Review of Models and Approaches to the Financial Support of Extension Services

The number of extension entities available in Ukraine cannot meet the information needs of target groups defined by law. Therefore, a necessary condition for supporting the functioning of existing and developing a network of new agricultural extension services is sufficient volume, stability, and configured financing mechanisms. The article aims to substantiate proposals for improving the mechanism for managing the financing of agricultural extension services in Ukraine. The article reviews foreign models and approaches to financing extension activities. The features of applying mechanisms for financing extension activities in Ukraine were revealed. Prospects for improving the management of financing extension activities were outlined. In particular, it was found that Ukraine implemented a contracting-state financing model, under which extension services operating as non-governmental organizations provide socially oriented services at the expense of state budgets of various levels. At the same time, as in most countries, greater emphasis is placed on the top-down approach (demand-side financing). The negative and positive features of the Ukrainian practice of applying bottom-up and top-down approaches to financing extension services were identified. The author proposes to manage financial flows for extension activities through the Agricultural and Rural Extension Development Fund, the sources of which may be regional budgets within the framework of regional development programs aimed at the development of the agricultural sector (not less than 10%), as well as funds from rural territorial communities from local development programs (not less than 5%). The impartiality of the distribution of financial resources of such a Fund will be ensured by corporate management under the auspices of the supervisory board, which should include representatives of regional and local councils, industry associations, and higher education institutions of an agricultural nature. The functioning of the Fund will ensure the sustainability of financing agricultural extension services in Ukraine to solve the tasks of developing rural areas in the post-war period.