by Ofer Sitbon
Pierre Poutan Ouendeno is not the first Guinean to visit Israel in the
setting of the international training courses organized by MASHAV but he is
one of the few participants to be selected to give specialized lectures
about his country during a CINADCO course. His lectures, delivered during a
course entitled "Research, Regional Research and Development (R&D) and
Agricultural Extension," which took place at CINADCO's Study Center at
Kibbutz Shefayim in November, 1998, was received with great enthusiasm by
his 28 African colleagues as testified by the special motion of thanks,
signed by all the course participants, expressing their appreciation of
CINADCO's "judicious and worthy" choice of Ouendeno to present the Guinean
model of agricultural extension work.
Strictly speaking, Pierre Ouendeno wore "two hats" when he participated in
the course - that of the trainee ("I'm always ready to learn") and that of
the presenter: during the course, which included 178 hours of lectures, he
presented five subjects (a total of 18 hours): research/development in West
Africa as seen by an extension worker; types of trials and their functions;
the participative approach in managing research/development and the role of
extension work; the case of Guinea and the development of the training and
visit system; the training of extension work personnel in Guinea. In
addition, together with Michel Isaak, Director of the Francophone Countries
Division at CINADCO and director for the present course, he presented a
topic involving behavior in extension work.
Ouendeno really enjoyed the course, which he has defined as "most
important": visits to research centers - in particular the Volcani Institute
and the Hebrew University's Faculty of Agriculture in Rehovot - were of
great interest, and he emphasized their direct link with R&D and the other
topics of the course. He said that he was impressed by the fact that in
Israel, development is extremely important. However, Ouendeno made the point
that the question of adapting to Guinea the technical means and initiatives
to which he was introduced during his stay may not arise, because of
differences in climate, as well as the lack of financial resources and
equipment. Nevertheless he was quite sure that on his return to Guinea he
will stay in touch with his Israeli counterparts - some of the names which
come readily to hand include Moshe Azenkot, Zion Dar, Dov Shoresh, Michel
Isaak and Joseph Toledano - who were extremely helpful to him throughout his
professional training, in the areas of extension work and R&D.
While thanking CINADCO for taking the initiative for the course and
organizing it, he mentioned his boss, Mr. Baba Galle Camara,
Director-General of the National Service of Rural Promotion and Extension
Work (French acronym: SNPRV) in Guinea's Ministry of Agriculture, for whose
support he expressed his great appreciation.
Guinea is an agricultural country - around 80% of its population lives
mainly from farming - and its tropical climate enables it to grow crops such
as rice, corn, coffee, tropical fruits (mango, pineapple, bananas), as well
as potatoes and onions. In 1958 Guinea gained its independence and, under
Sekou Toure, chose the socialist option which, according to Ouendeno, was
less than successful. The second Guinean republic was set up in 1984, in an
atmosphere of general relief. The new Guinean regime decided to make
agricultural development a priority. However, Guinea has not yet achieved
the "competitive phase," said Ouendeno, and for the government the main
thing is to secure reliable food supplies.
The World Bank initiated a project in 1987, whose purpose is to assist
Guinean agriculture. It involves a number of phases. One is the "pilot
phase," which is being run in six of the country's 33 prefectures or
administrative districts, and involves the application of technical
innovations and the training of extension workers. Another is the "National
Project Phase," covering 20 of the 33 prefectures. It primarily involves
expanding the range of extension service activities - on the one hand
technical advice, and on the other hand topics such as breeding, environment
(problems of deforestation, nomadic farming, desertification and so on), as
well as the training of women in all agricultural areas. This phase, which
took place from 1990 to 1994, saw the development of coordination between
research and extension work and production. In Ouendeno's view, this phase
was very important, not only because of the transfer of research findings to
the farming world, but also because of the transmission of the notion that
research is only useful when it benefits producers.
