Large language models for agricultural and rural development: An application of foundational models in extension

Aims: The liberalization of the agricultural sector has facilitated the advent of multitude stakeholders with varied profiles involved in the provision of numerous services to agriculture. This study analyzes the advisory and extension services that support the provision of agricultural inputs in two Divisions of the Western Region of Cameroon (Mifi and Menoua).
 Study Design and Methodology: These areas are home to about 60% of the private agricultural input distributors involved in the provision of agricultural advisory and extension services within the region Data collected by questionnaire and interview guide were carried out with 62 agricultural inputs sellers with input shops on the one hand, and 7 managers of a number of organizations involved in the provision of agricultural services on the other hand.
 
 Results: private agricultural input providers use several agricultural advisory and extension approaches: 42% among them use agricultural extension approach, while 32% use advice to the family farm approach, 21% use organizational capacity building advice and 5%, demand driven approaches. The terms for providing these agricultural extension and advisory services depend on the rationalities of each of these providers. Some agricultural extension and advisory services providers (NGOs, CIGs) promote agroecology through the diffusion of organic inputs, while others promote conventional agriculture through the popularization of synthetic chemical inputs. Access to services by beneficiaries are either paid-offerings or free-offerings. Findings also reveal that in some cases, the actions of some of these providers in the field are intertwined and lead to a collaborative relationship, while in other cases providers work completely compartmentalized leading to negative effects and low performance of the local agricultural extension and advisory system.
 Conclusion: The advent of private providers has increased the number of actors with various profiles leading to potential advantages (e.g., includes access to agricultural information). Yet these potentials have not yet been fully valorized in the provision of agricultural advisory and extension services to farmers. And the needs of farmers have only been partially met. It would be equally crucial to factor climate risks as integral part of extension and advisory services.

Recent decades have witnessed widespread agrarian transitions in mainland Southeast Asia. This paper examines how agrarian transitions are shaped by multiple drivers of change, and how these interwoven processes have triggered shifts in agricultural extension practices in three countries in the Lower Mekong Basin: Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Drawing on interviews with experts working on the fields of agrarian studies and rural development, this paper argues that agrarian transitions not only put a strain on agricultural extension systems in responding to evolving needs, but they also stimulate the co-production of innovative agricultural extension models to address gaps left by the limited presence of extensionists. The study gains insight into challenges faced by extensionists, including a lack of resources, skills, and capacities to meet growing needs, which simultaneously urged them to excel in their work performance. The paper highlights the proactive role of ‘champions’ in orchestrating collective efforts towards the co-production of innovative agricultural extension models (e.g. Metkasekor), and the formulation of pluralistic extension platforms in enabling such ‘co-learning-to-act’ practices. By translating these insights into the broader contexts of agricultural and rural development in the Mekong region and beyond, this paper aims to make a two-fold contribution. First, it will assert how the ‘business-as-usual’ extension model has failed to adequately address emerging needs as a result of agrarian transitions. Second, it will provide pathways for the recognition and legitimisation of the pluralistic extension approach that fosters stakeholders’ co-learning and productive engagement in extension practices.

Iraq is one of the agricultural countries in the world. Agriculture is the second source of income after oil in Iraq. Agricultural development is a link between scientific research and agricultural extension because the use of scientific knowledge in agriculture has become very important, which has prompted many countries to increase their investment in scientific research. There is a main agricultural extension department in Baghdad, in addition to agricultural extension departments in the provinces. The aim of this study was to determine the actual relationship between the agricultural research and extension organizations in Iraq throw knowing the importance of activities that achieve the relationship and implementation level according to respondents' opinions. The study aimed also to identify the barriers facing the relationship between the agricultural research and extension organizations and respondents' suggestions that strength the link between the researches and agricultural extension agents. This study was conducted on group of researchers and extension agents who work in Agricultural Extension and Cooperation Department and Agricultural Researches Department. A random sample of 40% was selected. The total was (38) agricultural extension agents and (35) agricultural researchers. A questionnaire was used as a tool for data collection. Data were analyzed using the SPSS Version 24.0 statistical software. Descriptive statistics including percentages, frequencies, means, and standard deviations, were used to summarize the data. The most important results showed that the relationship between agricultural research and extension organizations was weak, while a high percentage of respondents believed that the relationship between them was very important. The study illustrated that the most important barrier facing the relationship between the agricultural research and extension organizations was the absence of regulations and laws that organize the relationship between them. The most important suggestions that respondents believed to strengthen the relationship are the establishment of legislations that organize the relationship and work through the research and extension teams and establishment of permanent committees to coordinate the work between them. In addition, the study found that the communication between agricultural researchers and extension agents was informal. Furthermore, the study recommended that the relationship should be continued, and that multiple organizational and administrative methods should be used to strengthen the linkages between agricultural research and extension organizations. Also, the study recommended that agricultural researchers and extension agents should participate in planning and implementing agricultural extension programs.

