The USAID Agricultural Extension Support Activity (Ag Extension Project) conducted a day long training program on gender, leadership and facilitation for the public extension agents of Khulna and Narail. The training was held at a local hotel in Khulna on March 29, 2016.

A total of 18 extension agents including 16 Veterinary Field Assistants (VFA) from the Department of Livestock Services (DLS) and 2 Field Assistants (FA) of the Department of Fisheries (DoF) participated at the training.

The training sessions included the basic concepts of gender including differences between gender and sex, socialization process of gender, role of men and women in society, women’s participation in agriculture value chain, etc. The facilitators also discussed on the involvement of women with the project’s activities.

In the “facilitation” session, the facilitators discussed on issues like facilitation techniques, principles of facilitation, role of a facilitator, concept of facilitator and trainer, group mobilization, leadership, and also on specific roles of leaders who are involved in value chain activities.

The main objective of the training was to increase the capacities of the public extension agents with values of gender equality and leadership and better facilitation skills. The participants, at the end of the training, also committed to provide equal opportunity to both female and male farmers through different events such as vaccination programs. They also urged to pay visits to the female farmers as a prioritized task and ensured improved extension services to meet their requirements.

The training sessions involved participatory method, which included role plays, group discussions, etc. The facilitators also showed video documentary to make the training more lively and interactive.

The training was facilitated by Ms. Samsad Najnin, Gender Coordinator and Mr. Apurba Deb Roy, Community Development Specialist of the Ag Extension Project.

Dr. Md. Anowarul Haque, District Livestock Officer (DLO), Khulna inaugurated the training program.