In December 1994, a presidential decree set up the SNPRV, whose staff today
consists of 1,500 employees in all categories. The service is structured on
five levels: national (Directorate-General), regional, prefectural, zonal
and 930 grass-roots extension workers. Ouendeno works for the SNPRV, where
he is the head of the Technical Training Division, as well as a member of
the Directorate-General. The SNPRV comprises four technical departments:
training, extension work, support for small farmers' organizations, and
research and development (R&D). The training department, headed by Ouendeno,
has four functions: identifying personnel training needs; analyzing
requirements; working out the National Training Plan on all levels; and
implementing training activities. The training plan has two separate types
of training: on-the-spot training and outside training.
On-the-spot training takes place on several levels, based on an annual plan
and in accordance with the agricultural calendar: (1) monthly workshops -
monthly visit by technicians to researchers to be trained in the latest
developments; (2) specific training, focusing primarily on the training of
women, on two levels: (a) the "improved home" which involves making women
aware of environmental issues and reducing, for example, the use of wood;
(b) the kind of social analysis which tries to involve women in extension
work, at the same time taking into account the social framework in which
they develop. It should be noted in this connection that one out of three
individuals working in agriculture in Guinea today is a woman; (3) annual
training of trainers in order to strengthen their skills and methodology;
(4) extension worker training, organized every two weeks by specialized
technicians, themselves in turn trained in the workshops held every month,
thereby resulting in constant updating so as to respond to farmers'
needs.
Outside training takes place in a number of countries: most of the courses
and exchanges, involving different crops, take place in West Africa (Ivory
Coast, Benin, Burkina Faso and Cameroon); the others take place outside
Africa: (a) in France, where courses are held on communication in the rural
development service; (b) in Canada, where project planning takes place;
and (c) n Israel, under the auspices of CINADCO which offers training in
agricultural extension work, agribusiness, irrigation and R&D. Guinea's
strategy focuses primarily on on-the-spot training, as well as on training
in West Africa, in order to be able to respond more effectively to farmers'
needs given the similarity of climate and daily realities.
Pierre Ouendeno attended school in Guinea. After two years in the agronomy
faculty at the University in Conakry, he received a grant to study in the
USSR. He first learned Russian for a year and then, in 1979, began his
studies at the Institute of Agronomy in Tashkent in Uzbekistan. In 1982, he
defended his thesis in quantitative genetics, involving an analysis of four
varieties of cotton. On his return to Guinea, he began to work for the
Ministry of Agriculture. In 1983-1984 he was the head of the Rice-Growing
Section at the Extension Work Center in Yatia, in the Faranah prefecture in
Upper Guinea (460 km from the capital city, Conakry). In 1984, he was
promoted to member of the Prefectoral Directorate of Agriculture in Faranah.
His career received a real boost with the beginning of the World Bank
project: During the project's pilot phase, Pierre Ouendeno was appointed
supervisor of the Faranah prefecture, serving from 1987 to 1989. In 1990 he
became head of the SNPRV Technical Training Division, a post he has held
ever since.
He has also served with distinction on an international level: In August
1995 he was appointed consultant to the World Bank, which commissioned him
to run the National Workshop to relaunch extension work in Burundi in the
wake of the war which had torn the country apart. In addition, he has taken
part in a number of training courses abroad which have added greatly to his
knowledge. Nor must one forget his frequent trips within West Africa. But
Pierre Ouendeno certainly does not spend all his time travelling. On his
return from Israel, he will be getting ready to submit a new service
training plan to his director-general and the sponsors. This plan will
include new communication methods.
Course Director Michel Isaak adds: "The idea of bringing a professional from
a developing country in order to be an active participant, not merely a
passive recipient, though not entirely innovative, is nevertheless a very
productive one as shown by this case story. When ably presented, the
experience of the professional from a developing environment will trigger
very interesting and specific responses from his colleagues and therefore
lead to very fruitful discussions, which in turn may be a starting point for
finding solutions in the participants' areas and countries. In this
particular case, CINADCO staff members who have had the opportunity to spend
time in Guinea had met Ouendeno through their work since the 1980s and
subjects to be dealt with were duly suggested in advance, so that he could
prepare himself to meet the challenge."