This paper draw on relevant published (review)

South Africa's public agricultural extension services evolved from as early as the beginning of 1900. Agricultural extension is now recognised as a science by the South African Council of Natural Science Profession (SACNASP). This paper presents a philosophical argument that the promotion of sustainable agricultural practices should remain the domain of public extension and advisory services. To provide context, the paper firstly defines agricultural extension and the role extension could play in promoting the five pillars of sustainable agriculture. Secondly, it evaluates the national policy on extension and advisory services to determine the extent to which it addresses the framework of the five pillars for sustainable agriculture. Thirdly, the paper evaluates the Extension Recovery Plan (ERP), norms and standards for agricultural extension and the National Development Plan (NDP) against the framework of sustainable agriculture. The evaluation indicates that only three pillars of sustainability are emphasised. There is a need to subdivide the traditional pillars to align with the full framework for sustainability. The initial findings suggest that, while South Africa's agricultural extension policy often refers to sustainability and even to sustainable agriculture, they do so using the traditional three-pillared framework of economic, environmental and social sustainability, and thus fall short on key elements essential to sustainable agriculture, namely maintaining and increasing biological productivity, decreasing the level of risk to ensure larger security, protecting the quality of natural resources, ensuring agricultural production is economically viable, and ensuring agricultural production is socially acceptable. The paper also explores government initiatives to support extension and advisory services. Finally, this paper concludes by emphasising that the national policy on extension and advisory services should be amended to suit the five pillars of sustainable agriculture.

ABSTRACT

The ever-growing population of the world compels most farmers to resort to farming practices that are unsustainable. This is particularly true in Mpumalanga Province, where there is a lack of support towards promoting sustainable agriculture. This study evaluates the role of public agricultural extension in promoting sustainable agriculture in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. The role of public agricultural extension is evaluated against the framework of the five pillars of sustainable agriculture. The study evaluates the context of dominant agricultural extension approaches used in Mpumalanga Province. Data were collected through questionnaires with 68 respondents, comprising of various extension practitioners in all 17 districts in Mpumalanga Province. The study provides an analytical emphasis that assessment of farmers' livelihood will assist extension practitioners to programme their interventions based on farmers' needs. The study further evaluates extension practitioners' knowledge towards the concept of sustainable agriculture. The support provided to extension practitioners in promoting sustainable agriculture was also appraised. The results of the study present empirical consolidated responses on extension practitioners' knowledge of the five pillars of sustainable agriculture. Finally, extension practitioners provided their suggestions on what measures could be taken to promote sustainable agriculture in Mpumalanga Province. Drawing from the results of this study, it is evident that there is a need for frameworks and support for extension practitioners towards promoting sustainable agricultural practices.