An Appraisal of Batswana Extension Agents' Work and Training Experiences

Hermeneutic-phenomenological interviews were conducted to explore community-based extension workers' (CBEWs') previous work and training experiences and how such experiences contributed to their present working relationships as partners in community development. CBEWs' responses foreshadowed challenges and problems of coordination that could have otherwise been addressed had they been considered integral elements of previous training curricula. The findings throw light on how government policies, though explicitly formulated to enhance conditions of service coordination, can be in variance with realities of coordination at the village level. Awareness of the fissure of policies and actual coordination does not refute the importance of government intervention in community development, given CBEWs' status as government employees. Rather, it is only with understanding of and familiarity with CBEWs' circumstances that such policies would truly address the challenges, problems, and possibilities of effective coordination.