Institutional and policy reform of rural extension in China during the transition towards a market economy

L. Yonggong

L. Yonggong is Deputy Director at the Center for Integrated Agricultural Development (CIAD), China Agricultural University, Beijing

Center for Integrated Agricultural Development (CIAD),
China Agricultural University, CAU, Beijing 100094, China

Review of China's former extension system

For a better understanding of rural extension reform in China and its strengths and weaknesses, it is necessary to review the former extension system which existed for more than 30 years between the 1950s and the 1980s.

A top-down extension approach was adopted during the period of collectivization (1953 to 1958) and the People's Commune (1958 to 1982). The basic extension method used in the top-down approach was "administrative intervention". Agricultural extension was seen as a government instrument for implementing agricultural development programmes and a number of extension programmes were implemented as political campaigns. During this time, it was difficult to separate extension activities and government administration.

Programmes concentrated mainly on transferring the technologies developed in research institutes to production brigades and teams. The goal of extension programmes under such a system was to ensure adequate grain production, and research, demonstration and extension activities were set up according to this policy. Alternative programmes for diversified sectors, such as cash cropping, fruit tree cultivation and off-farm activities, were not included in the goal.

The process consisted of the following steps: technological development (research done according to the government's priorities and the conditions on the research stations); demonstration trials in the production units; and adoption and diffusion over a large area using an administrative approach. The main role of farmers in the top-down extension system was to attend demonstrations and participate in trials which were selected according to the government's priorities. Farmers were not involved much in extension planning and evaluation.

The advantage of this approach was that extension activities were linked to the administrative line (a four-level agricultural technical network), making it easy to implement programmes. The disadvantage was that the programmes were focused so closely on government policy that different socio-economic conditions and resources in the communities were not given sufficient consideration and local interests were poorly represented. This sometimes led to conflicts.

Challenges to the extension system in the market-oriented economy

Since the beginning of the 1980s, a rural reform policy has been initiated. First, collectively owned land resources were contracted to individual households for long periods (more than 30 years). Farmers now have the right to decide how they will use their land. Second, since the establishment of a market-oriented economy, the government has gradually reduced its control of the agricultural market. These reforms bring new challenges to the extension system.

Under the centrally planned economy, farmers were the labour force which was used to achieve production goals, however, in the market economy, farmers are now the managers of land resources. Farmers have to make decisions about the allocation of resources, such as money, human capital (labour force) and land. Decisions must now be made on how to achieve the best economic returns and how to reduce the risks arising from market fluctuations. Two problems are evident in this new situation: farmers have insufficient skills and knowledge for making decisions of this nature; and there is a lack of market information.

In the planned economy, land-use planning was exclusively a function of government bodies; now farmers are responsible for this task. To avoid conflicts, farmers and governments must both be involved in land-use planning to formulate development plans. The introduction of participatory land-use planning approaches is an urgent task for both rural extension agents and land-use planning institutions.

In a market-oriented economy, the market can give signals to indicate the supply and demand of agricultural products. These signals can help farmers to make decisions on resource allocation. In the transition period from a planned economy to a market-oriented economy, market signals do not reflect sensitively the real trends of supply and demand. This distortion can lead to farmers making decisions based on inaccurate information and can consequently result in economic losses. Providing market information to farmers, therefore, becomes another very important function of rural extension agents.

In addition, support for creating marketing organizations and selling products is also an essential duty for extension agents, especially in the initial period of a market-oriented economy.

Reform of the extension system and policy since the 1980s

With the establishment of a market economic system, the market is playing an increasing role in the decisions of government bodies. To meet the challenges to extension mentioned in the previous section, the government must revise the former structure and improve approaches to extension. After reviewing the development programmes of the last two decades, the following changes have been made by central and local governments:

a shift from central planning to decentralized planning procedures;
the introduction of bottom-up approaches to research and extension;
the creation of a multisectoral extension structure;
the promotion of farmers' associations;
the promotion of the participation of target beneficiaries;
the strengthening of extension legislation (law).

