Some leading issues in international agricultural extension, a literature review

The purpose of this article is to discuss current issues relating to public agricultural extension such as the role of the state, reductions in public spending, financial viability, partnership, privatisation, institutional structures, decentralisation, participation, gender, local knowledge, pluralism and sustainability all in a globalisation and marginalisation context. The article provides a holistic and cross-disciplinary overview of important factors and forces having a significant effect of the future paths of public agricultural extension services. Agricultural extension systems world-wide are going through necessary renewal processes and it is still an open question what role the public sector are going to play regarding extension in the future. Different systems of partnership between public and private sectors may offer a win-win situation where the advantages of public extension (e.g. open access) join forces with private sector “efficiency”, capital and market orientation. However, we may also experience the opposite situation where privatisation is accompanied by commercialisation, market failure and further marginalisation of small-scale farmers.