Iraq is one of the agricultural countries in the world. Agriculture is the second source of income after oil in Iraq. Agricultural development is a link between scientific research and agricultural extension because the use of scientific knowledge in agriculture has become very important, which has prompted many countries to increase their investment in scientific research. There is a main agricultural extension department in Baghdad, in addition to agricultural extension departments in the provinces. The aim of this study was to determine the actual relationship between the agricultural research and extension organizations in Iraq throw knowing the importance of activities that achieve the relationship and implementation level according to respondents' opinions. The study aimed also to identify the barriers facing the relationship between the agricultural research and extension organizations and respondents' suggestions that strength the link between the researches and agricultural extension agents. This study was conducted on group of researchers and extension agents who work in Agricultural Extension and Cooperation Department and Agricultural Researches Department. A random sample of 40% was selected. The total was (38) agricultural extension agents and (35) agricultural researchers. A questionnaire was used as a tool for data collection. Data were analyzed using the SPSS Version 24.0 statistical software. Descriptive statistics including percentages, frequencies, means, and standard deviations, were used to summarize the data. The most important results showed that the relationship between agricultural research and extension organizations was weak, while a high percentage of respondents believed that the relationship between them was very important. The study illustrated that the most important barrier facing the relationship between the agricultural research and extension organizations was the absence of regulations and laws that organize the relationship between them. The most important suggestions that respondents believed to strengthen the relationship are the establishment of legislations that organize the relationship and work through the research and extension teams and establishment of permanent committees to coordinate the work between them. In addition, the study found that the communication between agricultural researchers and extension agents was informal. Furthermore, the study recommended that the relationship should be continued, and that multiple organizational and administrative methods should be used to strengthen the linkages between agricultural research and extension organizations. Also, the study recommended that agricultural researchers and extension agents should participate in planning and implementing agricultural extension programs.

This paper describes the Agricultural Value Chain Extension Model after examining different extension models and differentiated terminologies related to evolution of extension models. Agricultural extension is a common denominator for functional value-chain and food security such that agricultural development outcomes are closely linked to agricultural advice provided by extension services. This model consists of five components of formal training, key clusters, informal training, value chain actors and value chain centre interlinked and connected with forward and backward linkages with overlapping activities among the key clusters. All of these interplay based on the level of funds and resources available for the activities connecting the components and the pervasiveness of the national agricultural policy where it is deployed. The paper concludes with the application of the Value-Chain Extension Model, by an International Non-Governmental Organization providing extension services along the value chain in Africa.

Participatory approaches in agricultural extension have revolutionized knowledge dissemination by fostering collaborative learning, farmer empowerment, and the co-creation of context-specific innovations. Unlike traditional top-down extension models, participatory methodologies emphasize mutual learning, where farmers, researchers, and extension agents engage in dynamic exchanges to develop adaptive and sustainable agricultural practices. These approaches have proven effective in promoting climate-smart agriculture, integrated pest management, soil and water conservation, and agroecological transitions, ensuring resilience in the face of environmental and socio-economic challenges. The implementation of participatory extension faces significant barriers, including institutional rigidity, policy constraints, resource limitations, socio-cultural biases, and gaps in extension agent training. Addressing these challenges requires strategic interventions such as policy reforms to institutionalize participatory models, strengthening public-private partnerships to leverage financial and technical expertise, and investing in digital technologies to enhance accessibility and knowledge-sharing. The integration of artificial intelligence, big data analytics, and mobile-based advisory services has further expanded the potential of participatory extension, enabling real-time decision-making and personalized agricultural advisories. Future must prioritize farmer-led innovation networks, climate-resilient extension models, and participatory market linkages to ensure holistic agricultural development. Fostering multi-stakeholder collaboration among governments, research institutions, NGOs, and farmer organizations is critical to scaling up participatory extension services. Expanding the role of community-driven agroforestry, sustainable land management, and localized climate adaptation strategies will further enhance the impact of participatory agricultural extension. Ultimately, participatory approaches offer a sustainable and inclusive pathway for agricultural transformation, ensuring that extension services are responsive to farmer needs, environmentally sound, and economically viable. By integrating participatory methodologies with emerging agricultural technologies and policy support, the future of agricultural extension can effectively empower smallholder farmers, improve food security, and promote long-term sustainability in global agriculture systems.