Rural extension is a public-sector service and its missions and goals, summarized in Table 1, reflect the importance of agricultural and rural development in China's overall economic development.

TABLE 1. Missions and goals of public rural extension in China

Missions	Goals
Transfer advanced agricultural technology from research to users	Increase production, improve quality of the agricultural products, ensure food security for the large population
Assure the successful implementation of government rural policy by changing farmers' behaviours	Protect the environment and natural resources, reach the goal of sustainable rural development
Improve farmers' skills and knowledge in decision-making and farm management through training	Increase farmers' economic income, alleviate rural poverty, improve community organization
Provide an information and marketing service	Help farmers and rural entrepreneurs to make proper decisions on production, marketing and risk reduction

The approaches and functions of rural extension

Extension approaches

Since the 1980s, apart from the conventional top-down approach, many other new approaches to extension have been developed and tested in different areas of the country. The following are some of the most important approaches.

The conventional extension approach. The objective of this approach is to implement the government's plan for development. Under this approach, extension programmes are implemented by public extension agents and by government administrative interventions at different levels. This approach is the dominant form of extension and is still functioning well for some sectors. The steps of this approach are as follows:

develop policy;
develop programmes;
develop project;
conduct research and demonstrations;
implement extension programmes;
organize, monitor and evaluate the extension activities.

Technical contracts between extension agents and farmers' households. Since 1985, government extension funds have been sharply reduced. Under financial pressure, some local extension agents have changed from providing free-of-charge services to entering paid technical contracts.

This extension model concentrates on the provision of technical advice during the production period to increase the output of products. The extension agent is only responsible for improving production levels. Marketing must be organized by the farmers themselves.

The steps of this approach can be divided as follows:

extension agent establishes contact with target villages and villagers;
a contract is signed after negotiation between the extension agent and villagers;
relevant technical training, on-site supervision and instruction is provided by the extension agent during the production period;
the arrangement is evaluated and the technical contract may be extended.

In this approach, the extension agent and farmers share benefits and jointly take risks in production. This approach is applied mostly in horticulture, cash crop production and livestock production systems.

Company-led extension approach ("dragon head" approach). This approach was initially developed at the end of the 1980s in coastal areas by rural enterprises that use agricultural products and by-products as raw materials. Under this approach, farmers' marketing risks are reduced by contracting with companies. Companies, as the "dragon head" of the whole system, provide relevant technologies, training and information to farmers. By providing services to farmers, companies ensure the supply of raw materials at fixed prices.

This approach is implemented through contracts signed between companies and households, linking the two parties by a commercial mechanism.

Participatory extension approaches. This approach has been developed and introduced gradually by the Center for Integrated Agricultural Development (CIAD) since the beginning of the 1990s. Its objective is to develop farmers' abilities and skills in sustainable rural development.

In this approach, the community is the basic unit for implementing participatory extension programmes. Farmers are the key actors and participate in all extension processes such as project appraisal, participatory monitoring and evaluation. Initiatives are started at the grassroots level and are submitted to higher levels (the so-called bottom-up approach). In this approach, the role of farmers is increased.

The participatory approach requires multidisciplinary teamwork and multi-institutional involvement. There have been a number of successful examples of this approach in recent years, especially in social forest and land reclamation projects.

Extension functions

The functions of the public rural extension system include:

bringing farmers and government together to implement government policies;
promoting agricultural production and farm management;
supporting the marketing of agricultural products and the purchase of agricultural inputs;
providing necessary information to farmers for proper decision-making;
educating and training farmers, especially rural women;
supporting sustainable development and resource planning;
alleviating poverty;
promoting rural enterprises.

Subjects covered by rural extension

Since the market-oriented economic system was established, the subjects of rural extension have been expanded and diversified according to local resources and market development. Table 2 summarizes the main subjects of public rural extension.

