Contribution OF Information and Communication to the development of Goat farming:

The NTIC from the myth to the realty

 

Jean-Paul DUBEUF, Véronique LEPIDI

 

 

 

 

Summary – As goats are symbolic animals of rural areas in LRC and Low favoured areas, the changes and problems of extension services have threatened the current dynamics. Alternative solutions based on Farmer’s Associations and private funding could be an alternative ways if mediation functions are developed to use and select reliable information now available thanks to NTIC and Internet. The conditions for the efficiency of such solutions are debated in relation with the present dramatic situation of many rural areas. Consequently, the role of international organizations for information on goats is debated.

 

Key words: goat farming; developing countries; extension; information; new technologies of Information and Communication;

 

Introduction

 

Goats are more than ever, the symbolic animal of small scale villages and low favoured areas. During the last 20 years, the number of goats around the world has increased 60% and the part of goats stocks in Low Revenues Countries (LRC) passed from 74,2% in 1980 to 79,6% in 2000  when sheep are only 39% in LRC and cattle 45,6% (Morand-Fehr et al.; 2003). Most of these goats are in small herds less than 10 animals.

Consequently, there is a high relation between the global situation of many rural areas in these LRC and the conditions for a sustainable development of goat farming. But the general situation of extension rural services is facing important changes on methodological aspects but more dramatically on conditions of working.

 

An overlook on the available information on goats will be related with the conditions for a valorisation of this information in favour of a renewal of rural interventions for the development of goat farming.

 

 

The EXTENSION SERVICES DO NOT EXIST ANY MORE IN MANY COUNTRIES and THEIR OBJECTIVES ARE NOT WELL RECOGNIZED

 

Many developing countries have faced recently structural fittings under the pressure or ordered by financial institutions like IMF, World Bank, etc…The financial cuttings have not only affected central public services and threaten the existence of the states themselves, but also the regional and local services. The extension Services have been properly swallowed by this financial cuttings. An other consequence of these measures associated with general corruption of many ruling classes was the collapse of many national economies and by hundreds of thousands, extension agents were without instructions, support, and salaries and even without a clear idea of their mission.

Even in Higher or Intermediate Revenues Countries, the extension services have some difficulties to define objectives and agents are more and more affected to administrative jobs and the keyword is also privatisation (Rubino et Morand-Fehr, (coord), 1999).

 

Consequently, the authorities have supported private initiatives (from Agro industry for instance), the opening of Consultancy agencies or the creation of Farmer’s Associations. Regarding associations, the financial background of Non Governmental Associations has been encouraged in non competitive sectors like goat farming for instance. The world directory of goat organizations has clearly showed this situation (Lepidi, 2004).

 

 

METHODOLOGICAL CHANGES: THE “EXTENSION SERVICE OFFICE” HAS BEEN REPAINTED AND RENAMED “THE HOUSE OF FARMERS”.

 

Meanwhile these changes were not only structural, they were methodological. In the 80’s and before, centralized models under state control or half state control economies were dominant. This situation was rarely favourable for goats because theses animals were generally considered by technocrats as too traditional for a glorious modern future. Some goat projects have been built during this period but few of them were a success because they were built on an intensive Western model.  Globally, the specific extension services for goats were scarce. 

The awareness of the complexity of many situations and probably also the statement of failures in many extension projects has changed the official methodological approach with the explosion of participating methods. We can quote several ways of working: training courses with farm visits by extension agents; farmers’ groups for an extension farmer to farmer; village schools; working groups of farmers with an animator. In spite of a positive impact to make more confident and self – sufficient the farmers, these methods are often considered as not enough critical and controversial towards the opinion of the farmer. More cooperative methods aim to associate farmers, experts or authorities to define collectively what could be the best projects and how to achieve them (Darré, 1999).

 

More opened and diversified objectives and structural problems have modified the realty of the extension services and beyond new denominations and renewal effects, it is the existence itself of popularization in rural  areas in many countries (LRC but also IRC or HRC) that could be questioned.

 

INFORMATION ON GOATS IS NOW STRUCTURED AND THEORICALLY AVAILABLE THANKS TO NTIC.

