Implementing the concept of change in agricultural extension organizations to achieve development sustainable dimensions / Iraq

Abstract

 The current research aims to identify the reality of practicing change leadership in agricultural extension organizations to achieve development sustainable dimensions / Iraq. The research community included the provinces of Iraq except for Kurdistan region, which numbered (15) provinces. A random sample was taken at a rate of (50%) and in (8) provinces, namely (Baghdad, Kirkuk, Salah al-Din, Anbar, Karbala, Najaf, Dhi Qar, Muthanna). A proportional stratified random sample was taken from workers in agricultural extension organizations within the Agricultural Extension and Training Department and its affiliated extension centers and farms and extension departments and units in the agricultural divisions affiliated with the Directorates of Agriculture in the provinces of the research sample, which numbered (721) respondents at a rate of (34.8%) and in (251) respondents. A questionnaire was prepared to collect data from workers in agricultural extension organizations. It consisted of (48) paragraphs distributed over five axes: (8) paragraphs for The axis of the existence of a sustainable regulatory environment that supports change, (10) paragraphs for the axis of strategies and policies that support change, (12) paragraphs for the axis of building a change team, (10) paragraphs for the axis of motivation towards change, and (8) paragraphs for the axis of managing time for change., and attention was paid to the following: - The axis of strategies and policies supporting change and the axis of managing the time of change ranked first due to their importance by agreement of the respondents with a weighted average of (4.26) degrees and a percentage weight of (85.6%), while the axis of the existence of a sustainable regulatory environment that supports change ranked last in terms of importance or the respondents’ agreement with it, as it achieved a weighted average of (4.24) degrees and a percentage weight of (84.8%). We conclude from this that most of the workers in agricultural extension organizations have the desire to practice change leadership in order to implement extension activities and programs, and despite this, they suffer from weak strategies and policies supporting change.