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Plan | Audience and Needs | Solutions | Key Message | Message form and delivery | ​Evaluation

​Plan your needs assessment (4 Steps) and plan for scale

Checklist. Use the "ASK ME" checklist to help you plan your program
Keys to success - Fact sheet

1. Consult

1. Identify and talk with key local leaders and experts.
2. Note findings of any existing reports.
3. Clearly identify your target audience: Pay attention to gender to ensure that all parties are considered and will benefit.

2. Secondary data

1. Analyze secondary data Fact sheet ; Activity sheet
2. Plot Max and Min temperature and rainfall - overlay with crop calendar. If information is not available locally, then possible weather information sources: * Average rainfall, temperatures http://www.worldclimate.com/ ; * Global climate maps: Link (FAO) 
3. Collect soil or land use maps, if available
   * Field and farmer survey
   * Use Google Earth
   ​* Identify key soil characteristics: pH, EC, texture, soil depth, if available
4. Note topography and infrastructure
5. If irrigation water used: Identify source (rainfall? ground water? river/lake).

3. Cropping and Livestock potential. Meet with farmers and visit fields, considering:
    Crops

• Determine what is presently growing in the region.
• Assess the "health" of surrounding vegetation - it gives an indication of soils, weather and potential productivity, ​
• Develop a cropping calendar (planting and harvest times) for existing crops.
• Crop Variety
• Seed/seedling source
• Crop rotation and field conditions (e.g., residue)
• Land preparation
• Crop establishment
• Fertilizer/nutrient management
• Pests and pest control (weeds, insects, diseases, other)
• Water management (measure EC, if salinity suspected)
• Postharvest practices (harvest, drying, storage, transport, processing)

    ​Livestock 

• Note livestock both grazing and those kept near the house
• Breeds, feed and nutrition, watering, disease, hygiene

 

• Markets
• Input, Credit and labor needs and availability
• Sources of knowledge
  
  When asking about practices, identify who (male, female adults, children) does what and who makes the decisions.
  
  Ask what the farmers are interested in - in terms of change.
  
  Validate interview responses with field observations and vice versa.

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4. Conclusions - fitting on-farm needs in a wider context

• Priorities. Identify Priority needs and opportunities and ensuring you are addressing the true cause of the major problems.
• System context. What are the broader elements needed for success - Fact sheet ; Evaluate those elements Activity sheet
• Skills needed. Recognize and as needed build the broad range of skills required for successful applied research and extension - Fact sheet​
  
•  Fact sheet
• The three big elements. As you plan, remember successful extension requires extension workers to have 1) sound technical knowledge, 2) good communication skills and 3) effective institutional support with market linkages.

5. Create your plan

• Develop a Logical framework Fact sheet 

Print the above

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Plan for Scale

GROWING PROSPERITY: Developing Repeatable Models® to Scale the Adoption of Agriculture Innovations Booklet on line Acumen

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