Buenas Prácticas De Extensionismo Y Transferencia De Tecnología-Recomendaciones Para El Sistema De Extensionismo Agroalimentario Mexicano

The agri-food industry is one of the most important sectors in the regions, due to its role in the supply of basic food and for the contribution that this activity has on national macroeconomic indicators. The food industry contributes with 14.5% to the national level of manufacturing industry. However, these positive aspects depend on the capacity of the productive system to generate synergies between actors for the aggregation of value, which depends largely on the integration of good agri-food practices. Rural extensionism is an element that eases technology transfer processes and it encourages the adoption of innovations and good practices by producers. In this matter, this research aims to analyze the recent Mexican extension system to identify good practices for technology transfer and agricultural innovation, which were integrated as part of the lessons learned during a project focused on extension knowledge exchange between Mexico and Argentina. This in order to generate recommendations to improve Mexican extension system performance considering following paths: 1) extensionism functionality; 2) innovation schemes; 3) organization and connection among actors; 4) public policies and institutional framework. A series of weaknesses on the Mexican extension system were identified such as unstable institutional environment and uncertainty for the development of extension activity and transfer of technology, as well as the lack of continuity in the extension services, mainly due to a mistaken funding annual planning based on year cycles and a short term policy view. Given this scenario, it is important to rescue good practices of extension, technology transfer and innovation in order to build local development actions by learning from international experiences.