Service quality of public and private agricultural extension service providers in Bangladesh

Abstract

This paper examined service quality of multiple public and private agricultural extension service providers in Bangladesh. A total of 318 respondents from nine selected organizations were interviewed. The study also used key informant interviews, focus group discussions and informal interviews. Findings of the study revealed that all the selected organizations, irrespective of origin, had a significant negative difference between perceived and expected ratings, on all of the five service quality dimensions, namely tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and reliability. The five selected dimensions of service quality accounted for 74.6 % of the variation in client satisfaction with the extension service in Bangladesh. Major issues hinder service quality were poor logistic support, scarcity of fund for doing true extension work, less use of information communication technology, lack of co-ordination among research-extension and extension service providers themselves, and political interference. A demand responsive extension service is obligatory for the survival of extension organizations in a changing context.Key words: Service quality; SERVQUAL; Extension service; Multiple providers; Bangladesh.