low level of mechanization Kyamanywa, 2003; Squire, 2003). (Boyazoglu & Flamant, 1990). According to Salmen (1999), women were According to a large volume of excluded from the benefits of extension. The research that was carried out in developing identification of gender roles in small countries (Gidarakou, 1999; Jaitner, Sowe, ruminant production and management can Secka-Njie, & Dempfle, 2001; Lebbie, help extension, veterinary and research 2004; Shortall, 2000; Sinn, Ketzis, & Chen, institutions to develop appropriate 1999), women play a major role in small educational programs and research. Women ruminant production. The foremost tasks of farmers’ access to extension services will women in small ruminant production are enhance small ruminant production and milking, cleaning small ruminant barns, household food security. cutting and carrying grasses, grazing and The main reason for carrying out this mixing fodder. Women contribute a study was to determine women’s role in significant percentage of the labour to small small ruminant production and the ruminant production; however, it is not importance of an agricultural extension always recognized because men hold the service as an information source in mountain structural authority. Despite women’s areas of Greece. Next section presents the significant role, educational or training methodology applied in the case study programs about small ruminant production including the research design, the area and regarding women in rural areas are far from the sample. Results are set out and an acceptable level. interpreted in third section, while fourth In the mountain parts of Greece the section includes the categorical regression public sector has been the major provider of model. The major conclusions from the extension services. Bernet, Ortiz, Estrada, results are presented in the last section. Quiroz, and Swinton (2001) pointed out that extension services can not recognize the Materials and Methods requirements of farmers in many This study was carried out at the mountainous areas. During the last few mountainous villages, around the city of years, the role of the government in Florina, in the western Macedonian region

72 Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education Volume 14, Number 1 of Greece. The area is described as arid and 1998; Berdie, Anderson, & Niebuhr, 1986). located between the altitudes of 600 and Following that procedure, a pilot study was 800m in the Florina’s Mountains. Mountain conducted with aided self-administrated villages were defined as the villages where questionnaire on a sample of 10 households cultivatable land is at 600m altitude and (convenience sampling), which were above. The area has 600-700 mm yearly excluded from the final research (Johns & rainfall. Irrigation possibilities are almost Ross-Lee, 1998; Mertens, 1998). The non-existent (Michailidis, Kamenidou, & empirical research was conducted by using Arambatzis, 2004). It has a very short the modified questionnaire in the final growing season with mild winters and hot sample of this study. In the present study, humid summers. Most of the farms in this the convenience sampling technique was area are classified as family farms and the employed with aided self-administrated main economic activity is small ruminant questionnaires (Malhorta, 1996). According production. to the chosen statistical analysis, the A group of 100 households in ten sample’s size is significant enough villages (Agios Germanos, Nymfaio, (Lehmann, Cupta, & Steckel, 1998). , Akritas, , Lehovo, Niki, Armenoxori, Skopia and Polypotamo) of the Results Florina’s administrative district were The average household size was four randomly selected for this study. This people, which is very close to Florina’s 3.8 represents about 8% of the estimated 1,250 people and to Greece’s 3.5 people. The households in these ten villages. The mean age of women responding was 42.8 villages were selected by their small years, ranging from 18 to 70 years. Seventy- ruminant numbers, number of households two percent of them were younger than 55 and the intensity of their small ruminant years old. The average age for men as a head production. For the purpose of verifying the of household was 54.2 years. Almost one- above objectives, a structured written third (29.0%) of the women farmers were questionnaire addressed to women was illiterate while men’s illiteracy rate was prepared. The questionnaire was developed 14.0%. Only 25.0% of the literate women specifically for this purpose based on farmers had completed at least five years of literature review (Gidarakou, 1999; Jaitner formal education while the remainder were et al., 2001; Lebbie, 2004; Shortall, 2000; literate without any diploma. Sinn et al., 1999), the results of qualitative The common family type in the research and the objectives of this study. It research area was the nuclear family comprised of 26 questions and was divided (85.0%) that consists of mother, father and into four parts: (a) general characteristics of unmarried children. It was found that, on an farms and woman farmers, (b) labour average, women spent 3.5h of a total 11.5h distribution and decision making in small working day for small ruminant activities. ruminant production, (c) frequency of use The majority of women (75.6%) also and confidence with information sources participated in handicraft activities like and (d) socioeconomic and demographic carpets, traditional uniforms, woollies and questions. The questionnaire was knitwears for selling at the local markets. implemented face-to-face by the authors. Almost half of the women (53.0%) The survey was conducted between the also participated in crop production with middle of 2005 and the end of 2005. their husbands. Roughly two-thirds (68.3%) Since the questionnaire was of the rural households, in the study area, developed, it was tested for content validity owned their agricultural land with an (Kinnear & Taylor, 1996; Chisnall, 1997) average of 2.2ha. Most of these lands and face validity (Aaker, Kumar, & Day, (58.5%) were arid. Wheat, potatoes and

