Agricultural extension in Latin America: current dynamics of pluralistic advisory systems in heterogeneous contexts

Balancing Democracy with Service Delivery: Power Relations, Politics and Accountability in Cooperatives Supporting Emergent Livestock Farmers in South Africa

“…Currently, the limited role of the secondary cooperative in enabling good governance and dispute resolution presents a missed opportunity. It is difficult to service the heterogeneity of farmers (smallholder, emergent and large commercial farmers) using a single extension approach, hence building state service delivery support might require a balance between current diffusionist approaches and the adoption of more flexible and demand-driven pluralistic territorial approaches (Yang, Klerkx, and Leeuwis 2014;Klerkx, Landini, and Santoyo-Cortés 2016). Multi-actor and inter-institutional approaches that effectively connect institutions and actors at the local level to higher level institutions have enjoyed a degree of success in Latin America (Klerkx, Landini, and Santoyo-Cortés 2016).…”

“…It is difficult to service the heterogeneity of farmers (smallholder, emergent and large commercial farmers) using a single extension approach, hence building state service delivery support might require a balance between current diffusionist approaches and the adoption of more flexible and demand-driven pluralistic territorial approaches (Yang, Klerkx, and Leeuwis 2014;Klerkx, Landini, and Santoyo-Cortés 2016). Multi-actor and inter-institutional approaches that effectively connect institutions and actors at the local level to higher level institutions have enjoyed a degree of success in Latin America (Klerkx, Landini, and Santoyo-Cortés 2016). Strengthening extension capacity and the role of secondary cooperatives would help to minimise the current focus in cooperatives on electing leaders who are politically connected and thus not only help to level the playing field between cooperatives in terms of the programmes they access but also minimise the possibility of connected leaders being less accountable to their membership.…”

Agricultural extension: Global status and performance in selected countries

“…Reviving Latin American extension systems has been back on the policy agenda the past decade or so (Klerkx, Landini, and Santoyo-Cortés 2016), indicating a reversal of decades of neglect following the neoliberal wave of fiscal and economic crises that led to the removal of public funding for extension services in many countries in the region. This renewed attention in the region has led to several reforms of their extension systems.…”

Realization of the next step in enhancing the quality, reputation and attractiveness of the Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension: receiving an impact factor from the Social Sciences Citation Index

“…Submissions come from all over the world, though some regions remain underrepresented. This has for example been noted for Latin America, which led to a special issue- (Klerkx et al, 2016).…”