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Shalom Magazine for the Alumni of MASHAV Training Courses is published by Haigud Society for Transfer of Technology. Haigud, a government company and non-profit organization, serves as the financial and administrative arm of MASHAV, and functions as a professional

unit to assist in the implementation of MASHAV activities.

AGRIBUSINESS: SHARING THE ISRAELI EXPERIENCEMark Schulman

AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION: A TOOL FOR DEVELOPMENTMichel Isaak

MCTC's EXPERIENCE IN ENTREPRENEURIAL TRAINING Mazal Renford and Shula Ferdman

MASHAV MARKS THE SPOTOverview of MASHAV On-the-spot CoursesMark Schulman

THE ARAL SEA PROJECTMASHAV/USAID Cooperation Program

SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES: BACKBONE OF ECONOMYRuth Seligman

SHALOM CLUBS

MASHAV NEWS

REPORTS:Malawi – Emylda Bongwe and Agnes JordanidiszEthiopia – Dr. Girmaye TamratArgentina – Teresa MazaNigeria – Evangelist Chukwuma Elom

RE-ENTRYYehoshua Erlich

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

F o r e w o r dToward the end of 1957, a special unit for international cooperation was established at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem. Its first initiative, in December, 1958, was the Seminar on Economic and Social Development for Leaders from Asia and Africa, held in Tel Aviv. In those days, phone and mail services with the countries involved (which until recently had been British or French colonies) were unreliable, and the seminar’s organizers expected 30-40 participants at the most. To their complete surprise, over 100 participants showed up for the opening session, among them national leaders and the heads of liberation movements. At the last moment, then-Foreign Minister Golda Meir ordered the opening ceremony moved to the largest hall available at that time in Tel Aviv, the legendary Mugrabi Theater.Since then, the “family” of MASHAV, the Center for International Development, has grown considerably, with over 205,000 course graduates from all over the world who have participated in MASHAV training activities in the areas of economics, medicine, education and social welfare either in Israel (86,000) or abroad (116,000).This family, of which you are a member, is a warm and caring family that in the past 46 years has dramatically improved the lives of people in more than 130 countries.Many of you have since become government ministers (60), mayors, civic leaders and the heads of national organizations. Three have gone on to become president of their country. We are very proud of your achievements and consider ourselves blessed by your friendship. We want you to know that Israel and MASHAV will continue to share with you its own experience and knowledge, and will always be grateful to learn from you as you participate in the development of your own countries.Despite severe budgetary cutbacks, MASHAV remains committed to its mission. In fact, at the beginning of this year, it entered the world of electronic information by launching its own Web site - http://mashav.mfa.gov.il. From now on, you will be able to follow MASHAV’s activities on an ongoing basis, and electronically send your comments and suggestions.Shalom Magazine, which has long been the main link between MASHAV and its course graduates, continues to address the many issues that lie at the core of development. In this issue, for example, articles focus on agricultural extension, women’s empowerment, agribusinesses, education, small and medium enterprises, and more. Although the aforementioned cutbacks have curtailed its output to just one issue a year, Shalom Magazine will continue to bring news about MASHAV and its activities to all of you throughout the world who share with us the commitment to strive for the development and betterment of your countries.Finally, this is the place to express my appreciation to Joan Hooper, who has concluded her tenure as editor of Shalom Magazine, and welcome Avnit Rifkin, Shalom’s new editor.

Arie AraziDeputy Director General

Ministry of Foreign AffairsHead of MASHAV

MASHAVCenter for International CooperationMinistry of Foreign AffairsState of Israel

http://mashav.mfa.gov.il

by Mark Schulman

Agribusiness is big business, especially in Israel. That is why a group of professionals

from Central and Eastern Europe and from several former Soviet Republics

(CIS States) came to the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture’s Center

for International Agricultural Development Cooperation

(CINADCO) at Kibbutz Shefayim near Tel Aviv

this past September to participate in a bilingual

English-Russian Workshop on

Agribusiness Enterprise

Development.

AGRIBUSINESS: SHARINGTHE ISRAELI EXPERIENCE

AGRIBUSINESS: SHARINGTHE ISRAELI EXPERIENCE

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Co-sponsored by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs through its Center for International Cooperation (MASHAV) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the workshop brought together 21 senior government officials, including a minister and deputy ministers of agriculture, as well as academics, farmers and other agricultural professionals from 13 countries to examine Israel’s agribusiness experience at the national and local level, and to introduce them to various Israeli modalities of agribusiness entrepreneurship and support services in the field. Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, agriculture has been key to the country’s development and, in many ways, the national psyche. A combination of sophisticated, applied science and rugged determination have helped Israel’s farmers to modernize and adapt to changing geopolitical, market and climatic conditions. Except for brief, sporadic declines, agricultural output has grown almost uninterruptedly since independence.“The fact that Israel is located in a semi-arid region, with limited water resources, has compelled us to develop our own resources and technology to become self-sufficient,” Arie Sheskin, former head of the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture’s Foreign Relations Department, told participants attending the one-week workshop. “Despite the lack of water, a small area of arable land, and a small consumer market, we have managed to overcome some major obstacles to become a competitive exporter of agricultural goods and services.” According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the total value of agricultural production in Israel has reached over $3 billion annually, of which about 20% is exported. Most of the agricultural exports, especially horticulture and field crops, are directed towards the European market. Although this represents only about 2.4% of Israel’s GDP and 4% of overall exports (compared to 30% of exports during the 1960s when Israel’s famous Jaffa orange industry was at its peak), agriculture has grown in absolute terms and continues to play an important part in the Israeli economy. “We are very interested in how Israel has organized its agriculture sector and hope to see something similar happen one day within our own countries,” said Viera Baricicova, of the Slovak Republic’s State Veterinary and Food Administration, as well as Vice-Chair of the UNECE’s Agricultural Producers Quality Program. “However, after so many years under a

collective system, we have many obstacles to overcome before becoming a totally market-driven economy,” she added.Other countries, particularly from the Central Asian Republics and the former Soviet Union also expressed the need to transform their agricultural sector from a centrally controlled economy to a market-driven one.“It’s only been ten years or so since my country has gone from a

communist market economy to a private market economy,” said Kestutis Sniukas, a Lithuanian farmer representing the Darzoviu Centras Vegetable Growers Cooperative. “We are still adjusting to new laws and regulations for the agricultural sector. “We also have a big problem in quality and packaging, especially in trying to get our products accepted in the European Union (EU) market,” he added.Roman Kakulia, of the Georgian Ministry of Agriculture and Food, stressed the lack of coordination in rural development services, as well as the lack of financial resources in his country’s agriculture and agribusiness sector. “We need more investments,” Kakulia said, “especially to help subsistence farmers.”Agribusiness entrepreneurship is a key element in assisting and improving rural income opportunities and economic growth

Reviewing the latest agricultural technologies at Agritech exhibition

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and can play an important role in promoting sustainable agricultural and rural sector development. Israel’s own agricultural and rural sector, both at the national, regional and local levels, have developed various agribusiness enhancement mechanisms and financing systems, with the support of the government, to support the country’s on-going specialization and market-driven orientation, particularly related to high-

quality and export market production. During the week of the Workshop, participants had the opportunity to see first-hand some of Israel’s agribusiness enterprises, including visits to a modern dairy farm and winery at Kibbutz Tzora near Jerusalem, a dairy processing plant at Kfar Tavor in the lower Galilee, and an olive oil factory at the Moshav Bnei Darom on the south coast near Ashdod.Much of Israel’s agriculture is still produced on the kibbutz and moshav. The kibbutz is a distinct socio-economic entity based on cooperative principles where members collectively own the means of production and share social, cultural and economic activities. The moshav is also a rural settlement, but families maintain their own households and farm their own land. However, they work collectively when it comes to purchasing

and marketing. In recent years both systems have undergone some major ideological and structural changes, though they still account for nearly 75% of the country’s fresh agricultural produce, and much of the country’s dairy production.“I was very impressed by the dairy farm we visited,” said Ryszard Piatek, a participant from Poland. “The technology was simply amazing, as well as the output.”

