Posted on October, 27, 2016 at 08:37 am
THE government has announced massive policy action over the ailing agricultural sector which will include reviewing professional conducts and work performance of all extension officers in the country.
Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Dr Charles Tizeba said here yesterday that the government was reviewing a list of factors that affect the agricultural sector and preventing it from realizing true economic achievements with the performance of many of the Extension Officers leaving a lot to be desired.
He was speaking when opening the annual Cotton Stakeholders Conference calling for the District Executive Directors (DEDs) to be prepared for the verification exercise in which each staff in the extension service will be reached.
“We have a problem with the quality of extension services in many areas in the country and we are soon coming with an action where all the staff will now be strictly verified including indentifying the colleges they went for studies among others,” he said.
The Minister said the ailing Cotton sub-sector was a clear indicator of what was going on in the entire agricultural sector and that time has come for the state to walk the talk by taking deliberate action to revamp it.
Dr Tizeba said the country had 7,60 extension officers whose state of professionalism needs to be reviewed, their qualifications scrutinised before they are assisted to upgrade and brush their skills.
Source: Daily News