Produced by Catherine Ragasa and IFPRI team

1. Distribution and Gaps in
Agricultural Extension Services
and Technology Adoption:
Synthesis from 3 rounds of survey
Catherine Ragasa and IFPRI team
As of October 18, 2021

2. Outline of presentation
1. Dynamics and gaps in agricultural extension services
2. Dynamics and gaps in agricultural technology awareness and
adoption

3. % of Households receiving agriculture advice
81
68
56
45 43
11
77
23
0
20
40
60
80
100
Extension access in the last 2y by topic
2016 2018 2021
74
57
38
31 27
4
68
8
0
20
40
60
80
100
Extension access in the last 12m by topic
2016 2018 2021

4. Access to agriculture advice (individual level),
by topic
74
55
38
29 26
4
59
7
0
20
40
60
80
100
Extension access in the last 12m by topic (men)
2016 2018 2021
31
17
12 12
7
0
29
9
34
19 19 15
7
1
32
3
64
48
26 23
17
2
65
7
0
20
40
60
80
100
Extension access in the last 12m by topic (women)
2016 2018 2021

5. Access to extension services, by topic
55
45
24
19 18
1 0
52
7
67
54
33 31 27
2 1
52
7
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
%
of
female
and
male
respondents
Female Male

6. Access to agriculture advice, by source
50
4
16
8
19
35
56
2 0
5 2 0 0 0 0
0
20
40
60
80
100
Access to agriculture advice by source –
2 years
2016 2018 2021
47
3
13
4
16
25
50
1 0 3 1 0 0 0 0
0
20
40
60
80
100
Access to agriculture advice by source –
12 months
2016 2018 2021

7. Potential channels of information/advice
77
15
85
24
85
60
8
72
12
73
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Listens to radio at least
once a week
Watches television at
least once a week
Uses phone at least
once a week
Goes to nearest town at
least once a week
Goes to nearest market
at least once a week
%
of
female
and
male
respondents
Male Female

8. Technology tracking
• 47 agricultural technologies selected from the technology audit and
prioritization report and in discussion with DAES, FRT-Malawi and CG centers
• 31 crop production technologies
• 4 livestock-related technologies
• 5 post-harvest and marketing practices
• 7 nutrition and health–related practices
• Survey questions asked:
• Are you aware or have you heard of [technology 1]?
• Did you ever practice or adopt it?
• Why did you not practice or adopt it?
• Are you still adopting it?
• Why did you stop adopting it?

9. % of households who were aware of crop production technologies,
and further disaggregated by those who did not adopt, are still
adopting, and disadopted
27
10
19 15 14
32
20 14 16 21 18 18
46 43 41
51
7 10
26 23 21
37
27 25
12
21
13 8 14
6
57
80
69
68 72
52
62
67 60 50 56 53
24
17 19
11
55 51
26 28
19
3
8 8
19 7
16
17 3
8
11 3 3
5 1 2 1 1
1 5 1 2 2
9 9 5 0 0 4 2
3 1
3 1
0
1
0 1
1
0
0
20
40
60
80
100
%
of
households
Did not adopt Adopted Disadopted

10. Awareness of crop-related practices being promoted, by
gender
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
%
of
female
and
male
respondents
Male Female

11. Technology adoption, by gender
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Male Female

12. 20
40
23
12
67 25
8
2
7
3
0
1
0
20
40
60
80
100
%
of
rural
households
a. % of households aware of improved
livestock production practices
Did not adopt Still adopting Disadopted
Livestock production practices
92
69
29
14
90
62
21
9
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
%
of
female
and
male
respondents
b. Awareness between female and male
Male
Female
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
c. Adoption between female and male
Male
Female

13. Post-harvest and marketing practices
3
35
65
13
0
20
40
60
80
100
Grading or sorting out produce Use of hermetic bags for
storage
b. % of households aware of improved
marketing practices
Did not adopt Still adopting Disadopted
70
57
45
36
23
26
64
43
34 32
14
18
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
%
of
female
and
male
respondents
a. Male and female
Male Female