Israel’s dairy cows are world champions when it comes to milk production. Average milk production has increased dramatically from 3,900 liters annually per dairy cow in the 1950s to close to 11,000 liters today. The dairy sector supplies the country’s total dairy requirements, with production potential reaching far beyond domestic needs. Products are even shipped as far away as Kyrgyzstan.“MASHAV set up a dairy cattle demonstration project in my country several years ago,” said Baktygul Zheenbayeva,managing director of the Kyrgyz Agricultural Financial Corporation. “We hope that the private ownership of dairy farms will improve both the quality and quantity of milk and at the same time increase the commercial benefits of the individual farms, particularly in more rural areas.”There is also an Israeli dairy demonstration project in Almati, Kazakhstan, aimed at introducing modern and market-oriented dairy farming.

“There are Israeli agribusinesses already doing business in my country [Kazakhstan], but what we need now is help with marketing our products and, of course, more investors,” added Alzhan Shomayev, the director of the KASEAN Association, a private Kazakh company. Marketing is something Israel has done well with over the years, thanks in part to strong government support. According to the Israeli Export Institute, some $80 million is invested annually in research and development (R&D), representing some 3% of GNP. R&D is complimented by extensive cooperation between farmers and researchers whereby research results are quickly transmitted through an extension service system to the field for trial, and problems are brought directly to the scientists for solutions. This close cooperation between researchers,

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farmers, field extension services and agriculture-related industries has led to the development and manufacture of some of the world’s most advanced agro-technology. Development of state-of-the-art irrigation, greenhouse equipment, seed and livestock propagation have enabled Israeli agriculture to prosper. Such results have also led Israel to share its success and know-how with many developing countries over the years, particularly through the many training courses, like the one on agribusiness, organized by MASHAV. “This is a unique workshop in that particular emphasis is being given to Eastern Europe and CIS countries,” said David Peleg, the former Israeli Foreign Ministry’s Deputy Director for Central Europe and Eurasia, and the new Israeli ambassador to Poland. “We hope to share our experience and cooperate with as many countries as possible.”This is the second MASHAV-UNECE sponsored workshop, following a seminar on organizational assistance, support measures and credit facilities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which took place in Tel Aviv in February 2000. “The UNECE and the government of Israel are committed to providing assistance in the development of entrepreneurship to other transition economies, which lag behind their advanced neighboring countries,” said Antal Szabó, the UNECE’s regional adviser in entrepreneurship and SMEs. “This workshop is a good example of the kind of cooperation we are looking for.”The UNECE was established in 1947 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to develop economic activity and strengthen economic relations within the UNECE region. There are 55 UNECE members, representing countries ranging from CIS states to European countries to the United States. Israel joined the UN body in 1991. The UNECE’s main areas of activity include economic analysis, environment, transportation, trade, industry, sustainable energy, and human settlements.After the creation of the UNECE, MASHAV was set up in 1958 as part of Israel’s commitment of sharing its know-how with developing countries in need of assistance. With

200 courses offered in Israel and abroad, MASHAV trains some 10,000 participants annually in areas ranging from community and cooperative development, environmental management, integrated rural regional development, adult and early childhood education and public health. Agricultural development is still one of MASHAV’s main activities, focusing on adapting new technologies to eliminate hunger and poverty and creating new business opportunities for developing countries.“I came here to learn more about the Israel experience,” said Samvel Avetisyan, the Armenian Deputy Agriculture Minister. “Armenia is very similar to Israel in many ways, particularly in land size, but much of our available land is not irrigated,” he added. “We have some Israeli irrigation systems, but we need more, especially drip irrigation, in order to expand our production.”The Minister of Agriculture from the Russian Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, located in the northern Caucasus region, was also in attendance. “I came here to learn about the development of science, agriculture and extension services in Israel,” said Minister Marat Akhokhov.The timing of the workshop was designed so that participants could visit Agritech, one of the largest international agricultural exhibitions, which took place in Tel Aviv from 15-18 September. The event, held every three years, showcases Israel’s latest technologies developed in the fields of irrigation, greenhouses, and genetic engineering of crops. This year thousands of visitors came to the

exhibition, including 30 agricultural ministers and 25 business delegations from 47 countries.“Agritech is a good place to make contacts,” said Lithuanian farmer and MASHAV participant Kestutis Sniukas. “I’ll be looking for good quality irrigation and fertilizers to help improve the quality and yield of my collective’s products,” he added.“This will be a good start to improving our agricultural standards with the hope that we can one day soon start exporting to the EU and other markets.”

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by Michel Isaak1

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The Rise of Agricultural Extension The industrial revolution that is particularly typical of Britain was brought about by a technological innovation: the automatic loom in the 18th century. Britain quickly industrialized and became the first producer and exporter of textiles. The consequence was that farmers left their fields and became industrial workers, spurring the growth of cities around the thriving textile industry. At the same time, there were fewer people to produce foodstuffs and more mouths to feed. This led the Crown to create a government service to help those farmers who still stayed on the land to produce more and more efficiently. Agriculture therefore became a profession like the many other trades and not any more a natural occupation of people trying to provide for their mere survival. Research institutions for the advancement of scientific farming were created and agriculture underwent a process of specialization

1 The writer is the recently retired Head of CINADCO’s Francophone Division2 See Y. Abt: “Some Observations Relating to the Current Problem of Food Security in Africa,” MASHAV, April 2001

Subsistence agriculture through manual work is still the lot of millions of African farmers. Extension has to be careful to suggest progressive changes in conformity with the economic and socio-cultural levels of the clients. When training extension workers who deal with such farmers, the author tried to instill empathy so that these development agents would program changes that would be acceptable and that would bring about tangible results in a relatively short period of time (Upper Volta/Burkina Faso, West Africa, 1978)

and professionalization, which is still very much in force today. From subsistence agriculture moved to diversification and specialized market oriented agriculture. Because of its “strategic importance” for maintaining food security2 for its population, most countries have created some kind of service to support farmers in their endeavours to produce more efficiently. These are called advisory or extension services.

A Short History of Extension ServicesAs outlined above, the British crown was the first to create a free service to help farmers to produce more foodstuffs. It was therefore quite natural that they would set up similar organizations in the territories under their rule. In India and Africa, advisory or extension services were established because basically the problems of food scarcity were comparable to those

Britain had been subject to at the end of the 18th century. In the United States - where the term extension was coined - the service was started from the State universities under the Land Grant System. According to this modality, State universities were encouraged and financed to set up faculties of agronomy and animal sciences whose teachers and professors not only dealt with research and teaching but also “extended” their know-how and experience to surrounding farmers including farm visits and on-farm trials. This became known as extension service, i.e. from the university to the outside farming world in the areas allotted to that particular university. This was later coined cooperative extension service when the US government introduced the system in developing countries, specifically to Latin America but also to some parts of Africa.In France, on the other hand, the state evolved into industrial development while staying

a predominantly agricultural country, where farmers often produce surpluses and therefore the need arose to regulate farming rather than encouraging it. When the French started colonizing parts of Africa and Asia, they brought with them the same approach regarding agricultural development and therefore did not bother to set up such services, except of course for cash crops they were interested in for export and further processing at home (cotton, coffee, cocoa, rubber, groundnuts, spices, etc.).The need for farm improvement both at home and in the former colonies was never entrusted to the state, rather to the care and initiative of the farmers themselves through farmers or growers’ associations, who would then hire specialists in specific trades like plant protection, mechanization and farm economics. This of course posed the problem of farmers’ organizations, which

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is not a spontaneous phenomenon the least one could say, in developing nations.The Training and Visit (T&V) System popularized in the 1970s and the 1980s through the World Bank was applied in many developing countries and certainly was instrumental in arousing the awareness on the need of knowledge systems as a critical input to bring about development. It was a great success especially in India. When combined with the Green Revolution, it brought important changes in state awareness in many parts of Africa.T&V while effective – a case in point is French-speaking Guinea in West Africa – was criticized for two main reasons: first because of its top-down approach and second because of its not being efficient (large maintenance budgets linked to enhanced salaries, vehicles and management of the system). This led to the participatory approach, whereby development professionals (researchers, extension workers at all levels) should initiate change together with farmers according to the farmers’ felt needs and not necessarily according to what suits policymakers or governments.