 

10 years ago, it was often considered that there was little information on goats (Dubeuf -coord, 1996). We can consider that this situation has really changed and diversified initiatives have been undertaken to give an access to Research results on goats but also on references of local situations: The CIRVAL international web site has been opened in 1996, with an access to thousands of selected references and documentation on animal production, economies, local monographies and works (http://www.cirval.asso.fr). This documentation base has been completed in 2001 by the opening of the French gateway on goat information for French speaking users (http://www.ladocumentationcaprine.net/).   More recently, the International Goat Association (IGA) has opened a site with diversified information on goat events and initiatives have been undertaken to identify the goat organizations and goat products (http://www.iga-goatworld.org/). A portal with the world main references on goats is in progress. National gateways and sites exist in many countries including Southern countries.

If much information on goats can be found on the web, most is not always reliable or even validated but the main gateways quoted here are aware of the need of validation by reliable referees.

 

Considering the situation of extension services, can these information services useful to support development of rural areas and goat farming?

 

 

SOME PROPOSALS FOR A RENEWAL OF EXTENSION ON GOAT FARMING

 

10 years of experience in the NTIC have shown clearly that Internet is not the miracle solution to create a global village. Much hope has led to more disillusion. When authorities have proposed to make the extension agent a mediator between information and the farmers, the idea was rather abstract. The realty shows that this mediator has still to work directly with the farmers and in close relation with their problem. But NTIC could be also an amazing opportunity to give him an access to much diversified information.

 

His mission for the future would be to negotiate the priority actions with industrials, administrations, NGO and the farmers themselves. Once priorities defined, he would have identified, select and organize reliable information to make possible acceptance of innovation and changes by the farmers. He could possibly identify what type of local Research would have to be undertaken or what external results could be mobilized.

 

Unhappily, all the reports have shown that, in spite of a real interest and acceptance of Southern rural areas for Internet Services, equipment in LRC is still around 1% of the rate In HRC. Nevertheless, some regions like Asia and particularly China have staked on these New Technologies to open their rural areas.

 

A BITTER CONCLUSION BASED ON A DRAMATIC SITUATION.   

 

These proposals could be really efficient and the only way to solve so complex diversified problems and such an approach is well adapted to an uncertain world (Callon et al, 2001) if local technical democracy could be developed. But local cultures are generally not ready for such a mutation. An independent status would need to be given to these mediators.

Unhappily, there are often dependants of their funding and we can consider that political, economical, or religious background of many Non Governmental Organizations is often a real problem. We would like to be sure that the development of goat farming (or other activities) is not a pretext for a strategic infiltration with ideological backgrounds. The recent statistics that show a growth of hunger and poverty in a globally richer world could be an argument to be critical on the real impact of these local actions. For instance, what could be the impact of local associations to develop goat farming, if the authorities have no will, no financial support and no politics to control animal health, a terrible situation in many countries? The lack of strategic stakes for goats in many rural areas is not infavour on improved methods of extension.

In Higher Revenues Countries, the fast decrease of goat farmers in low favoured areas is directly related with bad infrastructures or conditions of working and difficulties of access to investment and the displayed politics on diversification and multifunctionnality has still few effects to change the present current.

The function of the organisations and associations (like IGA, CIRVAL, etc…) directly in charge of information and communication on goats could be debated by considering the situation and the dynamics of local projects as underlined previously. Their future will be related with continuation or not of the present tendencies of fragmentation.  Goat farmers are not well prepared to these fast changes. The specific and marginal situation of the goat sector makes relevant and urgent to develop these new functions of mediation between global information and local situations to renew extension services.

 

 

REFERENCES

 

Callon, M., Lascoumes, P., Barthe, Y.2001. Agir dans un monde incertain. Essai sur la démocratie technique ; Le Seuil, Paris, France.358 pp

 

Darré, J-P. 1999. La production de connaissance pour l'action - Arguments contre le racisme de l'intelligence ; INRA éditions ; Paris (France), 244 pp.

 

Dubeuf, J-P (coord.); 1996. Information et innovation pour les filières isolées ; les dossiers du CIRVAL n°2 ; CIRVAL, Corte (France) ; 153 pp. 

 

Lepidi, V., J-P Dubeuf, 2004. The goat organization around the world: a lack of structuration and coordination, (under press)  

 

Morand-Fehr, P., Boutonnet, JP.,Devendra, C.,Dubeuf, JP.,Haenlein, G.,Holst, P.,Lamboley-Gaüzere, B.,Mowlem, L.,Capote, J.2003. Introduction for strategy for development of goat farming in the 21st century; Small Ruminant Research, 51(2): 175-183.

 

Rubino R.; Morand-Fehr, P.(coord.), 1999. Systems of sheep and goat production: organization of husbandry and role of extension services; Options méditerranéennes n°38; CIHEAM, Zaragossa (Spain); 401 pp.