Agriculture is the backbone of many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, lack of efficient extension systems to support agricultural development is widely seen as a missing link in agricultural transformation in the region. International development agencies have in the past four decades invested heavily in various extension models such as the Training and Visit and Farmer Field School systems in order to enhance the performance of extension workers. Despite such investments, the performance of extension agents does remain suboptimal in many contexts. Studies in other sectors show that incentivizing worker performance through nudges such as incentive realignment schemes that tie worker performance to a pay/bonus system could enhance worker productivity. However, there is a lack of incentive realignment studies that estimate the performance of extension agents insub-Saharan Africa. A potential hindrance to the application of such scheme to extension is the absence of monitoring mechanisms to track the performance of extension agents who often work across diverse local contexts to reach smallholder farmers with extension advice. This study empirically estimates the effect of an information communication technology (ICT)-based payment incentive system that tracks the performance of extension workers in rural Uganda. It undertakes a quasi-experimental ex-post impact assessment of a payment incentive realignment as an exogenous shift in the price of labor for extension services by Ugandan Community Knowledge Workers (CKWs) in 2011. This study applies a difference–in–difference with propensity score matching technique to estimate the effect of an ICT-based incentive re-alignment scheme in 2011, on the performance of 461 CKWs in rural Uganda. The study shows that CKWs in rural Uganda respond positively to an ICT-based performance incentive scheme that affects the price of labor. Results suggest that such performance systems can enhance the productivity of CKWs – an exemplar of rural extension agents in Uganda and elsewhere in developing countries. It also finds that younger CKWs respond more productively to higher incentives than their older counterparts. Therefore, the study suggests that extension policies that tie extension agents’ performance to ICT-based payment incentives could enhance their performance and contribute towards the sustainable developments goals on food security, among others, through multiplier effects.Keywords: Agricultural extension, community knowledge workers, ICT-based performance incentives

Description of the conditionAgriculture has wide-ranging global impacts which extend to economic growth, poverty reduction, food security, livelihoods, rural development and the environment (Green et al., 2005).Agriculture is the main source of income for around 2.5 billion people in the developing world (FAO, 2003, p. 1).In addition, around 70 percent of the global extreme poor -or over one billion people -lives in rural areas in low and middle income countries (IFAD, 2010, p.233), most of whom rely directly or indirectly on agriculture for their livelihoods.Investment in agriculture has been shown to have beneficial impacts on agricultural growth and poverty reduction (Fan & Rao, 2003).Moreover, the poorest population quintiles benefit significantly more from agricultural growth than growth in other sectors of the economy (United Nations, 2008; World Bank, 2007).The modernisation of farming practices in the 1960s and 70s during the 'Green Revolution' improved agricultural yields substantially in those areas it reached and raised national production and food security (IFAD, 2001).However, two key challenges emerged (van den Berg & Jiggins, 2007).The first problem was that poor farmers were being left behind, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where many were not reached by modernisation approaches.In addition, those technologies promoted were not appropriate to the challenges facing smallholders in the African context, particularly women farmers (Inter-Academy Council, 2004).Second, modernisation was also associated with adverse environmental and health consequences, relating to water pollution, declining soil quality, soil erosion, pest resistance and loss of biodiversity.A particular problem emerged around environmental and health consequences of chemical pesticides use.Chemical pesticides have been heavily promoted and publicly subsidised under the modernisation agenda to such an extent that their overuse led to insect pests becoming resistant and causing major outbreaks of insect pests in rice crops in Asia in the 1970s and 80s.In addition, prolonged exposure to pesticides was associated with chronic and acute health problems among rural residents (Pingali & Roger, 1995).Use of broadspectrum insecticides in agriculture has even been linked to mosquito vectors of malaria developing resistance to insecticides used in malaria control programs (Diabate et al.,

Agriculture and agricultural extension service are facing numerous problems in present times when good solutions are not easy to find. Providing of agricultural extension service is important foreign-political instrument of a state which has stimulates the development of agricultural production. Agricultural extension service must provide effective link between holdings-producers, agricultural research and other sources of information. Agricultural extension agents must be aware of psycho-social and social aspects of group action and individual counselling. Therefore, one of priorities in agricultural development of our country is rising of the level of extension operation and establishment of extension service based on modern principles. This is the reason why in this paper, some of the traits of the genesis of extension services were indicated, as well as types of extension services and models of the organization, financing and human resources at disposal and structuring of these resources according to main characteristics, for the purpose of modernization and agricultural and rural development.