TABLE 2. The main subjects of rural extension in China

Fields	Subject	Objectives
Grain crop production	Seed production Plant protection Crop cultivation Soil and fertilizers	High yield, high quality and resource saving Reduce environmental pollution
Livestock production	Feedstuffs Feeding techniques Veterinary service	Market-oriented quality High profit
Horticulture, vegetablees and cash crops	Vegetable cultivation Greenhouse technology Flower cultivation Tea, sugar cane and tobacco production	Increase farmers' incomes
Agricultural processing and storage	Fruit storage and processing techniques Vegetable storage and agricultural products processing technology	Improve market Increase profit from agricultural products
Fisheries	Aquaculture Feedstuffs	Concentrate on the coastal areas and southern China
Community development planning	Community development and resource planning Community organization Participatory land-use planning	Sustainable development
Farm management	Farm planning Financial management and bookkeeping Marketing	Improve the farm management skills of farmers
Agricultural mechanisation	Farm machinery repair and management technology Driver training	Replace labour force and increase working efficiency

Extension priorities according to geographic and economic divisions

According to geographical characteristics, the whole country can be divided into seven regions for agricultural resource planning. The regions and the corresponding priorities for extension are shown in Table 3.

TABLE 3. Geographical divisions and priorities for rural extension in China

Zone/region	Type of farming and problem	Priority of extension
3-H region Hebel, Tianjin, Hunan, Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu	Farming System Intensive crop production, intensive and semi-intensive livestock production, fruit and vegetables, intensive fisheries Main constraints Soil salinity, limited land resources, lower production caused by drought	Correct saline soil, introduce water saving technologies, intensify vegetable and fruit production, improve land-use planning
Loess plateau Shanxi, Gansu, Shaanxi and part of Inner Mongolia	Farming System Intensive crop production, extensive livestock production, fruit: apple and Chinese date Main constraints Drought, serious soil erosion, poverty, low education level of farmers	Control soil erosion, auction wasteland to farmers, support intensification of fruit production, develop household-oriented poverty alleviation programmes
Southern China and hilly land Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Guangxi and Guangdong	Farming System Intensive rice production, intensive and semi-intensive livestock production, sub-tropical fruits, intensive fisheries Main constraints Soil and water erosion, high population density, marketing problems	Strenthen market information service, promote intensification of fruit production and fisheries, support private extension sector
Yun-Gui highland Yunnan and Guizhou	Farming System Grain production, intensive cash crops and fruit cultivation, extensive livestock production Main constraints Low education level of farmers (ethnic groups), less cultivated land, povery, inconvenient transport	Train farmers in technology, promote diversification of farming systems, improve infrastructure at the community level, initiate poverty-alleviation programmes
Northeast China plain Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang	Farming System Intensive maize and soybean production, intensive and semi-intensive livestock production, fisheries Main constraints Marketing problems, low government storage capacity, maize pests	Improve market information service and marketing facilities, encouragelivestock producers to use locally produced maize, strengthen pest control in maize
Meng-Xin highland Inner Mongolia, part of Gansu and Xinjiang	Farming System Large area grassland for cattle, sheep and goat grazing, limited cultivated land Main constraints Dry climate, desertification, serious degradation of grasland, poverty of the local population	Introduce grazing management system, strengthen land-use planning at the community level, train farmers and herders on sustainable management of grassland resources
Qing-Zang highland Qinghai and Tibet	Farming System Extensive grassland livestock production system, limited crop production Main constraints Harsh climate (cold with short plant growing season), mountainous area, poverty	Initiate poverty-alleviation programmes, train herders

Using the average income and gross national product (GNP), China can be divided into three economic zones. Extension priorities have been formulated according to the economic and resource conditions. The policy priorities for the three zones appear in Table 4.

