Effectiveness of the lead farmer approach in agricultural extension service provision: Nationally representative panel data analysis in Malawi

Catherine Ragasa ()

Land Use Policy, 2020, vol. 99, issue C

Abstract: The lead farmer (LF) approach has been implemented and heavily promoted nationwide in Malawi since 2009 to support government extension workers and accelerate technology dissemination. Earlier reports have shown that donor-funded projects in Malawi widely adopted the LF approach, indicating positive roles and contributions of LFs. However, national data show persistently low rates of adoption of management practices being promoted by the LFs, prompting this study to look closely at the nationwide implementation and effectiveness of the LF approach. Specifically, we model the effects of farmers’ interaction with and exposure to LFs, and farmers’ access to LFs’ advice, on farmers’ awareness and adoption of several promoted technologies and management practices. We use data from 531 randomly selected LFs linked to panel data from 2,880 farming households and, using correlated random effects, model the effectiveness of the LF approach on technology awareness and adoption. This modeling is complemented by 52 focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with agricultural extension development officers (AEDOs) and service providers.

Keywords: Extension services; Lead farmers; Farmer-to-farmer extension; Social learning; Conservation agriculture; Effectiveness analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:99:y:2020:i:c:s026483771930119x

DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104966

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