Spring 2007 73 Volume 14, Number 1 subsistence vegetable production were cited land is scarce so survival with only crop most frequently. Details about women production is almost impossible. The farmers and farms characteristics are given families rely primarily on sheep and goat in Table 1. sales to secure cash income. Traditional reasons were pointed in the second place Table 1 with 14.6%. Generation of high income (6.3%), low capital requirement (5.4%) and Average Scores of General Characteristics low management demands (3.9%) were of Farms and Woman Farmers found to be less important reasons for Characteristics M SD keeping small ruminants. Farmer’s age 42.8 11.9 Women farmers were interviewed Land farmed (ha) 2.2 5.3 about the labour distribution and decision- Number of plots 3.1 1.4 making structures in small ruminant Small ruminant (head) 45.2 56.4 production. Labour allocation in farming Cattle (head) 5.6 17.1 mainly originated from the family members. Total working hours (hours/daily) 11.5 3.5 In 74.0% of the farms, the women and female children were responsible for milking. Similar results were found in The total flock composition in the Honduras, Turkey and Bolivia (Sinn et al., investigated households was estimated about 1999; Budak, Darcan, & Kantar, 2006). 8,500 heads, which consisted of 1,450 cows, Cheese and yoghurt were also made by 145 bulls, 20 rams, 2,450 lambs, 2,200 women and girls. Another important task for goats, 60 ewes, 80 yearling lamb, 50 women (45.4%) and girls (22.6%) was yearlings and 2,000 kids. It was found that cleaning the sheep and goat barns. It was 21.0% of the small ruminants were sheltered found that girls generally began herding at in an open barn and 72.0% in a closed barn; age ten or eleven with their mothers’ the remaining small ruminants were kept in companionship. Also, boys began semi-opened barns. Households keep sheep cultivating with their fathers at age ten or so. together with goats in mixed herds. The Women and girls tended to be more housing period was 5.2 months. In the involved in labour instead of technical research area, the average size of herds was contents. If the activities involved 42.7. The average daily milk yield of goats technicalities and money, like vaccination was found to be very low (.65 kg). and stallion, men or veterinarians made the Reasons for keeping small ruminants decisions. Labour distribution and decision- are divided into five parts based on the making structures in small ruminant women farmers’ answers. The main reason production are detailed in Table 2. for keeping small ruminants was cash income with 69.8%. In these areas, arable

74 Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education Volume 14, Number 1 Table 2

Labour Distribution and Decision Making in Small Ruminant Production (%) Man and Female Male Labor distribution Woman Man Woman child child Shepherd Veterinarian Take to pasture 7.2 19.6 - 17.5 11.7 44.0 - Take to stubble 7.8 22.4 1.1 16.2 12.8 39.7 - Milking 54.2 18.1 2.2 1.1 19.8 2.4 2.2 Clean ruminant barn 45.4 22.6 1.3 7.6 2.5 20.6 - Mating 38.2 54.6 7.2 - - - - Weaning time 43.8 39.6 14.3 - - - 2.3 Adjusting concentrate 29.6 51.4 18.2 - .8 - - Vaccination 10.5 44.3 - - - - 45.2 Stallion or sell 26.3 54.2 1.5 - - - 18.0

