Decentralization of Mexico’s Agricultural Extension Services and the Ongoing Struggle to Alleviate Rural Poverty

Abstract

A tendency to decentralize national agricultural extension systems around the world caught many countries unprepared to respond effectively to the needs of its rural population under privatized approaches to extension delivery, especially in regard to poverty alleviation. Myriad internal and external factors led Mexico to dismantle its national agricultural extension system in the 1990s, and adopt a more privatized or contractor-driven approach. As a result, significant changes occurred in the way extension services were offered to the public after the system’s decentralization by Mexico’s federal government, although some similarities remained. After almost two decades of decentralization, the effectiveness of the current system has been questioned regarding its provision of services to marginalized groups who represent the most impoverished of Mexico’s citizens. This historical narrative aimed to understand the phenomenon by exploring the causes of decentralization, comparing extension service delivery before and after decentralization, including its outcome, privatization of extension services, and suggest directions for improvement in the future.