Extension, Poverty and Vulnerability: The Scope for Policy Reform - Final Report of a Study for the Neuchâtel Initiative

This report is concerned with the ‘who?’ ‘what?’ and ‘how?’ of pro-poor extension. It builds on the
analytical framework proposed in the Inception Report of the same study (Christoplos, Farrington
and Kidd, 2001), taking it forward by fleshing out the analysis with empirical information gathered
from several countries during the course of the study (from primary data in Bolivia, Colombia,
Nicaragua, Uganda and Vietnam, and from secondary sources in a range of other countries,
including India), and drawing conclusions on the scope for action by governments and donors in a
range of contexts.
The Inception Report addressed the prior question of whether extension had anything to offer the
rural poor – concluding that it did, providing that appropriate wider policies were in place, and that
the poor were perceived not merely as producers, but also consumers and labourers.
This final report is structured as follows:
• It first revisits briefly the concepts of poverty and vulnerability, re-stating our perception of
‘who are the poor?’.
• Building on the Inception Report, Chapter 2 identifies three main contexts which, it is argued,
have an overwhelming influence on the ‘who’, ‘what’ and ‘how’ of extension. These are the
ways in which markets do or do not function at international, national and local levels; the
nature of systems of administration and governance; and the context of vulnerability and
marginalisation.
• Chapter 3 examines briefly how these and related contexts have influenced agricultural and
rural policy in and beyond the case study countries.
• Chapter 4 identifies how the scope and form of extension have been determined within these
policy frames.
• Chapter 5 identifies options for more pro-poor extension against these contexts, and against
likely future trends and identifies how donors might support such options.