One of the challenges the author faced was modifying a Sectorial extension system based on cotton growing toward a universal extension system that would include also food crops. This project was sponsored by the World Bank in the Upper Volta (today Burkina Faso). The main problem here was the French approach, which ignored the welfare of the small farmer and concentrated on cash crops for obvious reasons. (Upper Volta/Burkina Faso, West Africa, 1978)

Reaching the farmer in his fields and periodically is one of the musts of well-organized extension. The road sometimes disappears if by chance a heavy rain occurs but the agent has to pass. Bicycles or light motorbikes are used so that one can pass the ford and carry on on the other side. The author acquired a bicycle that was loaded on to the pick-up and used it to travel on small paths in the bush to reach the farmers’ fields where the extension workers were having their visits. This supervisory work by the author as well as by other local officials very much enhanced motivation in field extension personnel.

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Free trade and entrepreneurship are now widely encouraged as opposed to state intervention and the tendency is presently to a strong reduction in state budgets and in the intervention in the life of citizens, especially as related to agricultural development. Extension therefore will move to privatized systems – in a way a bend towards the French approach as outlined above. The need for extension is evident, the only problems is to whom to entrust it, who will pay for it and consequently what delivery systems should be used to ensure its effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability.

Various Approaches to ExtensionA number of models or approaches can be distinguished (according to a study conducted by the FAO):

(a) SectorialThis is the system whereby extension only tackles one type of produce. It is usually linked with all the other components of agriculture: research, provision of inputs, marketing and credit. This approach can be found in countries that had been under colonial rule. The commodities are coffee, cocoa, rubber, cotton and the like.

(b) Cooperative Extension (USA)Here we have the logical consequence of the system adopted in the USA, where all extension efforts stem from universities and are geared to neighbouring producers.

(c)PrivateFarmers’ associations:The farmers themselves hire specialists in agricultural technology as well as agricultural economists through their professional organizations. They pay a fee as membership to the professional organization and may thereby benefit from advice and farm visits.After sales service:Businesses being eager to satisfy the client often invest a lot of effort in after sales service, which can be considered as an extension method. The problem is that this is usually limited in time to after the purchase of the tool or the seeds, etc.

(d) Project or IntegratedThe idea is to develop a limited geographical area and tackle all aspects of development including education, health services, community development, roads, credit, housing and agriculture. This version is also limited in time and is usually a very large financial effort, which has to be borne by some outside sponsor or investor.

(e) Conventional, Training and VisitThe conventional approach is a derivative of the Advisory Services set up by the British and developed into state operated services as a permanent service offered by the ministries of

agriculture or similar government entities to support the farming population. Their drawback is that they impose a large burden on governments that are usually inefficient and understaffed.The Training and Visit System established in the 1980s by Daniel Benor is a system, which was adopted in a wide range of countries of Asia and Africa and was supported by the World Bank until recently. Its main advantage was to establish a series of management principles like regularly spaced visits to a specific number of farmers who were chosen as contact farmers and who then serve as passive disseminators of innovations to their neighbors.The Field Extension Worker (FEW) or Village Extension Worker work with the farmer on demo plots in a small area of the latter’s field and help him to adopt new ideas. Once adoption is effected, the farmer expands the innovation to a larger area and so forth. Field Extension Workers gather once a fortnight to be trained by Subject Matter Specialists (SMS). During this session technical reports are orally presented and all queries related to the last round of visits raised. Moreover, their supervisors check both quality of extension work and attendance of the FEWs. Another important element of the system is the linkage with research and field trials, to whom SMSs have access to enhance their know-how as a kind of in-service training during their career.The system has known many derivations and changes due to local preferences and budgetary constraints but many of its sound elements remain in most existing systems nowadays.

Defining the ConceptThe following generic definition of the concept can thus be attempted, taking into consideration the various aspects touched upon above:“Agricultural extension is a non-formal type of training at the service of farmers, which constitutes a link between research and the farmers aiming at effecting changes in farmers’ professional behaviour toward the improvement of their livelihood.”Extension distinguishes itself from formal training or education, such as schools, colleges, university training and the like because there is no formal condition for participation nor any diplomas on completion of studies. In fact there is no such thing as completion of studies in the field of extension work. Besides, there is no force to compel farmers either to attend or to apply whatever is being taught or suggested. It is a service offered to the client either free of charge or with a fee but the approach is totally non-formal. This requires from the practitioners and planners to ensure attendance through the creation of interest and by proposing whatever is particularly relevant and timely to the problems faced by the farmers. Extension services constitute a bridge or a link between agricultural sciences and research and the farmer. It is supposed to be a two-way linkage to bring innovations as a result of formal research and field trials at the research station and the farmers’ on-farm trial plots to the

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farmer’s field. As far as the aim is concerned, anything that will ultimately bring about betterment in the quality of life of the farmers will be acceptable and ensure cooperation.

Objectives of Agricultural ExtensionWhen asking a group of trainees or extension workers what comes to their minds when the term agricultural extension is uttered, the answers will usually cover a wide range of subjects

like: raising the standard of living of the farmers, gaining their trust, changing mentality, reducing hunger, increasing crop yields, increasing income, using inputs more efficiently, enhancing food security, collecting data about the farmers’ needs, producing more, carrying out field trials, reducing poverty, etc.All these examples are objectives of extension work. When one tries to organize these objectives in a causal chain, one may reach the following diagram:

Raising the standard of living of the farmers

Enhancing food security

Reducing hunger Reducing poverty

Increasing income

Increasing crop yields

Producing more

Using inputs more efficiently

Changing their mentality

Gaining farmers’ trust

Carrying out field trials

Collecting data about the farmers’ needs

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No results as they appear in the upper part of the diagram can be attained unless the ones underneath have already been reached. In other words, no RESULT objectives can be obtained unless the CORE objectives have been realized. This area is called core because when asking the questions “who produces?”, “who increases crop yields?”, etc, the answer is “the farmers themselves” and therefore emphasizes the client-centered approach, in which all the efforts of extension are geared towards changing elements related to the client system, or the farmers. The DIRECT objectives relate to what the extension system is trying to achieve in terms of specific activities that will hopefully bring about the CORE objectives. The latter will – hopefully again – bring about the RESULTS objectives. Another way of looking at this concept is the measure of control or lack of it from the point of view of the extension planners and practitioners. The control lessens

as we go up the causal ladder. For example, bringing about an increase in yield will not necessarily mean an increase in income (due to price fluctuations or wastage of resources) and increase in income does not necessarily result in improved living standards (i.e. buying luxury consumer goods instead of tackling more basic needs like health, sanitation or improved nutrition). Therefore, agricultural extension should preferably be within the framework of a more general development plan, which will take into account community and social development aspects.

Human BehaviorIf in this paper the term core has been chosen for those objectives related directly to the farmers’ performance of his daily chores and professional activities, it is because the focal point and “bottleneck” (see diagram) of agricultural development seems to

This general diagram is very simple. It can be made more complex by distinguishing between direct, core and result objectives in the following manner:

Raising the standard of living of the farmers

Enhancing food security Reducing hunger Reducing poverty

Increasing income

Increasing crop yields

Producing more CORE

Using inputs more efficiently

Changing mentality

Gaining farmers’ trust Carrying out field trials

Collecting data about the farmers’ needs

RESULTS

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be the farmer and his daily actions. The efforts of the extension system should be to effect changes in the actions performed by farmers to bring about improvements as listed in the Results area of the causal scale. Every professional action can be defined as a specific BEHAVIOR. Therefore we are talking here about changing behavior not in the sense of changing personality or education, but rather in the sense of bringing about changes in the farmers’ professional abilities on a very long-term basis.Behavior in this restricted sense can thus be defined as follows:“Every repetitive action performed willfully by a person that can be observed by another person”. This means that the farmer will perform a given action of his/her own free will, every time it is considered necessary and that another person can observe or at least observe the results of this action. This latter part is very important for planning and evaluation purposes. We can therefore define present and future behaviour. Present behavior often can be identified as traditional behavior and the whole onus of planners of extension will be to define what kind of new,improved practices or innovations will have to be offered at what level of technology to the various types of clients in that area or village. The participatory approach as mentioned above seems to solve this question and according to it, only those innovations will be suggested that are in full concordance with the farmer’s needs.