이 연구는 수단의 농촌지도사업의 시스템과 모델, 당면과제, 정부조직구조를 탐색하는 것을 목적으로 하고 있다. 수단의 농촌지도사업은 다양한 정부기구와 사업체에 의하여 수행되고 있다. 농업 및 관계부 산하의 농촌지도사업청은 2000년에 새로운 시스템을 시작하였다. 이 시스템은 새로운 농민조직의 적극적인 참여를 이끌어내기 위하여 제도적인 정비와 농촌지도사업을 추진하기 위하여 것이다. 지도사업과 농업연구사업체 (ARC) 간의 연계는 오랫동안 수단의 농업 및 관계부 산하에서 이루어져 왔지만, 개발도상국이 직면한 가장 큰 문제는 연구와 지도간의 연계가 잘 이루어지지 않는 점이다. AR의 효율성을 제고하기 위한 세 가지 방안은 다음과 같다. 첫째, 지도요원이 모든 ARC에 배치되어야 한다. 둘째, ARC는 농업개발전문가 이거나 농업체계연구 전문가를 증가시켜야 한다. 이들은 역할은 농민의 요구에 맞게 연구결과를 전달하는 것이다. 셋째, 연구자들은 현지농장에서 더 많은 연구를 수행해야 한다. This paper explores agricultural extension systems, extension challenges, research and extension models, governance structures of agricultural extension and advisory services in Sudan. Agricultural extension services in Sudan are provided by a variety of governmental department and corporation. The Technology Transfer and Extension Administration under the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, had been launched during mid 2000's aims at making extension systems farmer driven and farmer accountable by way of new institutional arrangements for technology dissemination in the form of community participation approach at the state level, to make the extension reforms have the active participation of farmers/farmer groups. The main problem facing agricultural extension services in developing countries is poor link between extension organization and research. Both extension administration and Agricultural Research Corporation (ARC) are operating as departments of ministry of Agricultural and irrigation for very long time. There are three recommendations to achieve the effectiveness of the Agricultural Research Corporations (ARC) in reaching farmers. Firstly, extension staff members should be assigned to every ARC station. Secondly, the ARC might increase positions for Agricultural development specialist or Farming System Research (FSR) specialist. Their role would be to reflect the needed of farmer and translate them to the researchable topics. Thirdly, researcher should conduct more research on farmer's fields.

As agricultural extension systems adapt to challenges like climate change, labour shortages, and the demand for sustainability, the Quebec model offers a distinctive approach grounded in public leadership and regional delivery. At its core is the Programme services-conseils (PSC), which provides financial support for farmers to access accredited, independent advisory services. Coordinated provincially and delivered through regional networks (Réseaux Agriconseils) with support from the Coordination services-conseils, the program ensures services remain accessible, high-quality, and responsive to local realities. Producers receive a subsidy that reimburses a portion of their advisory service costs, with funding coming from government sources. Advisors funded through the PSC are neutral and independent, with no ties to input suppliers—an approach that contrasts with models where advisory services are linked to product sales. While publicly supported, services are not free; producers contribute to reinforce value and accountability. The PSC offers supplementary financial support for beginning farmers, organic producers, and regionally defined priority client groups. Despite its strengths, the program also faces challenges, including supporting the professional development and integration of new advisors, balancing service delivery with administrative demands, and ensuring all potential clients are aware of the program. Quebec’s experience shows how targeted public investment in advisory services can foster both economic resilience and environmental progress.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to share the initiatives of development and offering of an International Agricultural Extension training course by Michigan State University Extension (MSUE). MSUE is a global leader in agricultural research, education, and extension and actively shares knowledge and technologies worldwide. Design/Methodology/Approach Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, this in-person course rapidly transformed to an online one-week short course for global participants working in agricultural extension. Findings There is a great demand for developing extension expertise and advisory services in line with the emergence of new tools and technologies. The use of ICT was at the forefront in sharing knowledge and disseminating technologies. Practical Implications Several participants were interested in organising similar courses in their institutions and piloting some of the programmes that they learned. Theoretical Implication The short course designed and offered during 2020 will be further enhanced and offered with a focus on outcome and responses received through a separate survey. Originality/Value This paper focuses on the training and capacity building of the agricultural extension workers from developing countries and the US land-grant model of agricultural extension shared by MSUE.

Peer effects in agricultural extension: Evidence from community knowledge workers in rural Uganda

Improving the effectiveness of agricultural extension services in supporting farmers to adapt to climate change: Insights from northeastern Ghana

Martius von Harder Gudrun. Le rôle des services nationaux d'animation rurale et de vulgarisation agricole auprès des femmes. In: Tiers-Monde, tome 26, n°102, 1985. La sortie du travail invisible : les femmes dans l'économie, sous la direction de Yvonne Mignot-Lefebvre. pp. 317-324.