TABLE 4. Economic zone divisions and priorities for rural extension in China

Economic zone	Policy priority for extension
Developed zone (eastern coastal and suburban areas of large cities)	Promoting the intensification of sector development Strengthening environmental and sustainable development concepts during urbanization Supporting farmers' associations Targeting family farms and enterprises in extension
Middle zone	Using household-oriented extension strategies Planning sector development properly Strengthening resource planning and control of soil and water erosion Strengthening community functions Initiating poverty alleviation programmes Strengthening technology transfer for crop production
Western zone (in the western part)	Targeting poor households and village leaders Enhancing self-organization capabilities Initiating poverty-alleviation programmes Strengthening farmer training Strengthening functions of communities Advancing women through training and organizational support Restructuring the current farming systems and establishing sustainable models

The target beneficiaries

The following target groups for public rural extension have been identified: farmer households and technical demonstration households; village leaders; farmers' associations; and rural women.

Farmer households and technical demonstration households. According to 1994 statistics, there are about 230 million farm households in the whole country. About 6 million of these households have been selected and promoted by public extension agents as technical demonstration households. The technical demonstration households are playing an important role in research, demonstration and training for other households. Poor households (about 1.8 million) in the poverty affected areas are considered a priority target for extension.

Village leaders. Village leaders are the community administrative managers at the grassroots level and are the target beneficiaries of many extension activities. There are about 2.3 million village leaders in the country. Their credibility determines the impact of extension in the village.

Farmers' associations. In 1996, the number of farmers' associations in China had reached 150 000, which were distributed mainly in the eastern and central Chinese provinces. As non-governmental organizations (NGOs), they provide technical and marketing services to farmers and compensate for the lack of public extension services. Targeting and supporting farmers' associations expands the extension services that reach farmers.

Rural women. As the male labour force shifts from the agricultural sector to non-agricultural sectors, the female labour force becomes increasingly important for agricultural activities, rural industries and resource management. Special training and extension programmes for rural women have been initiated, using government funds and international support.

The institutional structure of the public rural extension system

Public extension institutions

National institutions. All national extension administrative institutions are directly beneath the Ministry of Agriculture. There are four extension centres subordinated to the Department of Agriculture within the Ministry. These are:

the National Agricultural Extension Centre (NETEC);
the National Plant Protection Centre (NPPC);
the National Soil and Fertilizer Centre (NSFC);
the National Seed Management Centre (NSMC).

There are no special national centres for mechanical, livestock and fisheries extension. The Forestry Ministry is responsible for extension in forestry.

The main functions of the national extension institutions are:

formulating extension policy;
drawing up extension programmes that link to agricultural development programmes;
connecting institutions with other national agencies;
training and supervising provincial agents.

Provincial institutions. All provincial extension institutions are directly administrated by the Department of Agriculture. They also act as professional agencies of national extension centres. In 1996, 59 provincial centres had been set up. The centres are involved in formulation of policy, coordination of relevant agencies and training of lower level agents.

Prefecture institutions. A prefecture is a government administrative unit assigned by the provincial government to be responsible for a number of counties with similar geological and natural conditions. Extension agents at this level serve a bridging function between provincial agents and county agents.

County extension centres. County extension centres are the most important extension units in the public extension system. Since 1985, the central and provincial governments have invested about 1.2 billion Yuan for the construction of county centres. At the end of 1997, 1 800 county centres had been constructed. The functions of the county centres include:

managing and planning extension;
conducting extension work on crop cultivation, soil and fertilizer use, pest management and seed quality control;
organizing demonstrations and trials;
training farmers and township technicians;
providing relevant assistance for purchasing production inputs and marketing agricultural products.

Township stations. The township station is the agent at the grassroots level who is working directly with farmers. The township station focuses on:

on-site advice, training and supervision for new technology adoption;
providing information and developing technical handouts for farmers;
assisting village farmers' associations.

According to national statistics, the number of extension staff paid by the government and working at the township level has reached 1 million.

