Kazakhstan and Ukraine Agriculture:

Opportunities for Growth and Development Through Improved

Knowledge Systems

Outline of Presentation

• Introductory Comments• Returns to Research and Extension• USA Experience• Developments in Kazakhstan • Developments in Ukraine• Evaluation• Recommendations• Concluding Observations

Introduction

• Experience of the USA—not as a guideline but for ideas on how to make Extension work

• Situation in Kazakhstan

• Situation in Ukraine

• Ideas to make both systems work better

• Both will have elements of their own culture and history

Returns to Extension and Research

• Recent IFPRI Study of All Analyses to Date

• Major Conclusions

40-60 percent overall

Higher returns for research than for both research and Extension

• Implications for Kazakhstan and Ukraine

USA Experience

• Cooperative Extension Approach• Agriculture or Broader Based Extension• Traditional Areas for Programs• Organization within the University• Funding of Extension• Extension—Bottom-up/Top-down• Extension and Distance Education• Public and Private Goods• Magnitude of Budget

Digression on Public/Private Goods

• What is a public good

• What is a private good

• What is a quasi public good

• How to address those in the middle

Developments in Kazakhstan

• Ministry of AgricultureExtension centersLocations of Extension centers

• Kazakh National Agricultural UniversityHigh schoolsExperimental programDigital system for dissemination

• Outreach programs of Institutes• Oblast Programs• NGO Programs

Developments in Ukraine

• Experimental Programs in the early 1990s by donors

• Extension nearly stopped when the funds ran out

• Today there are two major programs; the leftovers from the donor funded programs and a University program

• There are as well NGO and oblast programs

Evaluation of Extension Programs

• Planning

• Design

• Implementation

• Evaluation approaches

Impacts on the Agricultural Economy and the Country

• Large increases exports are a real possibility

• Food security will become a more complicated issue for Kazakhstan—will likely be addressed differently than now

• State policy must change to allow the market to play a larger role

• Water management requires policy and educated practitioners

Recommendations

• Set of steps annually

• Get a vision

• Set a road map

• Review each year

• Show progress

Concluding Observations

• Take what appears useful from the USA model of Extension

• Merge with the history and cultures of Kazakhstan and Ukraine

• Initiate the planning process

• Make changes reflecting results

• Move a broad program for Extension