Adapting extension approaches to cultural environments in South East Asia: experiences from Laos and Indonesia

This paper describes the author's experience with adapting extension approaches to different cultural and geographical environments in South East Asia. These experiences include assistance with designing, implementing and evaluating government extension programs for livestock and aquaculture in Laos and Indonesia. Funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), the work involves 1) researching effective ways to scale out smallholder livestock production in five ethnically diverse provinces of Laos, 2) designing culturally appropriate extension systems for shrimp production in Central Java and South Sulawesi in Indonesia, and 3) conducting and evaluating extension training in both countries. The three key learnings are that adapting extension approaches in South East Asia requires 1) sensitivity to cultural norms and individual household aspirations, 2) close and intensive mentoring of district and provincial extension staff using an action learning process and 3) embedding understanding of extension theory and practice throughout institutions.