Farmer's needs propel change and institutional reform in agricultural extension : an action learning experience from Zimbabwe.

This paper describes the evolution of a participatory approach to innovation development and extension within the ConTill project and examines the strategy adopted by the project to scale-up the successful pilot of this approach, through institutionalisation in the agricultural extension department (AGRITEX).
Awareness and commitment to change were achieved through the development of 'learning cases,' the exposure of extension department officers to them, informal networking and joint lobbying. The position of the project as an 'outsider' also enabled the project freedom to interact with all hierarchy levels within AGRITEX, provoking action through acting as an informant.
Once the extension department was convinced of the need for change a means for putting the participatory extension approaches into practice was sought. Operationalisation of participatory approaches was recognised to involve far more than training staff in participatory methods, since not only did the participatory approaches challenge the existing organisational culture but also other factors, such as control-oriented rather than performance - oriented management were not conducive to its adoption. In response to this an organisational development programme was initiated which is outlined in the paper.