Knowledge Driven Development: Private Extension and Global Lessons - Chapter 14, Private Sector Extension - Synthesis of the Case Studies

Elsevier, Knowledge Driven Development: Private Extension and Global Lessons
Authors: 
Suresh Chandra Babu, Yuan Zhou

This chapter synthesizes the case studies presented in the previous chapters, which looked at the methods of extension, the services rendered by the private companies, the relevance of the services, as well as their effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability. It concludes that private extension programs developed and implemented as part of value chains are effective in their respective areas, but their coverage is limited. They are not a perfect substitute for public extension systems, even in the areas where they operate. Among the recommendations of the chapter are leveraging the presence of private extension providers to the benefit of the rest of the farming community and developing public–private partnerships to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the public extension system.