Timely dissemination of information Turkey (40.0% and 44.5% respectively) in widely spread out mountain villages are preferred to work with female extension very hard to accomplish by government agents. However, 74.4% of the women organizations with limited sources. mentioned that they just wanted to receive Extension and veterinary services are trying information on small ruminant production so to reach a very wide and heterogeneous the gender of extension worker was not group of farmers with demonstrations and important for them. The remaining 2.8% of training courses free of charge. Women are the women stated that their husbands would generally less free to attend these decide for them. Almost all the women educational activities. In our research area, (97.8%) pointed out that they could attend unfortunately, only 9.1% of women had a the demonstrations and training courses only chance to participate in limited educational if they were carried out at their villages. The programs about small ruminant production respondents were asked to divulge their and infectious diseases offered by extension main information sources to keep up on new or veterinary services. Almost 32.1% of the production methods in small ruminant women indicated that no educational production and their confidence with these programs had been offered in their villages various channels or sources of information. by these services. But more than half of Information sources are listed in Table 3. them (58.8%) did not explain the reason for not participating in these programs. A small Table 3 part of them (10.5%) indicated that they really were not interested in these programs. Frequency of Use and Confidence with Another problem of extension is the Information Sources cultural constraints on women. The gender Percent of extension agents is an important factor in Information sources f Confidence rural areas. Since women farmers did not TV/radio/newspaper 18.4 22.8 feel comfortable around male extension Veterinarian 30.2 38.5 workers, they preferred (22.8%) to receive Other farmers 21.6 7.8 visits and training programs from female Input sellers 1.9 .2 extension workers. Similar results were Teacher/head of village 4.8 18.6 found by Due, Magayane, and Temu, (1997) Older family members 17.2 8.8 in Tanzania and by Budak et al. (2006) in Extension workers 5.9 3.3 Turkey. Women farmers from Tanzania and

Spring 2007 75 Volume 14, Number 1 The research findings indicate that other and to identify which variables must the women’s attitude toward training excluded from the scale. On the basis of this programs about small ruminant production index no one variable was excluded from the was extremely positive. Seventy-nine total number of 9 variables. The Cronbach’s percent of the women wanted to participate alpha (α) coefficient was computed and in educational activities if they took place in found equal to .83 (SPSS, 2003) indicating their village; others did not want to attend that the “labour distribution” scale is these programs because they were too old adoptable. Friedman two-way analysis of (13.6%) and had only a few animals (8.4%). variance with X2 = 2214.8 (α = .000) and The most frequent topics addressed by Hotelling’s T2 = 1602.7 (F = 40.12 and α = women during the interview about .000) indicate the significance in differences educational programs were general sheep of item means. and goat management methods, like Then, a categorical regression model milking, feeding, etc. (42.1%), veterinary (Kooij & Meulman, 1997) was employed concerns (30.6%), all activities (especially utilizing as depended variable the average marketing) about small ruminant production ranking for each respondent, called “labour (21.2%) and only 6.1% of women did not distribution” (Table 4). The estimated F express their opinion about any topic. statistic (7.86) is significant (α = .000) and indicates that the model performs well. The Categorical Regression calculated R2 (.88) indicate that only 88% of Table 2 presents the reliability the dependent variable’s variance can be analysis (Bohrnsedt, 1977) which was explained by the regression. applied to find out if the selected “labour distribution” variables are related to each

Table 4

Selected Independent Variables Independent variables Type Categories Number of plots Scale - Total working hours Scale - Small ruminant (head) Scale - Gender Nominal 1 = male, 2 = female Age Ordinal 1 = under 35, 2 = over 35 Education Ordinal 1 = illiterate, 2 = primary, 3 = secondary, 4 = post secondary Occupation Nominal 1 = professional/managerial, 2 = skilled/technical Annual income Ordinal 1 = under 10,000€, 2 = over 10,000€ Marital status Nominal 1 = married, 2 = other

Furthermore, among all independent information (Table 5). In fact, from the zero variables the variables “number of plots,” order correlation coefficients between “gender,” “total working hours” and “age” transformed predictors and the transformed seem to influence the most the dependent response we get a better understanding of variable. The zero order correlation how these predictors are doing. coefficients are in line with the importance coefficient and they do not add further

76 Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education Volume 14, Number 1 Table 5

Categorical Regression Coefficients and Other Statistics Standardized Coefficients Correlations Tolerance Independent St. Zero- variables Beta Error F order Partial Part Importance After Before Number of plots -.28 .06 22.52 -.38 -.27 -.25 .348 .87 .85 Total working hours .10 .07 2.14 .35 .08 .07 .196 .64 .63 Small ruminant (head) .01 .06 .09 .17 .01 .01 .016 .90 .90 Annual income .02 .06 .31 .06 .02 .02 .017 1.04 1.05 Age -.09 .06 2.28 -.23 -.08 -.08 .143 .86 .87 Education .06 .06 1.38 .09 .07 .06 .023 1.06 1.07 Occupation .05 .07 .06 .20 .00 .00 .004 .68 .68 Gender .18 .07 7.54 .27 .16 .15 .246 .70 .71 Marital status -.03 .06 .55 -.10 -.03 -.03 .007 .99 .99

