From extension to agricultural information management : issues and recommendations from World Bank experience in the Middle East and North Africa

Information is an essential production factor, particularly in modernizing agriculture. Farmers need and want information to improve their farming. Farmers only need and want extension to the extent that it can provide them with information they perceive as having an advantage over other sources of information. Governments have made great efforts to provide farmers with relevant information and technology, usually through public extension services. Farmers are often scattered over vast areas and hard to reach. This review analyzes the Bank's experiences in extension in the EMENA region. This is done through an analysis of the technical content of about fifty projects and several interviews. Information for rural development will increasingly need to be looked at from a systemic point of view. Agricultural extension is one of the most important tools governments have for intervention in the system. Improvements are needed in the diagnostic and planning capacity of the supply side of extension and in the organization of farmers to formulate information needs. Rapidly expanding information technology can play an increasing role in improving financial sustainability. This review identifies these fundamental issues and the Bank's approach to lending for extension. Practical ways to improve the design and implementation of extension projects are examined supplemented by nine annexes of substantiated figures.