The best Extension Officers will always use appropriate teaching methods that are also suitable for poorly rated people. 21. Extension materials (training modules, pamphlets) associated with the service will be visually appealing in the best local office.
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY 1 Introduction
Background and Motivation for the Research
Extension services play a major role in capacitating and transforming small-scale farmers into commercial farmers. The purpose of the study is to identify aspects of extension service delivery that require performance improvement.
Problem Statement
Research Objectives
Research Questions
Value of the study
Literature Review
Limitation of the study
Research Methodology
This chapter reviews the literature related to services marketing, agricultural extension and provides a theoretical basis for the study. This chapter examines the research objectives and discusses the research methodology used to collect and analyze the data.
Conclusion
The next chapter, as highlighted in the chapter overview, will present the theoretical review of the literature. The chapter is divided into five parts, namely service, service quality, relationship marketing, customer satisfaction and extension services in agriculture.
What is service?
- Characteristics of services
- Intangibility
- Inseparability
- Variability
- Perishability
Transience describes the nature of the product in real time (Gabbott and Hogg 1998:28). Kotler (1996:60) states that transience of the service is a problem when demand is stable. The biggest challenge is that when the service is performed incorrectly, it cannot be returned.
Service Marketing Mix
- Product
- Price
- Place
- Promotion
- People
- Physical evidence
- Process
Since customers cannot reasonably evaluate high-risk intangible services without knowing the identity of the service provider, it is important to promote. Physical evidence sends a strong message about the organizational purpose and nature of the service.
Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs (DAEA) extension service marketing mix
- Product
- Price
- Promotion
- Place
- People
- Physical evidence
- Process
Customers tend to look for clues to the likely quality of service by inspecting tangible evidence such as brochures, stationery, business cards and report formats (Baker 2003:605). It is important for organizations to understand the service chain, as all aspects of the service mix are part of the service encounters. No two service providers are alike “ ; service delivery can be varied due to service heterogeneity (Mclean 1994:199).
Relationship marketing
Due to the nature of the extension service, the only physical evidence most farmers are exposed to is contact with extension staff, leaflets and KZN motor vehicles. By building strong relationships with customers and by focusing on the factors that influence customer relationships, an organization will gain an accurate understanding of customer expectations over time (Zeitmal and Bitner 2006: 207).
Service quality
- Service quality dimensions
- Reliability
- Responsiveness
- Assurance
- Empathy
- Tangibles
By doing this, the organization will distinguish itself as a provider of quality service and responsiveness (Zeithaml and Bitner 2006:117). Safety is defined as the knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to create trust and confidence. Organizations that value empathy call their customers by name and establish a relationship that reflects their personal knowledge of the customer's requirements (Zeithaml and Bitner 2006:120).
Measuring service quality
The Gaps Model of Service Quality
This is the difference between the organization's understanding of customer expectations and development of customer-driven service design and standards (Zeitmal and Bitner 2006:38). It is between the service provided and the service provider's external communication (Zeithaml and Bitner 2006:42). Organizations should develop communications that deal with the quality dimension and characteristics that are most important to the customer and accurately reflect what customers actually receive in the service encounter (Zeithaml and Bitner 2006:43).
Customer satisfaction
The point is that positive emotions can develop customer satisfaction, while negative emotions can destroy customer satisfaction. According to Naidooi, a study of the hospitality industry was conducted and found that negative emotions have a greater influence on customer satisfaction and customer repeat visit intentions than positive emotions. There are five steps that help in achieving customer satisfaction (Walker and Baker.
Difference between service perception and service expectation
Agriculture’s role in poverty reduction
The main goal of agricultural development in KZN is food security, which is part of poverty reduction. The primary purpose of these community gardens is to provide food security to participants and their families, with the secondary purpose of producing a surplus for sale (KZN Agric Report 2002). The department provides one-time infrastructure support in the form of land preparation, fencing and irrigation.
Economic importance of agriculture
The Government Extension Service in South Africa is well positioned to help people living in rural areas. The community gardens supported by the KZN DAEA give people the opportunity to produce food. An ongoing extension service is offered with advice on cultivar selection, planting time, pest and disease control, fertilization and marketing.
Agriculture and unemployment
The rural poor face a different set of challenges, with an equally different set of solutions.
What is extension ?
Agricultural extension services in South Africa
The democratization of South Africa introduced fundamental changes in policy, administrative and delivery mechanisms and systems for government services to conform to the new constitution. This process led to the development of the White Paper on Agriculture (1995), which presented strategic transformation imperatives with the charmingly simple acronym BATAT (Broadening Access to Agriculture) for previously disadvantaged farmers in terms of their financial services, technological development and markets. services (Normatives and standards, 2005). The delivery system is the key to transforming South Africa's small, neglected agricultural sector.
Extension structures in KZN
In 1994, the government committed to a "better life for all" characterized by equality, justice, prosperity, freedom and democracy. Counseling Officers fall under the District Services and provide initial counseling and development services to clients. Support services that ensure efficient agricultural development are professional services, engineering and soil conservation services.
Project implementation
Training
Assessment and planning
Demonstration and research groups
Clients
Some produce salable profits; some have access to their own land or production rights in common areas (fields and grazing); some are land reform beneficiaries.
Agricultural Extension ;Philosophy; Principles and Strategy
Importance of service delivery
Challenges of Extension Services
Conclusion
Chapter 2 provided brief background information on the history of the extension service in South Africa and the importance of agriculture in alleviating poverty. It was noted that agricultural extension services are the most important link in the rural development chain between the DAEA and farming communities. This chapter focuses on the research methodology and design that will be used to collect and analyze the data from the questionnaires.
