FACILITATORS' PERFORMANCE of COMUNICATION and EDUCATIONAL EXTENSION ACTIVITIES of FARMERS FIELD SCHOOLS (FFSs) in FAYOUM GOVERNORATE

Abstract
FFS is a participatory approach through which the extension worker functions as a facilitator helping farmers to learn by doing to discover their field problems and reach to the best-fit solutions for these problems.
This study investigated the levels of FFSs facilitators’ performance of communication and educational extension activities as perceived by farmers, and the relationships among these levels and the following independent variable: Age, size of land holding, opinion leadership, cosmopolitans, participation in extension activities, formal social participation, informal social participation, exposure to sources of agricultural information, attitudes towards FFSs.
The study was conducted in 3 Districts of Fayoum Governorate, namely: Fayoum, Senores and Tamia. A sample of 196 farmers was selected from the members of 20 FFSs in these three districts, representing 49% of the total FFSs members. The selected sample was personally interviewed by using a questionnaire designed and pretested for data collection. Level of performance was measured by using an index including 40 statements covering the different FFFs’ communication and educational extension activities. Farmers’ responses to each statement ranged from (no, rarely, sometimes and always). The scores 0,1,2,3 were assigned to these responses respectively. Total score of each farmer was used to represent his point of view concerning facilitators’ performance of the FFFs’ activities.  Frequencies, percentages, average mean, standard deviation and correlation coefficient were used for data presentation and analysis.
 The study results revealed that:

The majority of FFSs’ facilitators (around 77 %) demonstrated high and medium levels of performance.
Statistically significant and positive correlations were found among the levels of performance and the following independent variables: opinion leadership, participation in extension activities, informal social participation, exposure to sources of agricultural information and attitudes towards FFSs.