EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In view of women's crucial role in the agricultural production system of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK)^[1], and of the need for an extension service that reaches rural women, a diploma course for female extension assistants (FEAs) was established by the Extension Service Management Academy (ESMA), Garhi Dupatta. The trained FEAs were then employed and have been working for the Department of Agriculture Extension since 1992. On the recommendation of an FAO technical mission to Neelum and Jhelum Valleys Community Development Project (NJVCDP), women's community development groups (CDGs), operating with some financial but mainly technical support from the project, became the platform for the FEAs to impart extension activities. This modality was adopted in order to minimize functionaries' need of physical mobility and to maximize the convenience of coverage and coordination among the extension services.

The present case study was designed and conducted to find out the perceptions of the FEAs regarding the usefulness of the CDG model for promoting extension activities, as compared with the traditional model of contacting individual farmers and farm women. The opinions of administrators and supervisors at the Agriculture Extension Department regarding the FEAs' performance under the CDG model were also sought. Identification of the points of view of members of women's CDGs regarding the usefulness of the model was another main objective.

A representative sample of 50 members of female CDGs was drawn by adopting the multistaged stratified sampling technique. From among the 28 FEAs in position (at the time of data collection), 15 were contacted and information was collected from them.

Analysis of the data revealed that, in terms of convenience in planning of extension activities and coverage of clients, the FEAs found the CDG model more effective than the traditional model. However, the new modality was believed to have brought little relief to the FEAs in terms of physical mobility and personal security aspects. A majority of the FEAs also stressed the need for more and more purposeful training in job-related activities.

Although, the members of women's CDGs reported that the CDG model was more effective than the traditional model, they were not fully satisfied with what had been done for them so far, and nearly half of them expressed complete lack of satisfaction. The CDG members also stated the need for more frequent visits from experts and subject-matter specialists to CDG meetings, in order to enhance their knowledge of plant protection and storage techniques as well as to improve their skills in poultry and livestock production and animal health care. They also emphasized their need for practical training in non-traditional skills for small income-generating enterprises.

The impact of making a credit facility available to CDG members for income-generating activities was also assessed. More than half of the CDG members interviewed were currently involved in some sort of income-generating activity. Disposal of handicrafts and vegetable products was constrained by the lack of marketing linkages, but there was great potential for earning from livestock production activities.

Agriculture extension administrators emphasized that the FEAs had proved their worth as agents of change. The delivery of extension messages through FEAs in the CDG model was perceived to be successful in bringing women into the mainstream development process. The sustainability and replicability of the CDG model were also advocated by the administrators and supervisors interviewed for the project.