From the partial correlation Conclusion coefficients it is indicated that, removing the In the Mountain villages of Florina, effects of other variables, “number of plots” the majority of women farmers are very explains about 7.3% [or (-.27)2] of the poor and not able to pay for information variation in the “labour distribution” factor. about animal production. For these women The rest variables explain smaller portion of farmers the only way to access new variance if the effects of the other variables information is through the public extension are removed. Moreover, by removing the services. In addition, farmers’ organizations effects of other variables “gender” explain represent another way for rural women to about 2.6% [or (-.16)2] of the variation in the gain access to technology, information and “labour distribution” factor. training. However, participation in such Both reliability analysis and organizations is restricted for women by categorical regression model confirmed the custom and land tenure. Usually, women good fitting of the ranking scale to the play a much greater role in the production of research data and the suitable choice of the small ruminants than men. Yet, more communication technology items. extension programs should be offered to Especially, the categorical regression model women instead of men while considering the revealed some interesting dependencies cultural constraints. among the variables of the study. Hereafter, Generation of income was the most descriptive statistics were used to explain important reason for keeping small the level of used communication technology ruminants in the surveyed households on farms, the farmer’s familiarity with followed by production of animals for precision farming and preference in traditional reasons. Similar findings were educational methods. found by Teufel, Kuettner, and Gall, (1998) in Pakistan and Jaitner et al. (2001) in Gambia. Women farmers suffer from inadequate access to the marketing services. Although women in the research area were active as traders, little had been done to

Spring 2007 77 Volume 14, Number 1 make their marketing opportunities better. Finally, institutional linkage between Extension programs should therefore be extension and veterinary services should be focused on high-income economic activities, strengthened. Hence, routine vaccination such as marketing opportunities for milk systems for small ruminants must be products, artificial insemination and animal established by the extension service with the breeding. collaboration of the veterinary services. Long working hours are the custom According to Haenlein and Abdellatif for women in the Mountain villages of (2004), veterinary services are not easy to Florina in the Western Macedonian region find, not only in developing countries but of Greece. It was found that women in the also in North America and Europe; however, research area were working 11.5h per day and are often difficult to afford. In fact, and that small ruminant activities take place 36.8% of women in the research area all year round, unlike crop production. As a demanded training programs about animal result, they had little time to inquire about health care. extension and veterinary services. Therefore, The analysis in this paper focused on extension workers have to schedule the the determination of women’s role in small training programs depending on women’s ruminant production and on the importance free time to ensure high participation. Also, of an agricultural extension service, as an labour-saving technologies such as single information source, in a specific Greek milking machines and house appliances for mountain region and ignored the cross- cooking and cleaning should be offered to region (or cross-country) differences. Future rural women by extension services. cross-country research about this matter Public sector extension is trying to would be a useful complement to the results reach many farmers with limited resources. presented here. Extension workers should design programs at the village level instead of for selected References farm visits. More participatory extension Aaker, D. A., Kumar, V., & Day, G. S. approaches could be used to involve all (1998). Marketing research (6th ed.). farmers. New York: John Wiley and Sons Inc. Extension programs and materials Berdie, R. D., Anderson, F. J. & Niebuhr, A. should be developed that take into M. (1986). Questionnaires: Design consideration the woman’s talent, and use: Metuchen, New Jersey: The educational levels and needs. It was found Scarecrow Press. out that 29.0% of women were illiterate in Bernet, T., Ortiz, O., Estrada, R. D., Quiroz, the research area so more demonstrations, R., & Swinton, S. M. (2001). field days, audio-visual presentations, radio Tailoring agricultural extension to and television programs should be used different production contexts: a user- more extensively. friendly farm household model to There are very few female extension improve decision-making for workers in Greece. To reach women participatory research. Agricultural farmers, more female extension workers Systems, 69, 183-198. should be trained and their visits to these Boyazoglu, J., & Flamant, J. C. (1990). A areas be supported. In Gambia, the note on the Mediterranean systems proportion of female agricultural extension of animal production. In J. G. Galaty, workers has increased from 5% in 1989 to & D. Johnson, (Eds.), Pastoral more than 60% today to increase attention to Systems. New York: Guilford Press. women’s involvement especially in small ruminant and poultry production (FAO, 2003).

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