A series of new resources designed to support effective extension of new knowledge and concepts to growers is now available on the A Lighter Touch website.
Designed with support from extension experts Scarlatti, the resources aim to provide a guide to extension planning and monitoring and evaluation. The suite of extension tools evolved as part of the ALT biologicals awareness and integration project, which identified effective extension as a key component of successful adoption of new biological products by growers.
The new resources include a guide to extension planning, an extension planning template and an educative video explaining how to develop and use a model called a Theory of Change as a foundation for extension planning. There is also a resource focused on setting clearly defined goals and objectives, an essential component of good extension.
The example Theory of Change used in an educative ALT video.
A monitoring and evaluation toolkit includes three resources focused on this aspect of extension. There is a step-by-step walk through of the monitoring and evaluation process, a guide to developing a survey to gather meaningful data to inform and evaluate extension activities, and a bank of survey or interview questions which can be adapted depending on the information or data required.
The resources use examples from the A Lighter Touch programme and its various projects to help explain the various concepts and planning tools.
All of the new resources as well as previously published extension material can be found under a new extension section of the A Lighter Touch website. It also includes information about the A Lighter Touch Community of Practice, a shared learning network for people practicing extension in the horticulture and agriculture sectors.
Find the new extension section at the end of the main navigation on the ALT website, before the Contact Us button.