Components of BehaviorThe three main components or conditions that affect behavior are the following:1. MeansThis relates to “everything money can buy” like factors of production (land, farm buildings, implements, farm inputs like seeds, fertilizers, livestock, etc.)

2. KnowledgeThis can be subdivided into two sub-components: theoretical knowledge and practical knowledge or skills. This subdivision is important because the methods employed to provide them are different.

3. Positive AttitudeThis is the willingness of the farmers to perform a particular behavior. It is driven by his motivation to change his way of operating, which will be reinforced to the extent that satisfaction with the new methods will follow suit. This is a particularly difficult component to change, as it includes the willingness to take risks in trying a suggested innovation. Much of the work of the extension workers is devoted to reducing this resistance to new methods because of the fear of risk taking.The three components described above are both necessary and sufficient conditions for new behavior to be performed. The three elements must all be well balanced in the client. The whole art of the extensionist will be to analyze where are the missing or weak elements that prevent adoption of new methods and to

concentrate efforts on providing or strengthening them in order to reach the expected result. This may take time and a lot of effort but once trust is established and the suggested innovation has succeeded in bringing about satisfactory results, the sky is the limit. There are horizontal relationships and influences between these components. For instance, attitude may be influenced by knowledge: the fact that a farmer becomes aware that one of his neighbors has successfully applied the recommendations of the extension worker, may drive him to change his attitude toward the practice. A positive attitude may influence a farmer to invest part of his income in the inputs needed to try a new crop or variety, instead of other planned expenses in consumer goods, etc.

A Model of CommunicationThe Berlo SMCR model (1960) serves as a convenient starting point when trying to answer the question: “What can we do about changing knowledge and attitudes?” The model is easy to understand and serves as a point of reference when studying the various extension methods. It also stresses the client-centered approach of extension work where everything starts and ends with the relationship that has to be established between the extensionist and the farmer.In brief, the model describes the various elements in interpersonal communication, from the source (S) to the receiver (R) with the two intermediate elements message (M) and channel (C). It dwells on the sub-components present in both the source and the receiver like communication skills, knowledge, socio-cultural background and attitudes. Message includes the treatment and the type of code used as well as the content of the message and the channel involves the type of technology used in the proper “cocktail” in order to ensure proper reception and subsequent decoding – or understanding – by the client. The notion of feedback is essential to ensure a proper flow of information and is certainly in line with the current participatory trend.

How is the Model Applied to Specific Methods?For every method studied and later applied, the extension worker is supposed to ask him or herself: What idea or string of ideas should I plan to communicate? (Planning of objective and content) – according to the needs and interests of the client in space and time.How am I going to encode it? (according to the decoding capability of my client) This represents preparation of the activity.What are the best ways to carry this message(s)? What techniques to use? This is the implementation side with the decision about when, where and what tools to use.These three components refer to the three stages of Planning, Preparation and Implementation. The decision-making about

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the variations depends on the know-how and experience of the extension workers, like a craftsman will choose his tools according to the result he wishes to achieve in the finished object.

A Review of the Main Extension MethodsRoughly speaking, methods can be subdivided into individual, group and mass methods. Their use is sometimes very specific or mixed when referring to the objectives they can attain insofar as theoretical knowledge, skills and attitudes are concerned. The extension planner should be well aware of their characteristics, as well as their cost in effort, time and money and weigh all these elements before choosing the most appropriate “cocktail” that will bring about the expected results. Without going into details, here are some of the methods most commonly used and some of their advantages and limitations.

Personal Interview: Rather costly in travel and time, but important in data collection and participatory planning of extensionIndividual Farm Visit and/or Skill Teaching: Indispensable when the skill must be taught efficiently. Group skill teaching or demonstrations have been proven ineffective in this case. Costly but necessary.Discussion: Effective to gather information on opinions, attitude change and decision-making. Requires between 5 and 15 participants and is a very difficult activity to plan and manage.Group Meeting / Lecture / Talk: Very commonly used but only effective to transfer theoretical knowledge. Can be used for groups from 15 to 40, if one wishes to be able to manage the meeting with audience participation and not a one-way type of communication. Use of visual aids can improve the communication.Method demonstration: Very much in use but can only serve

to transfer theoretical knowledge. It is the twin brother of the lecture but the visual aids are the real objects.Result demonstration: The object shown to farmers of results obtained in the field as compared to traditional practices enhances interest and may change attitudes for instance as related to the use of fertilizers, etc.Demonstration Day: An organized framework that may include some of the above group activities around one or several subjects. This demands a rather large team of operators and may attract thousands of farmers per day. Usually organized on a regional or national basis. Costly but very effective as reference point for the whole season. A commercial part can be added to attract input suppliers, NGOs etc. It also appears to be an excellent PR tool.

ConclusionThis overview of agricultural extension is far from being complete. It will hopefully serve the developer in clarifying its purpose within the framework of rural development. The approach presented here stresses the client-centered approach. In other words, efforts should be focus on the human beings and not on plants, machines or material inputs. Factors of production, inputs and credit as well as markets are, of course, essential, but the strategy resides in effecting changes that will slowly bring about improvements in basic practices, even with zero inputs or investments, and building up the necessary trust between the farmer and the extension worker. Small and effective results will bring about more results to the full satisfaction of both partners.

Dedicated to the fond memory of the late Shimon Zuckerman, who led my first steps in the world of international agricultural development and extension.

Apart from international training courses in Israel, the author participated in numerous training missions also called on-the-spot courses in scores of countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The short courses also focused on extension methodology and planning. Intended for extension personnel at various levels, their goal is to motivate them to work more effectively and efficiently for the benefit of the farmers. The author is squatting on the left with a group of trainees in Cameroon, 1985.

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The Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training Center (MCTC) was founded in Haifa in 1961 by MASHAV, the Center for International Cooperation of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, within the framework of its international development work, to put gender issues on the international agenda. Two visionary women were behind the Center’s establishment: a past Prime Minister of Israel, Golda Meir, and MCTC’s founding director, Mina Ben-Zvi, whose progressive views on the need for the advancement of the status of women were far ahead of their time. Over the years, MCTC has expanded its activities to Latin America, the Mediterranean Region and the transitional societies of Central and Eastern Europe. It has nevertheless maintained its original emphasis on Human Resource Development by training women towards sustainable development. To date over 11,000 participants from 147 countries have attended courses, workshops and seminars at MCTC and thousands more have taken part in On-the-Spot courses in the cooperating countries. Within the framework of its activities, MCTC holds biennial International Seminars for Women Leaders (see MASHAV News). These seminars provide a forum for dialogue between women at policy decision level, heads of women’s organizations and representatives of international aid agencies. Women are encouraged to overcome culturally-rooted constraints, to call for greater government/NGO collaboration on gender and development issues and to create a more favorable environment for women’s access to training, credit, marketing networks and technology.

Microenterprise ProgramsOne of MCTC’s main training spheres focuses on Microenterprise Development, with an emphasis on gender issues and the contribution of women to development.Improving the quality of life of poor rural and marginal urban communities by providing tools for starting or expanding businesses is the aim of this training. By addressing grassroots personnel as well as administrative and planning level professionals involved in supporting small-scale entrepreneurs, MCTC training contributes to poverty alleviation in deprived areas of the developing world. Special emphasis is placed on training programs for women. Starting small businesses is frequently the only solution for women whose access to the job market has been denied by the social or economic environment. Creating their own microenterprises thus becomes a tool of self-empowerment for women, offering a way of achieving economic independence and sometimes constituting the only option for survival.

MethodologyMCTC’s approach imparts knowledge through hands-on experience. Trainees work together in interdisciplinary groups and are actively involved in practical exercises in planning, preparing and presenting final project proposals that will be applicable in their own settings. In this way, potential entrepreneurs acquire a close-to-reality view of what establishing and running a small business is all about, while participants who are counselors receive an authentic feel of what their clients experience .

