Research Questions:
- What are the priority agricultural development needs as expressed by communities in LREB and NOREB counties (those where the UoE TAGDev team did needs assessments)?
- How aligned are the TAGDev 2.0 program interventions (e.g., curriculum, research, outreach) to these local needs?
- What are the gaps in current agricultural extension services, especially for youth and women, in these counties?
Methods:
- Participatory rural appraisal (PRA): Use community workshops, ranking exercises, problem tree analysis, to engage local farmers, youth, women.
- Survey: Structured questionnaires to smallholder farmers, youth groups, women’s farmer groups, local leaders.
- Policy analysis: Review existing agricultural extension policies in the counties, and compare with UoE’s TAGDev 2.0 plans or interventions.
- Geospatial mapping: Map where the needs are most acute (e.g., zones of high food insecurity, low extension coverage).
Implications:
- Provide evidence to help UoE prioritize its resource allocation for outreach and research.
- Help shape more context-specific programs (training, curriculum, technology adoption) that respond to real local problems.
- Influence county-level agricultural policy and extension by highlighting community-defined priorities.