Preface



The On-Farm Grain Storage Project is pleased to make this exten-
sion communication manual available to Kenya's Ministry of Agri-
culture. It is hoped that this practical guide will serve Kenya's
front-line agricultural extension staff for many years.
The front-line workers are general agriculturalists and they must
deliver information to farmers on a wide range of subjects. Their
effectiveness in this task depends both on their knowledge of their
subjects and on their ability to communicate with farmers.
The author speaks directly to the front-line workers. And the
suggested methods and techniques should have application in the
communication of subjects across the full range of agricultural
extension-not just post-harvest management. Likewise, the infor-
mation contained in the manual should be of use to those educa-
tional institutions which train Kenya's agricultural extension
staff. Also, the manual will have relevance for extension staff in
other countries.
The author, John Fox, has nearly thirty years experience in adult
education and extension communication. He has taught communi-
cation skills, conducted research programmes, produced simula-
tions and games, video training tapes and previous handbooks on
communication. He has over ten years of work experience with
various professional groups in Kenya and other African countries.
He spent two years teaching communication and adult education
skills at the University of Nairobi's Adult Studies Centre, Kikuyu.
In preparation for this manual, John Fox accompanied front-line
extension workers on their daily farm visits to gain close, first hand
experience of their work routines and interactions with farmers-
and he has attended numerous project field days in western Kenya.
The chapters follow a logical pattern. The first five explore the case
for employing a discussion and action-based methodology in exten-
sion work; the following chapters show how this methodology can
be applied in a variety of situations and formats.
The agricultural extension workers who read this manual will find
guidelines and checklists for individual application. But the man-
ual also contains material that can be adapted for role playing and
discussions in training groups.
Dr. Walter G. Heid, Jr
Team Leader, DPRA
On-Farm Grain Storage Project