Mazal Renford, Director MCTC, and Shula Ferdman, Director of Microenterprises Development Courses

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Most Challenging and Successful Parts of the CurriculumAmong MCTC’s greatest challenges is how to transfer business concepts such as feasibility study, market survey, division of labour, production planning and control, sales and promotion, business plans, etc. in a way that is understandable and can be immediately put into practice by trainees at different levels, with or without an entrepreneurial background.In this regard, MCTC is proud of its success. Below we present some examples that illustrate the impact of training activities held by MASHAV/MCTC in Israel and in developing countries on the target populations at the regional and national levels. It should be noted that women’s empowerment, a major concern of MASHAV/MCTC, is invariably a by-product of the various contributions to socio-economic development which are detailed below.

AFRICAWest African Countries In coordination with the Human Resources and Poverty Division of the Economic Development Institute of the World Bank, MCTC has conducted courses at the Mount Carmel Center on Income Generation and Management of Microenterprises, including important modules on Grassroots Training Management (GMT). These courses train trainers to work with semi-literate and illiterate women to help them manage projects, groups and businesses more efficiently and profitability.MCTC has cooperated with Winrock International and UNESCO since 1997, to develop the capacity of national women’s organizations and to train local women trainers to transfer knowledge and skills to rural women’s groups. Eighty-two women and seventeen men participated in workshops held in the Ivory Coast, Senegal and Mali. The training emphasizes organizational development and project planning skills and is then further strengthened by inviting workshop graduates to the full MCTC eight-week course on ‘Community Development and Management of Microenterprises Projects’.

KenyaIn 1994 and 1998, MCTC On-the-Spot training courses were held on Organization and Management of Income generating Projects for the Coast Development Authority (responsible for the development of Kenya’s coastal province of some 3million people). The CDA has now built up a pool of over 40 Israeli-

trained graduates in development work, thereby benefiting the whole coastal province.Similar training courses were conducted in 1995 and 1996 by MCTC for the Kenya Institute of Management, the largest management training body in Kenya. The Institute continues to pass on its Israeli-gained knowledge and techniques in its own ongoing business training courses throughout Kenya. An individual example is Jacinta Marie Makokha who took part in the 1986 MCTC course on Organization and Management of Income Generating Projects. In her work as Program Officer for Gender and Development for the Friedrich Ebert Foundation she is currently coordinating a program with the Ministry of Local Government which covers eight Local Authorities and reaches more than 240 women’s groups, each with at least 20 women. This program is to be expanded to other local authorities. Speaking at an International Symposium on “The Impact of Women’s Training on Microenterprise Development”, held at MCTC in June, 2001, Jacinta said that “Apart from the professional input we got, we also learned that the impact of women’s training starts at the personal level. …It’s very difficult to start talking about liberating other people when you yourself are struggling.”

Malawi Cooperation with Malawi illustrates the effectiveness of creating a critical mass of persons trained in the same approach, so that the introduction of new directions and techniques has a greater chance of taking root. For example, in 1982, Esnat Kalyati, attended the MCTC Women Leader’s Seminar. As Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Community Services Development, she was instrumental in nominating some 35 participants who attended courses at MCTC between the years 1982 to 1995. These people have since been effective in organizing women’s groups and promoting income generating projects.

ASIAIndia In 1998 an On-the-Spot course on Women and Entrepreneurship was organized at the request of the Agency for Rural Development, a community development agency which works in some 120 villages, with a total direct and indirect target population of around half a million people. The Minister of Social Welfare of Tamil Nadu State (pop. 70 million) came into contact with this Agency for the first time as a result of the

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MCTC training. Impressed by the work of the Agency and with the development of knowledge and skills being acquired by the course participants, she offered government backing to the Agency and loans and grants for the application of the projects planned by the trainees.A repeat entrepreneurship development course has been carried out in Tamil Nadu State for the Agency, in conjunction with a Training Resource Center for nearly 300 NGOs. The Project Manager of the Center – an outstanding graduate of the 1998 MCTC On-the-Spot course – is responsible for over 700 self-help women’s groups.

NepalFormer participants who are today in a position to influence the changes being made in promoting entrepreneurship in remote regions, have been instrumental in starting small scale businesses at grassroots level. As a result, both professional and local women leaders are active in the non-formal and private sector to help advance women in rural areas.

LATIN AMERICAArgentina Support for microenterprises has been an ongoing activity in Israel in the last decade (see article on page 22). MCTC has been sharing its experience with Argentina’s women since 1993, when members of the Chamber of Women for SMEs participated in a course on Management of Microenterprises in Israel. This nationwide organization has trained women and men all over the country in 24 courses, based on the knowledge acquired in Israel. As a result of these activities, the Israeli team who organized the OTS courses has seen the emergence of many small businesses.MCTC’s activity in the region culminated in a project proposal for the establishment of a Gender Oriented Small Business Development Center, prepared by 25 professionals from the Cordoba area participating in the course (1999). This Center supports entrepreneurs, providing training, consultation and guidance in the critical first steps of starting and running a microenterprise. The project has been presented as a model by Elisa de Zlauvinen and Silvia Priotti (MCTC alumni, in charge of the Center), in Peru, Panama, Ecuador, Buenos Aires-Argentina and in Israel at the International Seminar. In 2003 the project was given a “best practice award” by the Vice President of Argentina.

Mexico An important part of the program of The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare in the State of Veracruz is the promotion of self-employment. Until 1995, when Ms. Martha Mendoza Parissi, Director of the Employment Division, participated in a course on Management of Microenterprises in the Community at MCTC, the training given by the scheme consisted only of the technical part (baking, sewing, etc.). A module on Management of Microenterprises was added, as a result of which more than 30% of the women have started their own businesses.

EcuadorIn collaboration with the World Bank and the Young Americas Business Trust (YABT) of the Organization of American States, regional courses for encouraging entrepreneurship at school level have been conducted by MCTC since 2002 (See article on page 16). Hundreds of high school teachers from all over Ecuador have been trained in management of microenterprises with the purpose of transferring this knowledge to their pupils. The idea behind this project, supported by the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Ecuador, is to help alleviate poverty by empowering teenagers to be self-sufficient after leaving school, especially at times when employment opportunities are dwindling. A past-participant in a 1994 workshop on Women and Microenterprises is now President of the NGO, Fuden, based in Quito. Fuden provides training, counseling and financial support for over 500 women entrepreneurs on low incomes, from four different provinces in Ecuador. Many of its clients are young urban women from ethnic minorities. In addition to the President, two more MCTC past-participants work for this organization which has international support.

Costa Rica More than 200 women were trained on leadership and self-help strategies all over the country in cooperation with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in the years 2000 and 2001. As a result of the first series of seminars in July 2000, a former participant opened her own shop in a suburb of San Jose (and is opening a second one), and a group of women in Liberia (in the East of the country) has opened typical food restaurants. Both expressed the fact that the training had given them courage and tools to dare start.

MCTC is pleased to collaborate with international development organizations such as the World Bank, Winrock International, UNDP, UNESCO, ILO, IDB and others, sharing experiences and contributing to the enhancement of women’s involvement in the development process through appropriate training. For example, in the 2001 UNCTAD publication on Women Entrepreneurs in Least Developed Countries, the authors indicate women’s limited access to business development services to help them overcome, or at least complement, their insufficient business skills. In this context, MCTC is committed to continuing to empower women and strengthen their contribution to their communities.

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INTEGRATED REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANNING – ETHIOPIAIn May 2003, MASHAV, together with the Ethiopian Social and Rehabilitation Development Fund (ESRDF), organized an integrated regional development planning on-the-spot course in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. Michael Gorelik, Deputy Director for Training and International Cooperation of the Weitz

Center for Development Studies in Rehovot and Israel Alon, an experienced farmer and extension expert from the Jordan Valley, were sent to the isolated semi-arid Seharti Samre District, some 16 hours north of the capital Addis Ababa, to introduce the principles of integrated regional planning, as well as farm unit planning and sustainable farming methods. Attending the course were 34 participants, representing national and local government

Whether you are located in the high peaks of the Himalayans, the Amazonian jungle, the sands of the Sahara Desert or some remote Pacific Island, Israeli experts will travel the distance and train you in the field of your choice. Through the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s Center for International Cooperation (MASHAV), Israelis are dispatched throughout the world each year at the request of host countries to conduct a wide variety of on-the-spot professional training courses. According to Tzila Halevy, Deputy Director of Training for On-The-Spot Courses, 6,860 local trainees from 42 countries took part in 132 on-the-spot courses in 2003 ranging in the fields of agriculture, rural and urban development, medicine and public health, business management, science and technology, and education. Keep your eyes open for an on-the-spot course coming your way.

