Kristin Davis SPECIAL EVENT UNFSS Independent Dialogue: The Critical Role of Agricultural Extension in Advancing the 2030 Agenda: Lessons from the Field and Empirical Evidence Co-Organized by IFPRI and Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA)

1. Agricultural Extension:
Global Status and Performance
in Selected Countries
Dr. Kristin Davis
Development Strategy and Governance Division
International Food Policy Research Institute
UN Food Systems Summit Independent Dialogue
6 August 2021
Overview and Selected Findings of the Book

2. Why? Extension’s role in in advancing the 2030 Agenda
Extension
drivers or
characteristics
Extension
performance
Outcomes and
Impact
Frame Conditions
Improved
nutrition
Better
yields
Enhanced
sustain-
ability
Climate
resilience

3. What? Contents
▪ Global overview
comparing extension at
national and regional
levels
▪ Performance
assessment, impact
evaluation in selected
countries
▪ Lessons and policy
insights

4. Global overview: Climate change and nutrition
▪ Climate change and nutrition as project topics rather than mainstreamed
▪ Incorporation of nutrition issues in extension content only at discussion
stage in several countries
▪ Nutrition a topic in high-level discussions in Central Asia and Caucasus but
not seriously addressed
▪ Extension staff in Democratic Republic of the Congo generally not trained
on nutrition
▪ Private sector claimed to spend 24% of time working with rural women on
nutrition, health, and hygiene in 2012

5. Global overview: Market orientation
▪ Market-oriented extension has become an integral part of many
extension activities
▪ However, clients split into commercial and resource-poor
oCapabilities, extension needs differ
oRelevant extension methodologies, providers, mechanisms
may differ
▪ Capacities and information to provide market-oriented extension
were often lacking

6. Nutrition and climate advice: Malawi example
76
39
53
39
48
32
9
0
25
77
48
58
48
58
35
8 5
16
0
20
40
60
80
100
%
of
sample
households
In the last 2 years
2016 2018
53
21
31
21
25
14
2 0
11
54
27
34
27
36
17
1 1
5
0
20
40
60
Title
In the last 12 months
2016 2018
Percent of households receiving agriculture or nutrition advice from any source, 2016 and 2018
Source: Ragasa and Mthinda (2020)

7. Nutrition and climate change in DRC* budgets
73%
6%
10%
8%
3%
Promotion of value chains and agribusiness
Food and nutrition securities
Research, Extension and Agricultural
education
Governance, gender and capacity building
Climate change adaptation
Available funds for National Agricultural Investment Plan (NAIP) by sub-programs (%)
Source: Ragasa and Mthinda (2020) *Democratic Republic of the Congo

8. Ethiopia: Technologies or practices promoted by extension
Technology/practices
Extension staff who
promoted technology in
2015/16, %
Topic or technology
requested by farmers?
(% yes)
Land preparation 98.6 57.0
Seed selection 97.0 60.0
Row-planting 98.0 53.0
Fertilizer application 98.2 57.4
Crop management 97.2 58.4
Postharvest handling 96.0 57.4
Natural resource conservation 96.4 49.2
Climate-smart practices 85.2 53.3
Market linkages 75.5 57.7
Source: Digital Green DA Survey (2017)

9. Type of extension services given by affiliation of extension
agent in Uganda
% reporting
Gov’t
(N=254)
Input
Supplier
(N=7)
NGOs
(N=49)
Cooperative/
Farmer’s
Association
(N=8)
Large-scale
Farmer
(N=5)
Others
(N=11)
Ag. production 95.6 71.4 91.8 100 80.0 63.6
Ag. prices 41.7 28.5 57.1 75.0 80.0 45.4
Agroprocessing 32.6 28.5 51.0 37.5 40.0 54.5
Crop marketing 37.4 28.5 65.3 62.5 20.0 72.7
Livestock
marketing
31.8 28.5 38.7 25.0 0.0 54.5
Fishing
production
10.2 0.0 18.3 12.5 0.0 9.0
Meat production 36.2 0.0 26.5 12.5 0.0 18.1
Milk production 23.6 14.2 26.5 25.0 0.0 36.3
Livestock
diseases
47.2 57.1 42.8 25.0 20.0 63.6
Source: Computed from LSMS 2015-16

10. Conclusion
▪ Today’s issues: climate change, digitalization, nutrition and health goals,
youth and gender, transformation of food systems, resilience
▪ Extension worker as a problem solver and a facilitator of services
▪ “Need for policy environment to strengthen the capacity of extension
system to meet these emerging needs remains most important
development concern”
▪ More efforts are needed to educate extension and instill skills, mindsets/
attitudes with the right mix of hard and soft skills and knowledge about
markets, nutrition, and climate change

11. Thanks!