AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICES: A MEANS FOR IMPROVING QUALITY OF LIFE OF RURAL COMMUNITIES

Agricultural extension can serve as mechanism for empowering the rural farmers by developing skills, attitudes, and scientific capacities in rural community members to produce enough food and raw materials for local consumption and export. The need to realize significant and immediate increase in productivity calls for efficient functional and sustainable extension programme that will train the farmers for a rewarding business in farming. This paper draws our attention on why the need to empower the rural communities. The paper also focuses attention on the rural communities, causes and consequences of rural poverty. Finally it high lights on the role of extension services in improving the lots of the rural communities.