BeyondTechnology Transfer?

Abstract

The brochure for the December 1996 Conference Beyond Technology Transfer, organized by the Australasia Pacific Extension Network (APEN), implies that extensionists have moved beyond Technology Transfer. It asks if other organizations are also changing their thinking. In this paper, I argue that extensionists, myself included, often have not moved as far as they think they have. This becomes especially evident when looking at what people do, rather than what they say they do, when the innovations they are promoting have low adoption rates. I suggest to use the words ‘expanding from Technology Transfer’ instead of ‘moving beyond Technology Transfer’. I then present a wider view of extension, followed by some reasons why individuals in key organizations are not likely to have changed their thinking or to voluntarily expand from Technology Transfer in the future. My arguments are based on observations when I used a set of assumptions from the area of Agricultural Knowledge Systems in close to 200 in-depth interviews. I conclude that an expansion from Technology Transfer, while maintaining its strengths, will benefit farmers and other end-users but will require a concerted effort by the main beneficiaries to overcome subtle but strong resistance. Effective actions by beneficiaries requires them to recognize the forces for and against such a move. I state my belief that extensionists can and ought to play a significant part in fostering this recognition, in addition to developing new skills. This paper aims to contribute to the recognition process.