From pushing production inputs to empowering the community: a case study in the transformation of an extension agency

The Oil Palm Industry Corporation of Papua New Guinea is transforming itself under the leadership of a Chief Executive Officer appointed in February 1996. During 1997, a team from the University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury designed and initiated an Industry Learning and Leadership Development Program for OPIC. It began in October 1997 and finished in June 1999. The hypothesis is presented that the process, which the program is a part of, is enabling a transformation that constitutes a fundamental paradigm shift, from a production input and technology transfer model of extension to a systemic, community-development oriented one. The case for the hypothesis is pursued through an account of the experience of the program, and critical reflection on it. The outcomes of this are related to the challenge presented by a paradigm shift in extension. Praxis and effective leadership of it are put forward as an appropriate response. This is characterised by (i) widespread dissatisfaction with the pre-existing situation; (ii) conceptualisation of an alternative based on shared values, (iii) facilitation of theory-informed practice in the local context, and critical reflection on it, (iv) the internal capacity of the system to translate opportunities for reform into protocols and procedures, (v) the imprimatur of the 'owners' of the system, and (vi) access to needed resources.