Overview of MASHAV On-the-Spot Coursesby Mark Schulman

MASHAV MARKS THE SPOTMASHAV MARKS THE SPOT

Israel Alon during a planning session in Ethiopia Family drip irrigation system, Ethiopia

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agencies, local planning institutes, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders. The goal of the course was to bring different stakeholders from different sides of the development process, particularly in the Tigray region, to work together to formulate a comprehensive district level development plan, which includes analysis of the main constraints for development, goals and targets for future planning, and identification and formulation of specific projects in the agriculture, education, health and social service sectors. Some of the projects identified by the participants included: developing the district’s water infrastructure; installing family drip irrigation systems; implementing a local health delivery system; and constructing basic agro-processing enterprises. Although the course was conducted in the regional capital of Mekele, participants spent two days in the Seharti Samre villages to analyze local planning problems. With the completion of an integrated development plan, district officials who attended the course are now in the process of working on the implementation phase and replicating it in other districts throughout Ethiopia. Several of the participants have also come to Israel for further training.

NURSING LEADERSHIP TRAINING - ERITREAIn neighboring Eritrea, Drs. Shoshanah Ribah, Director of the Israeli Ministry of Health’s Nursing Division, and Shoshanah Goldberg, Director of the Wolfesohn School of Nursing, led a

two-week on-the-spot course in October 2003 on management, policy and leadership in nursing. During the training period, 34 local nurse practitioners, hospital administrators, government health officials and teachers from Eritrea’s nursing school, were introduced to Israel’s healthcare system, as well as given instruction on improving professional competence in nursing management, diagnosis and community assessment, as well as implementing appropriate models of organization and decision-making processes to achieve better nursing solutions. At the same time, the Israeli experts had the opportunity to learn about Eritrea’s healthcare system and nursing problems, particularly the shortage of professional staffing needs, and recommended further cooperation with Eritrea in the fields of community and public health and medical training. At the request of the Israeli Embassy in Asmara, the Eritrean capital, Dr. Ribah gave a lecture to the diplomatic community and senior Eritrean healthcare officials on the development of nursing in Israel and modern nursing practices. “The lecture was well attended and was one of the highlights of the Israeli mission in Eritrea,” said the Israeli Ministry of Health’s Director of the Nursing Department for Professional Development, Sima Reicher, who is in charge of organizing the on-the-spot nursing courses. “We also got a lot of positive feedback from the course’s participants and anticipate future cooperation with Eritrea in this field.”Only two months later in December 2003, a course on pediatric

Formulating a comprehensive development plan: Improving water infrastructure, Ethiopia

Participants and instructors during the course on Management, Policy and Leadership in Nursing, Eritrea

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nursing in the community and hospitals was also conducted in Eritrea. Nira Rostmi, a community nursing specialist and teacher at the Wolfesohn School of Nursing, and Anat Moskovitch, the head nurse of the children’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center in Tel HaShomer, instructed 30 participants from the local nursing and healthcare community in improving child treatment management, developing and implementing local community health plans, and administering first aid for infants.

EDUCATIONAL SUPERVISORS TRAINING - SÃO TOMÉ AND PRINCIPEIn December 2003, Miriam Ringel, Head of Literature Studies at ORT Israel, and Felisa Liss, responsible for elementary school curriculum at the Israeli Ministry of Education, traveled to the tiny Portuguese-speaking African island-nation of São Tomé and Principe to train school principals and lecturers as educational supervisors for the country’s flailing school system. Currently, there are only 5 general supervisors for São Toméand Principe’s 76 elementary schools and 11 highschools, where average class size ranges from 40-90 students and many of the schools lack electricity, bathrooms and basic school materials. Conditions for teachers and school administrators are not much better as many have no formal university training and make on average $30 a month. Addressing the situation, the educational supervisors training course, sponsored by the Aharon Ofri International Training Center in cooperation with the Israeli Ministry of Education, brought together 27 local school principals, instructors and counselors to help improve their professional capacities as educators and to train them to become educational inspectors. Through group discussions and on-going evaluations participants developed workplans that focused on educations reform. They also had the opportunity of visiting local schools, including attending the official opening

of a new wing of a primary school where one of the course’s participants was principal. The educational supervisors training course was the first course of its kind in the country, and the first for Israeli-São Tomé cooperation. Local government officials requested a follow-up course in the near future, and many of the participants expressed interest in studying in Israel to obtain professional teaching certificates.

ORGANIC AGRICULTURE – ASIAAt the end of October 2003, Uri Adler and Rafael Rudman of the Israeli Bio-Organic Agriculture Association (IBOAA) traveled to Harbin, China, the capital of the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, to teach 120 local agricultural extension officers and organic growers the fundamentals of modern organic

farming. Intensive organic farming consists mainly of using compost and avoiding the use of fertilizers and pesticides. In Israel organic farming accounts for about 1.2% of the country’s total agricultural production, with some 400 farmers cultivating about 6,000 hectares of organically grown crops. “Organic farming helps maintain an important balance between the need for food production and the need to preserve natural resources for future generations,” Adler stressed as the underlining focus of the course.Following the one-week course organized by MASHAV and CINADCO, the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture’s Center for International Agricultural Development Cooperation, the Israeli agriculture experts toured several farms and organic vegetable fields to learn more about local agricultural practices and gave two organic farming seminars in the provincial cities of Mudanjiang and QiQihar on practical solutions in growing organic vegetables in the region.The two Israeli experts returned to Asia in June 2004 to give similar instruction on organic farming. On June 11th, they led Visiting a local school in São Tomé

Participants and trainers of the Organic Farming Course, Thailand

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a one-day organic farming seminar at the office of the Myanmar Agriculture Service in Yangon, which was attended by 70 agriculturalists and researchers from various departments under the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation. Several days later they were teaching a one-week organic farming course in Ubon Ratchathani in northeastern Thailand to extension officers from the Progressive Farmers Association (PFA), a local NGO that represents some 4,000 organic rice farmers, aimed at introducing vegetables in the region during the dry season. And following this course they moved on to Bangkok to teach trainees from the Thai Ministry of Agriculture and Organic Agriculture Thailand, a local organic farming association.“The main goal of all these courses in Asia is to introduce Israeli techniques for organic farming and see if they can be applied to

During the one-week program, 68 participants (34 in Loja and 34 in Manta) were given a hands-on approach to managerial concepts through the creation of simulated businesses. Divided into four groups to form their own ‘businesses’, participants learned about feasibility studies, production, packaging and quality control, marketing and selling, division of labor and keeping financial records. Each group presented on their simulated enterprises at the end of the course.In June 2003 a similar course conducted in Tena in the Amazonian region of Ecuador, trained 184 participants through the creation of 16 simulated businesses. And, a half a year later in December, 28 ‘businesses’ were set up in four train-the-trainers courses on small entrepreneurship development – two in Quito and two in Guayaquil – to provide the basics in management assistance information for professionals working in both formal and non-formal institutions, and individuals with plans to become potential small business entrepreneurs. Coordinated by MCTC, some 400 participants attended these training courses, which included teachers from various institutions, local youth leaders from marginal urban and rural sectors, small entrepreneurs and university students.Since the young entrepreneur skills training program started, some 800 new business ventures have taken off in Ecuador and has involved the support of over 2,000 teachers from 213 institutions.Following the success of the program in Ecuador, a one-week regional Caribbean workshop on the same theme was organized in Grenada, the West Indies, in March 2003 with 22 participants representing Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago. The workshop, instructed by Shulamit Ferdman and David Bentolila was the first in many years that MCTC had carried out on micro-enterprise management in the Caribbean, although similar workshops were conducted in Barbados and Jamaica in 1991.

local conditions,” Adler added. “We hope to get back to Asia and continue with our work.”

YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR SKILLS TRAINING: ECUADOR AND GRENADAFollowing an initiative of former First Lady of Ecuador Maria Isabel Baquerizo de Noboa to conduct on-the-spot courses on micro-enterprise in her country, MASHAV, together with the Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training Center (MCTC), designed several courses, with support from the Young Americas Business Trust (YABT) of the Organization of American States and the World Bank’s Global Distance Learning Network, to help teachers and school counselors acquire the tools for transferring entrepreneurial concepts to their students.The first two courses took place in November 2002 in Ecuador’s Loja and Manta Provinces under the instruction of MCTC’s Course Director for the Management of Micro and Small Enterprises, Shulamit Ferdman, and Guillermo Levinton, General Manager of Israeli investment company Bemacol Ltd.

Field trip to assess local conditions

New business venture in Ecuador

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Three decades ago, the Aral Sea in Central Asia was the world’s fourth largest inland body of water. Today, due to Soviet-era policies that favored water-intensive crops such as cotton and rice, it is one of the world’s worst environmental disaster areas. The level of the water has dropped by some 12 meters, reducing its surface area by half and tripling its salinity levels. The result is a major environmental disaster affecting Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as well as Kyrgyzstan Republic and Tajikistan: Entire ecosystems have been decimated, there is no more commercial fishing, and agricultural productivity has been greatly reduced due to increased soil salinity and climatic aridity. What’s more, local ground water has become contaminated, leading to a public health crisis in surrounding areas.

MASHAV-USAID Cooperation Program for Rehabilitation of the Lake Kambash Region

A ship in the dessert. Andy David from MASHAV’s Overseas Projects Department and Yehuda Rosemblum from CINADCO, standing where the Aral Sea used to be.

Dr. Yitzhak Bejerano and the Director of the local fish hatchery 20

by Ruth Seligman

Definition of Enterprise: a business unit, a company or firm; a project or undertaking, especially one that requires boldness or effort.In practically every country, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) constitute almost 90% of all commercial business activity. Due to their crucial importance to the economy, governments and international agencies are constantly working to promote and sustain them in today’s highly competitive environment. Extremely active in this area is WASME (World Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises), an international non-governmental organization established in 1980. Today, WASME has members and associates in 112 countries – industrialized as well as developing ones. WASME serves as an advocate for SMEs, promotes enterprise to enterprise cooperation, provides industrial, technological and trade information, training and research facilities and support for the development of micro and rural enterprises.WASME’s annual international conferences bring together government agencies, entrepreneurial and SME support organizations, trade and business associates, chambers of commerce, business people, academics, researchers, development and financial institutions and international agencies. Its 14th

Annual Conference, held in Tel Aviv in September 2003, was no exception. It was attended by an impressive cross-section of men and women from all the sectors dealing with the support, development and promotion of SMEs, including staff and participants of MASHAV courses.As WASME’s Secretary-General, Dr. Arun Agrawal, noted: “It was indeed gratifying that one of the world’s premier SME promotion agencies, the Israel Small and Medium Enterprises Authority (ISMEA), hosted the 2003 Conference, since its founding 10 years ago, ISMEA has been an valued member of WASME. Israel was an ideal host – a State reputed for its innovations and creativity, a State which has put in place SME-

friendly policies and introduced new concepts such as Small Business Development Centers and technological incubators to develop and nurture start-ups.”In today’s increasingly borderless world, the Conference’s theme – “Opportunities for SMEs in a Globalized World: Innovative Policies and Programs” – was most timely. As WASME’s President, A. K. Alptemocin, stressed, “The new world economic order today presents immense opportunities for SMEs to expand their businesses and activities. Their role as generators of employment has gained additional importance with employment opportunities fast shrinking in the public and large enterprise sectors owing to privatization and increasing internationalization of production processes. In this borderless global market, SMEs need to reorient their business strategies.” Recognizing this need, the Conference addressed several issues currently confronting SMEs such as the importance of innovation, technology, marketing and exports in this area of globalization, women-owned enterprises and the role of small businesses in promoting rural industrialization.The presence of several government ministers at the First Plenary Session revealed the problems many shared in common. The session was chaired by Ehud Olmert, Israel’s Deputy Prime

Minister and Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor, who stressed the importance of hearing comments and reflections from participants from a wide range of backgrounds.Alexander Egorushkov, Russia’s Deputy Minister for Anti-Monopoly and Support for Entrepreneurship, reviewed the situation in his country. “The economic sector in Russia has been functioning a relatively short time, 12 years since the reform began. However, great progress has been made with 90% of all household products made by SMEs. We recognize the importance of a broadening support system of SMEs, research centers and international agreements, with more than 1,500 organizations now assisting SMEs. Nevertheless, in spite of

MALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES: BACKBONE OF ECONOMY

As WASME’s President, A. K. Alptemocin, stressed, “The new world economic order today presents immense opportunities for SMEs to expand their businesses and activities.”

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our progress, we still lack necessary financial resources.” Other ministers would repeat this point as they sought solutions for accessing credit and promoting financial stability.Agreeing with Egorushkov was Ali Chirau Makwere, Kenya’s Minister of Labor and Human Resources. “The growth of SMEs depends on their ability to use local resources. Although we have seen improvement in the growth of SMEs, Kenya faces constraints with inadequate access to capital, technology and information, improper marketing procedures plus hostile regulatory laws. Another problem is that more SMEs in Kenya are involved in trade rather than manufacturing: we need to shift this emphasis. Today’s global economy requires SMEs to use advanced technology. In Kenya, in many cases we don’t

know where to seek such technological information even when it is available. There is an imperative need for all of us to seek the ways and means to help developing countries access current technology.”Bandula Guanwardhana, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Rural Economy, also agreed that there was a need to establish a global information market to arrange for the exchange of such information as market promotion and quality improvement of exports.The Second Plenary Session was attended by senior representatives of international organizations including the World Bank, the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), attesting to their involvement and recognition of the important role SMEs play in every economy.Salient observations at that session included those made by

Ivano Barberini, President of ICA, and Ad Melkert, Executive Director of the World Bank. Barberini noted that cooperatives are a formidable tool in increasing the capabilities of SMEs and urged more cooperation between ICA and WASME “while respecting the autonomy of each group.” Melkert, who represents 12 countries on the Board of the World Bank, eight of which had representatives at the Conference, stressed how SMEs are the backbone of a healthy economy, with the creation of conditions for domestic investment the key to development. “Foreign investors may shop around and move on; local entrepreneurs provide shops that last.”“The World Bank,” explained Melkert, “is in the unique

position of ‘testing’ the SME potential at many different levels of economic growth. (SMEs are defined as enterprises which have up to 50 employees and fixed assets of up to $3 million.) Our involvement includes the recognition that effective aid and private sector stimulus go hand-in-hand. The World Bank has invested in a number of projects to promote SME development. The role of the Bank is especially guided by its ‘knowledge’ mission of connecting people and interested parties with a global network of relevant tools and experiences such as technical assistance and global distance learning networks.”“The ILO also puts a great deal of emphasis on supporting SMEs,” reported Kees Van Derree, of the SME Development Program at the ILO. “We ask ourselves: What are SMEs asking

from us? The answer is: good government support, improved market access and productivity enhancement. We are constantly striving to find ways to help SMEs improve their local capacities for quality performance. Other key areas of support include getting the environment right, industrial restructuring through increased productivity and identifying sub-sectors with a high potential for growth.”The Second Plenary Session was chaired by Shmuel Bahat,chairman of the International Center for the Promotion of SMEs (INCEP-SME), a division of the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development (NISPED). NISPED, founded in 1988, has a vast array of programs and projects centered around education for peace and conflict resolution, cooperative studies, Jewish-Arab coexistence and SMEs. In essence, it serves as a center for the education, training and project development for societies undergoing fundamental

processes of transformation. As such, it was the ideal site for the establishment of INCEP-SME which, since its inception in 1999, has conducted more than 25 training programs in English, Arabic, Russian and Portuguese on various subjects related to SMEs and their promotion.“This Conference,” pointed out Bahat, “is honored to have participants from INCEP-SME’s current course, a senior level management course on support systems for enhanced performance of African SMEs. INCEP-SME recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with WASME, thus formalizing a permanent institutionalized connection with it. INCEP-SME has also been recognized as a training center for MASHAV,

Kees Van Derree of ILO: “We ask ourselves what are SMEs asking from us? The answer is: good government support, improved market access and productivity enhancement.”

