What extension methods do rural extension agents prefer and use? International comparison and construction of a typology according to their methods

Abstract

In contrast to the wide corpus of literature aimed at discussing different extension approaches or philosophies, there is scarce interest in the analysis of methods of rural extension. This quantitative study analyzes the types of rural extension methods that rural extension agents from nine countries prefer and use, and explores the relationship between the types of methods and extension agents' sociodemographic characteristics. Group methods are the most preferred and used, followed by individual ones. Inter-institutional coordination and mass media methods occupy third and fourth place respectively, in terms of preference and use. An important divergence between preferred and most used methods was identified. Results show the existence of three types of extension agents in terms of their extension methods, one focusing on individual and group work with farmers, and the other two which prioritize or relegate individual or group methods (depending on the case) and complement them with inter-institutional coordination ones.