14. Nutrition-related practices
0
20
40
60
80
100
%
of
female
and
male
respondents
a. Awareness
Male Female
0
20
40
60
80
100
b. Adoption
Male Female

15. Priorities for
increasing
awareness
Some awareness (25–49% aware)
Mbeya manure
Composting toilets
Collective marketing
Pelletized tobacco waste/manure
Mandela cock drying for aflatoxin mgt
Water harvesting in pits or swales
Biological control for pests
Fodder trees in crop plots
Inoculant
Reduced use of pesticide
Soil cover
Low awareness (<25% aware)
Warehouse receipt system
Commodity aggregation
Soil testing
Hay/silage making
Consulted a plant clinic or plant doctor
Some adoption (25–49% adopted)
Consuming iron-rich foods
Food budgeting/food calendar
Double up legume intercropping
Double row soybean planting
Improved livestock housing
Fallow
Low adoption (<25% adopted)
Biological control
Zero or minimum tillage
Mbeya manure
Soil cover
Pit planting
Reduced use of pesticide
Use of hermetic bags for storage
Herbicide
Water harvesting in pits or swales
Consulted a plant clinic or plant doctor
Fodder trees in crop plots
Pelletized tobacco waste/manure
Inoculant
Soil testing
Composting toilets
Hay/silage making
Collective marketing
Mandela cock drying for aflatoxin mgt
Warehouse receipt system
Commodity aggregation
High gap (40–60%)
Herbicide
Pit planting
Zero or minimum tillage
Fallow
Improved livestock housing
Composting toilets
One-one maize planting
Use of hermetic bags for storage
Medium gap (20–39%)
Planting Vetivar grass
Backyard gardening
Pelletized tobacco waste/manure
Double row soybean planting
Dietary diversity
Livestock/animal manure
Compost manure
Water harvesting in pits or swales
Double up legume intercropping
Mbeya manure
Fodder trees in crop plots
Inoculant
Agroforestry
Crop rotation
Mixed cropping
Box ridges
Manure from domestic rubbish pits
Food budgeting/food calendar
Priorities for inducing
adoption
Priorities for
reducing awareness-
adoption gap

16. Reasons for not adopting some technologies
Reasons Zero or minimum tillage Pit planting Water harvesting in
pits or swales
Planting Vetivar grass Double up legume
intercropping
Did not
adopt
Disadopt Did not
adopt
Disadopt Did not
adopt
Disadopt Did not
adopt
Disadopt Did not
adopt
Disadopt
We do not know much about the technology ******** ******** ******* *** ******
Lack of materials/seeds/soil cover/mulch/manure ** * * ****** ** ****** **
Lack of funds or resources to implement ** * * * * *
Time-consuming to implement *** ** *** *** ** **
We are lazy *** ** * * * **
We are used to/prefer old/other practice (e.g., traditional
ridging, animal or compost pit manure, or inorganic
fertilizer, dimba gardens)
*** * *
We are not interested (e.g., have rented land, believe that
it will destroy soil fertility in the case of herbicide,
consider composting toilet disgusting)
** * * * * * *
We do not see benefit (e.g., more pests/termites, crops do
not grow well, livestock destroy garden, etc.)
* * *
Not applicable or appropriate (e.g., waterlogging area,
land not for legumes, area is free from erosion, not
growing soya, not raising livestock, etc.)
* **** * *
Not enough land
Theft
It requires more fertilizer or other inputs
Lack of water

