Agricultural extension in transition worldwide: policies and strategies for reform

The purposes of this course are to review the major reforms being considered internationally that aim to change the policy and institutional structure and operations of public sector agricultural extension systems, and to examine the advantages and disadvantages of each of these reforms as illustrated by the selected case studies. Aside from the introductory chapter, the course is organized into nine modules, which are conceived as part of a larger framework. This framework is formulated into two main parts. The first part is comprised of the background module and the five reforms, namely decentralization, privatization, cost recovery, participatory extension and demand-led extension. The second part centres on the role of government and other extension stakeholders, and the responsibilities of government vis-à-vis the public agricultural extension services and the overall pluralistic extension system. The Module 6 is particulary relevant to TAPipedia focus on Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS): it examines the concept of AIS and its implications for linkage among agriculturally related institutions.