Browsing by Author "Mphepo, P. J."

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Contribution of Malawi’s decentralized agricultural extension service system to farmers’ maize productivity
(Tanzania Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 2022) Mphepo, P. J.; Urassa, Justin
Agricultural extension plays a critical role in the agricultural sector’s development and sustainability of farmers’ productivity and well-being. Malawi has consistently been reforming its agricultural extension services to increase accessibility by farmers. However, smallholder farmers’ productivity remains low. Therefore, the study on which the paper is based, aimed at examining the contribution of Malawi’s decentralized agricultural extension system (DAESS) to households’ maize productivity. Specifically, the study aimed at determining how farmers’ access to agricultural extension services, factors associated with their maize productivity and lastly, farmers’ satisfaction with Malawi’s DAESS. The study adopted the cross-sectional research design whereby a structured questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from 150 smallholder maize farmers in Mangochi district, Malawi. In addition, supplementary data were collected from 10 focus group discussions involving 6 – 8 participants and from nine (9) key informant interviews. IBM-SPPS was used to determine descriptive and inferential statistics. Regression analysis was run to determine how access to extension services is associated with maize productivity. Farmers’ satisfaction with DAESS was measured using a 5-point Likert scale. Study findings show that farmers’ access to extension services was positively and significantly (p<0.001) associated with maize productivity and that 73.3% of smallholder farmers expressed a high level of satisfaction with the services provided. It is concluded that access and number of visits to extension services raise farmers’ maize productivity. It is also concluded that most smallholder farmers in Mangochi district were satisfied with the extension services they received. Therefore, it is recommended that the government of Malawi should continue with the implementation and improvement of the DAESS and use of the lead farmer approach to expand access to quality agricultural extension services by smallholder farmers.
Malawi’s decentralized agricultural extension delivery system: the approaches, services offered and linkage of actors
(AJOL, 2023) Mphepo, P. J.; Urassa, J. K.
Agricultural extension is central in the agricultural development process. Generally, Malawi has continuously been reforming her extension services in order to increase accessibility and uptake of technologies by farmers. The study on which the paper is based aimed at determining the strength of linkages of different actors in the Malawi’s decentralized extension system. The study adopted the cross-sectional research design whereby a structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 150 randomly selected smallholder maize farmers in Mangochi district. Supplementary data were collected from 10 focus group discussions and 9 key informant interviews. IBM-SPPS was used to determine descriptive statistics. Social network analysis was used to determine the strength of linkages between actors in the agricultural sector. Findings show that the government, private sector and lead farmers are interconnected in the provision of agricultural extension services to smallholder farmers. It is concluded that the district has strong linkages of the three main actors in the provision of coordinated and uniform agricultural extension services to smallholder farmers. Therefore, there is need for the government and other agriculture sector stakeholders to build the capacity of the frontline extension staff on approaches that can help farmers practice what is taught using farmer field schools which are currently underutilized. In addition, all the extension service providers need to mobilize resources to strengthen Malawi’s district agricultural extension structures specifically, at the Traditional Authority and Group Village Headman levels for improved coordination and linkages.
Work and Human Ethics in Public Service in Malawi
(The College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Sokoine University of Agriculture, 2019) Mphepo, P. J.; Muhanga, M. I.
The effectiveness of the public service in most of the least developed countries (LDCs) is highly questionable. Malawi is not an exception. The government of Malawi launched a code of ethics and conduct in 2013 basically to enhance the delivery of quality services to the public. Despite that, the media has been almost daily reporting a lot of misconduct and malpractices in the public service including non-adherence of the Public servants' work ethics, embezzlement of public resources, corruption, among others. This article discusses work ethics and human ethics in Malawi. A documentary research method was used in collecting relevant information from peer-reviewed journals, conference papers, and the media. Different search engines and databases were used in information search. The search strategy involved key words such as work ethics, human ethics, public service, Malawian public service', misconduct and malpractices in the public service, Public servants' work ethics, embezzlement of public resources, corruption, among others. The literature search identified a total of 2,132 references related to a set of specified search terms. Only Sixty (60) studies met the final criteria for review. The study found out that most of these misconducts are taking place because of the low salaries civil servants receive, lack of knowledge about the work ethics and code of conduct, weaker structures enforcing the code of ethics, shortage of staff, lack of resources in the government and also because of lack of proper channels for reporting unethical behaviour. Non-adherence to work ethics has resulted into poor services being delivered. This, therefore, calls for a need for the government for sensitization of staff on work ethics and improve working condition in the public service. In recruitment, the government has to make sure that it employs that have good reputation of work ethics in their previous employment and there has to be a routine performance appraisal.