17. Reasons for not adopting some technologies
Reasons Double row soybean
planting
Fodder trees in crop
plots
Backyard gardening One-one planting
(Sasakawa)
Fallow
Did not
adopt
Disadopt Did not
adopt
Disadopt Did not
adopt
Disadopt Did not
adopt
Disadopt Did not
adopt
Disadopt
We do not know much about the technology ****** **** ** *** **
Lack of materials/seeds/soil cover/mulch/manure **** ** **** ** *** ** **** **
Lack of funds or resources to implement * ** ** ** **** **** *****
Time-consuming to implement ** * *
We are lazy ** * *
We are used to/prefer old/other practice (e.g., traditional ridging, animal
or compost pit manure, or inorganic fertilizer, dimba gardens)
** *
We are not interested (e.g., have rented land, believe that it will destroy
soil fertility in the case of herbicide, consider composting toilet
disgusting)
* * * *
We do not see benefit (e.g., more pests/termites, crops do not grow well,
livestock destroy garden, etc.)
** * ** **
Not applicable or appropriate (e.g., waterlogging area, land not for
legumes, area is free from erosion, not growing soya, not raising
livestock, etc.)
* *** *
Not enough land ** ***** **
Theft
It requires more fertilizer or other inputs **** ****
Lack of water * *

18. Reasons for not adopting some technologies
Reasons Herbicide Inoculant Hermetic bags for
storage
Dietary diversity Food budgeting or
food calendar
Did not
adopt
Disadopt Did not
adopt
Disadopt Did not
adopt
Disadopt Did not
adopt
Disadopt Did not
adopt
Disadopt
We do not know much about the technology *** ***** ** ** ***
Lack of materials/seeds/soil cover/mulch/manure *** * ** ** ** *
Lack of funds or resources to implement ******** *** ***** ** ******* *** ****** **** ****** ***
Time-consuming to implement
We are lazy
We are used to/prefer old/other practice (e.g.,
traditional ridging, animal or compost pit
manure, or inorganic fertilizer, dimba gardens)
We are not interested (e.g., have rented land,
believe that it will destroy soil fertility in the case
of herbicide, consider "composting toilet"
disgusting)
*
We do not see benefit (e.g., more pests/termites,
crops do not grow well, livestock destroy garden,
etc.)
Not applicable or appropriate (e.g., waterlogging
area, land not for legumes, area is free from
erosion, not growing soya, not raising livestock,
etc.)
*
Not enough land
Theft
It requires more fertilizer or other inputs
Lack of water

19. [Preliminary] key messages from the 3 survey
rounds
(1) Coverage of extension services has been improving over time
✓ Access to extension services by youth has also substantially increases → lower gap of access to extension services and technology adoption between younger and older
farmers
✓ Access to extension services by women and men improved substantially in 2021 compared to 2016 and 2018. Women are equally involved in agriculture as men and
most plots are jointly managed by both women and men in the households. While gender gap has been reducing over time, some differences between female and male
respondents within the household in access to extension services and technology awareness and adoption remain. This is another opportunity for projects/programs to
further improve gender equity in these indicators.
(2) Low extension services provision on awareness and adoption of improved marketing practices.
✓ There is also a huge opportunity for greater awareness and promotion of improved marketing practices
(3) Advice on livestock production and on environment or climate change remain low with roughly a third of the rural households accessing them
✓ This is another area needing greater promotion by the project.
(4) Lack of knowledge and information is the primary reason that farmers do not adopt many technologies, despite being aware of those technologies.
✓ This indicates the need for more intensive and frequent promotion of the technologies, including the use of farm demonstrations, for farmers to gain better
understanding, appreciation, and adequate knowledge of improved technologies
(5) In terms of extension methods
✓ Continue radio programming - >50% using it to access agriculture and nutrition information
✓ Expand usage of phone/mobile platforms for extension (currently at <5% usage but >60% uses phone everyday and 79% uses phone at least once a week
✓ Explore extension services and technology promotion around market days or through traders (85% of men and 73% of women goes to nearest market at least once a
week)
(6) While more non-maize crops are being planted, the level of commercialization remains low, with rural households selling only 20% of their crop
produce on average.
✓ Improving maize productivity to increase maize surplus available for sale, venturing into high-value cash crops, and supporting farmers with market linkages are some
strategies that the projects/programs can further invest on.