Relationship between research, education and extension

Since the beginning of the 1990s, the central government has recognized a lack of cooperation between research, education and extension. To address this shortcoming, a policy has been formulated to establish a multisectoral participatory social service system for rural development. The system includes the policy of "combining extension, research and education together" to serve farmers and promote rural development. Cooperation between these three sectors has been improved.

According to Ministry of Agriculture statistics, all 59 agricultural universities, 250 agricultural schools and 50 agricultural research institutes of the Chinese Agricultural Academy have set up research and extension bases in all provinces of the country.

Mechanisms of cooperation

There are three main mechanisms of cooperation:

Market mechanism. In practice, the relationship between research, education, extension and farmers is similar to the marketing chain of normal goods. Research and education institutions have to sell their products (technologies). Extension agents act as salespeople or traders. At the same time, the salespeople can give market feedback to the (technology) producers. Only through this market chain can a farmer-oriented agricultural research and extension system be established. This relationship could not be established in the former planned economy.
Policy coordination. Besides the market chain described above, government coordination policy is still needed for some functions. For example, protecting producers' rights of knowledge is an issue to be regulated by the government.
Cooperative project planning. After initiating development projects, a multisectoral institutional structure has been formed to ensure the cooperation of different sectors and the efficient use of government funds (Figure).

FIGURE Institutional structure of the public rural extension system in China

Financing the extension system

Funds for the public extension system

Before rural reform, public extension, as a public-sector service, was fully financed by central and local government. After reform, the government decentralized funding to the level of local government and extension agents. Table 5 shows the sources of funds for the public extension institutions at the county level.

TABLE 5. Sources and estimated breakdown of funds at the county level for public extension (%)

Source	Construction	Running costs	Staff salaries
Central government	70	30	20
Local government	30	40	30
Extension agent	0	30	50
Total	100	100	100

The figures indicate that all construction costs are paid by the government (divided between the central and local levels). Government funds for running costs and staff salaries are allocated in accordance with local and national extension projects. Extension agents must pay for running costs (30 percent) and staff salaries (50 percent) from the income generated from their services.

Funds for extension activities of research institutes

Some funds for extension activities are included in research budgets, which are provided mostly by the central and provincial governments. It is estimated that funds for extension account for 15 to 20 percent of the total funds of research projects. The deficits are provided by the research institute, the extension target areas and the beneficiaries (especially for technologies for cash crops and vegetables). Since government funds cannot cover all the costs of research, in recent years there has been a trend to commercialize the new technologies developed.

Funds for extension services of farmers' associations

There are three sources of funds for the extension services of farmers' associations:

membership fees;
revolving funds collected from members;
overheads from marketing products.

Normally, direct extension services to members are free of charge.

Strengths and weaknesses of the policy and system

China is a country with a very large population but limited land resources. Food security will continue to be a key issue for the development of government policies, including extension policies. To develop an effective extension support system for food security, the government extension system must play a central role. However, diversified extension systems, including private and commercial extension services, can compensate for the shortfalls of the government extension system.

The strengths of the extension system include:

the complete organization of the extension system throughout the country, from national to township level;
a unified coordination, planning and policy framework for implementing extension programmes;
efficient support systems in terms of finance, administration and coordination from government at different levels;
a large number of extension staff working at different levels;
compensation from private extension services.

The weaknesses of the extension system include:

insufficient cooperation and coordination with other agencies, such as planning institutions and credit institutions, at both the national and provincial levels. Policy coordination needs to be further strengthened;
professional and institutional linkages between research, extension and education that still need to be improved in some areas;
the current extension facilities' failure to meet demand fully, as a result of shortages of funds;
extension staff are insufficiently qualified to meet the needs of farmers in the market-oriented economy;
limited use of alternative extension methods. In practice, administrative intervention methods are still dominant;
the use of improper approaches during the planning of the extension programmes. There is a high level of governmental policy orientation and insufficient participation of farmers in the planning, implementation and evaluation of extension programmes.