Research Design
Research Instrument
It consists of 21 service attributes grouped into the five service quality dimensions (i.e. reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibility) (Zeithaml and Bitner. The SERQUAL survey questionnaire is structured in such a way that two different ratings are required to provide for each attribute or dimension of service quality, one rating reflects the level of service customers would expect from service providers in the sector and the other reflects their perception of the service provided by a specific service provider within that sector.
Discussion of the questionnare
SERVQUAL's predetermined survey questionnaire was used to collect and analyze the primary data for this study.
Sample Design
- Defining the target population
- Select a sampling Frame
- Determine if a probability or non -probability sampling method will be chosen
- Data collection
According to Zikmund, the “sampling frame is a list of elements from which the sample can be drawn.” The current study focused on the farming community that has received extension services from the DAEA under the uMngungundlovu district municipality over the past five years. It was assumed that the above-mentioned local municipalities were representative of the farming communities living in the uMngungundlovu district municipality. Non-probability samples are samples in which the probability of choosing a particular member of the population is unknown (Zikmund 1995:423).
Data Analysis
Conclusion
This chapter presents the findings that emerged from the survey using the SERVQUAL questionnaires. The purpose of the study is to measure the perceptions and expectations of the farming community on the quality of extension services provided by DAEA under the Mnungundlovu District Municipality. The researcher used pie charts and bar charts to show respondents each of the 22 questions.
Profile of the sample
Perceptions
The majority (93%) of the respondents strongly agreed that Guidance Officers are knowledgeable about their subjects and 3.8% remain undecided. 71.3% of respondents strongly agreed and 21% agreed that Extension services provide new information, while 2.5% remained undecided and 1.9 disagreed with the statement. The majority (89.1%) of the respondents agreed that Extension helps with the development of new practices, while 9.6% remained undecided and 0.6% disagreed with the statement.
Perceptions in terms of the service quality dimensions
The highest mean perception for the empathy dimension was 4.74, related to extension officers who paid individual attention to farmers. The highest mean perception for the responsiveness dimension was 4.78, related to the willingness of staff to help. The highest mean perception for the assurance dimension was 4.77, related to the knowledge that extension staff have.
Expectation
86.6% of respondents agreed that the best Counselor should be friendly and polite when dealing with customers. 79% of respondents agreed that the best guidance service would be a worthwhile investment of public funds. The majority of respondents (88.5 %) agreed with the statement that the best guidance officer will always use appropriate teaching methods.
Expectation in terms of the dimensions
The highest expectation for the guarantee dimension was 4.94, related to the extension service that helps solve the farmers' problem. The highest expectation for the reliability dimension was 4.92, associated with the best extension officer who was never too busy to solve farmers' problems. Although the score of 4.8 on a five-point scale represents relatively high, the score for the reliability dimension was the lowest of the five quality dimensions.
Conclusion
This gap is considered the most crucial gap, as it indicates the difference between the customer's expectation of the service and the service they actually receive (Zeithaml and Bitner 1996:37). The average gap score between the guidance service perception and expectation for each of the service quality dimensions summarized in Table 4.28 is empathy (-0.23), responsiveness (-0.25), assurance (-0.23), reliability (-0.36) and tangibles (- 0, 31). The previous chapter dealt with the profile of the sample used and the results for each question in the survey.
Determing the service perceptions of the farming communities with regards to extension service delivery
- Perception concerning empathy
- Perception concerning responsiveness
- Perception concerning assurance
- Perception concerning reliability
- Perception concerning tangibility
The overall mean for this dimension of service quality was 4.68 and represents the second highest score of the five dimensions of service quality. The overall mean for this dimension of service quality was 4.69 and this is the highest mean of all dimensions. Of the five dimensions of service quality, reliability has been shown to be the most important determinant of service quality perceptions in the US.
Determinining the service expectations of the farming communities with regard to extension service delivery
- Expectation concerning emphathy
- Expectation concerning responsiveness
- Expectation concerning assurance
- Expectation concerning reliability
- Expectation concerning tangibility
The overall average score for this dimension was 4.86 and is rated the fourth highest of the average five dimensions. Tangibles refer to the physical environment in which the service is offered, i.e. the organization, the equipment, the staff and their clothing (Bergman and Klefsjo. This is called "the moment of truth" "or" "moment of possibilities", since the supplier can convince the customer of service excellence.
Determining the SERVQUAL gaps that impair extension service delivery
Much of the service quality is realized when the farmer and the extension staff meet face to face. The Department of Agriculture should consider establishing a dress code to ensure uniformity, as the employee's image is part of the customer's perception of the quality of the service. This is the third highest score of the five dimensions and does not appear to be the most critical element for farming communities, because very few farmers visit the local extension service office.
Conclusions
- Reliability dimension
- Tangibles dimension
- Responsiveness dimension
- Empathy dimension
- Assurance dimension
- Time constraints
- Bias
The appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel and communication materials represents the physical environment in which the service is presented (Lovelock 2007: 421). DAEA should pay attention to the tangible dimension of service strategy to avoid negating a good strategy. DAEA must understand that extension services programs or activities must be focused on the farmers themselves and must be implemented for their benefit and not for the benefit of the ministry.
Future research
The researcher believes that there would have been more time to collect information from a larger sample that would have been more representative of the population. Knowledge of customers' perceptions and attitudes toward the organization's activities will greatly enhance the ability to make better business decisions (Hayes 1991:2). The questionnaires were completed by the respondents in the presence of the researcher, with whom they had a very good relationship.
Conclusion