Ali Chirau Makwere, Kenya’s Minister of Labor and Human Resources: “There is an imperative need for all of us to seek the ways and means to help developing countries access current technology.”

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Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Center for International Cooperation. The Conference was also privileged to have in attendance two other special groups, participants from MASHAV-sponsored courses. One group was attending a bilingual English-Russian-language course on Agribusiness Development at CINADCO (the Center for International Agricultural Development Cooperation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) training center at Kibbutz Shefayim. The other was a group attending a workshop at the Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training Center (MCTC) in Haifa on “Women Entrepreneurs in a Time of Technological Change,” a subject given great prominence at the Conference. MCTC, founded in 1961, has trained more than 11,000 women and men engaged in various aspects of community work and education in newly-emerging states. Notes Mazal Renford,MCTC’s dynamic director, “Although initially we concentrated on training women, eventually we realized that we must include men too – as we do now. We place great emphasis, however, on helping women entrepreneurs, as in the current course.” As others at the Conference noted, “MCTC is also aware of the rapid changes in world economics and the way microenterprises have now become an important means of economic development due to their flexibility and capability of adaptation,

one which is sometimes higher than that of larger enterprises. However, entrepreneurs, and especially women, often lack the necessary information needed to organize their businesses better, access current data on the market environment, and assess opportunities as well as possible threats to new venture creation. MASHAV courses are geared to helping women as well as male entrepreneurs make better use of sources of information and new technologies by adapting them to their own needs.” “A basic component at all our courses,” explains Shula Ferdman,Director of Microenterprise Development Courses at MCTC, “is what we call ‘learning by doing.’ By the end of each course, each participant is expected to prepare a project proposal for a business suitable for implementation in their home country, one which – in many cases – is actually activated.” The courses, thus, are very practical, offering much more than just theoretical information.MCTC has trained women from all over the world, (see article on page 13), often working with national organizations. In China, for example, it has trained hundreds of women with the cooperation of the All China Women’s Federation, while in Kenya, over 240 groups have started their own businesses, a direct result of the training received in Israel. Similarly, in Ecuador, in cooperation with the World Bank and the

Organization of American States, MCTC has provided business training for high school teachers through the creation of business laboratories.At the Conference break-out sessions - workshops that break away from the main plenary sessions – participants were able to exchange information and share of experiences. One of the break-out sessions was devoted to promoting entrepreneurship among women.While the last two decades have witnessed a steady growth in the percentage of women entrepreneurs, in most countries their percentage is still much lower than that of their male counterparts. Studies have shown that the major problems encountered by women entrepreneurs are low self-image, reluctance to take risks, lack of knowledge regarding facilities provided by various institutions and support agencies, cultural and religious impediments, difficulties in obtaining credit and constraints in combining business activities with family responsibilities. In the process women continue to remain marginalized.The break-out session on promoting entrepreneurship among women was devoted to analyzing these problems and recommending new approaches that will help women entrepreneurs to contribute to the development of their national economies.

Another important break-out session was devoted to the role of small businesses in promoting rural industrialization. This is a topic of major importance for developing as well as least developed countries. The introduction of agricultural businesses in rural areas has been found to be extremely effective in generating income and improving the standard of living in these areas, which in turn contribute to the country’s economic, social and human development.This workshop was chaired by Yehudah Paz, Chairman of NISPED, who also gave a paper on rural development. “Rural areas,” he stressed, “lag far behind urban areas in education, health, community development and other aspects of sustainable human development. A dramatic result of this situation is the mass exodus of rural populations to the cities where they tend to live in the poorest and most deprived slum areas near or in the big cities. The problems of the rural areas also create major problems for the urban areas. Without a doubt, rural development is a critical and pressing issue, one which must be approached in a comprehensive and integrative way.“We need,” noted Paz, “to introduce non-rural activities in rural areas for, as agriculture becomes more and more advanced, we need less labor for it, thus creating surplus labor. Non-agricultural activities include industrialization of

Mazal Renford, Director of MCTC: “MASHAV courses are geared to helping women as well as male entrepreneurs make better use of sources of information and new technologies by

adapting them to their own needs.”

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rural areas such as tourism and related recreational activities, plus handicrafts, health projects and maintenance and repair businesses. We can also put biotech activities in rural areas.“A critical element in this area is the need to link together vocational training with entrepreneurial training. People acquiring skills must know how to use them in the market in order to compete more effectively. We should also be thinking of using the experiences of SMEs and that of the cooperative movement and linking the two experiences. One important example – forming cooperatives of SMEs to engage together, for example, in research and development. SMEs are too small to do this on their own or to market alone.”

A fascinating case study of a photography project, designed and implemented by NISPED for Bedouin women in the southern part of Israel, proved the importance – as noted by Yehudah Paz – of linking vocational education with business entrepreneurial training.Amal Elsana Elh-jooj, Director of the Arab-Jewish Center for Equality Empowerment and Cooperation at NISPED, described the project, one which was – and still is – in many ways “her baby.” “In the past,” she explained, “Bedouin women used to be active, working in the fields, raising livestock and making cheese. During the transition from a nomadic existence to village life, they became consumers instead of producers. More significant, they no longer were living in open spaces, but were confined to the four walls of their homes. The result – 94% of Bedouin women are unemployed. Stuck at home, as consumers they were not part of any decision-making process. Our photography project was established to give women employment.”“We decided,” reported Elh-jooj, “to create small businesses

which would encourage women to be economically independent and more involved in the community. Photography was an ideal choice for a small business because it is one women can run for themselves.”There were three stages to the project. First – the training program to which 62 women applied, 42 were accepted and 26 finished. Stage two – encouragement and support from other groups such as NISPED, ISMEA, the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), Project Renewal (an Israeli program for improving communities) and the Association for Empowerment of Women.“We began the project,” reported Elh-jooj, “with only 3,000

Amal Elsana Elh-jooj, Director of the Arab-Jewish Center for Equality Empowerment: “We decided to create small businesses which would encourage women to be economically

independent and more involved in the community.”

Israeli shekels (approximately $750), but ended very successfully with 13 small businesses established. Some women concentrated on photographs of weddings and celebrations taking place in the women’s tents where, in the Bedouin culture, men are forbidden to enter. Others went into the schools to take pictures there. One woman opened a business to develop pictures. As the women became successful, we activated another stage – weekly meetings of the group where they receive additional vocational training. This group has now become a peer support group for other women.”The group was trained by Jewish Israelis, overcoming the problem where men from their tribe were not allowed to have

contact with the women of their tribe. A significant addition to the program was the way the trainees, themselves, afterwards became trainers, providing vocational training for other women.So successful has the program for the Bedouin women been that its principles have been adapted to other programs run in Jerusalem for ultra-orthodox Jewish women who, too, live in a cultural milieu where there is a distinct segregation between the sexes.Other break-out sessions were devoted to technology and innovation, innovative financial and non-financial approaches to supporting SMEs and marketing, export and cross-border cooperation, an all-important facet in this new era of globalization.In addition to the plenary and break-out sessions held at a local hotel, participants also went out into the field. They visited a technological incubator, as well as Agritech, the triennial agrotechnological fair with pavilions and exhibitions offering the latest in Israeli agricultural hi-tech products to visitors from

around the world.Israel was definitely an excellent choice for WASME’s 14th Annual Conference. Gideon Sagee, Chairman of ISMEA, who is also a Vice President of WASME, noted how ISMEA, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary, has played a significant role in helping SMEs by promoting cooperation between NGOs, government and the private business sector and by operating among various special sectors such as the non-Jewish sector, new immigrants, businesses located in the periphery of the country, the ultra-orthodox population and women entrepreneurs. There is little doubt that Israel, with its vast experience, will continue to play a significant role in supporting SMEs.

Yehuda Paz, Chairman of NISPED: “A critical element is the need to link together vocational training with entrepreneurial training. People acquiring skills must kno