A1 What Is Communication?










 Kilonzo was quite new to the extension service. It was mid July, and
 he was visiting one of his contact farmers in a location some twenty
 kilometres from Kisumu by the shore of Lake Victoria.
 A few weeks previously he had attended an orientation course for
 agricultural assistants (AA's) on post-harvest and grain manage-
 ment techniques-part of a programme in Western Kenya to get
 across extension messages related to reducing the losses being
 experienced by small-scale farmers in the handling of their maize
 crops.
 It was harvest time; and one of the objectives of the campaign was
 to encourage farmers to harvest early, when the maize was mature
 enough-rather than leave it in the shamba to dry-where it would
 be susceptible to damage by insects, birds and rodents.
 Armed with his leaflets explaining when and how to harvest, where
 and how to store the grain, Kilonzo felt confident that he had
 something to tell and teach his farmer. When they met, he came
 straight to the point. He produced his leaflets, explained the purpose
 of the new campaign and showed the farmer the illustration in the
 leaflet on how to test for when the maize is ready for harvesting. He
 looked around the compound and saw four traditional basket
 stores---all low to the ground and smeared with dung.
 He showed the farmer a drawing of such a basket raised a metre
 above the ground, fitted with simple rat guards made from Kimbo
 tins and clean of mud or dung-so that the wind could blow through
 the woven structure and dry the grain more quickly.
 The farmer looked and listened and nodded. He seemed to agree
 with all Kilonzo had said-and all that was printed in the leaflet.
 But then he asked a question:
 "In the neighboring locations a few farmers have been given a new
 kind of crib-bigger than these stores of mine and square and made
 of wood. Such a crib looks very fine in the compound. Why can't I be
 given one like that?"