On Agricultural
p. 73 · Read in the full issue
Useful Handbook
Extension Work
"Extension in Rural Communities", by A. H. Saville, is the latest in the useful series of Oxford Tropical Handbooks.
Mr. Saville, extension training officer in Sarawak's Department of Agriculture, describes the steps necessary to set up and maintain an agricultural extension service, whose aim, he says, is to "teach people living in rural areas how to raise their standard of living by their own efforts, using their own resources and materials, with a minimum of assistance from govern ment."
According to Mr. Saville, an ef fective extension service acts as a connecting link between the research service of a department of agriculture and the farming community.
But, he says, extension officers must not impose their will, or govern ment policy, on the people they serve.
They must live among them, as friends, counsellors, and teachers, finding out their problems and encouraging them to adopt a positive attitude towards their difficulties.
(Extension In Rural Com
MUNITIES Oxford University Press. $3.48.)