private sector, INTERPAKS, A common strategy for agricultural and rural development in the third world is the operation of a government-run agricultural extension service devoted to augmenting small holder productivity. Numerous evaluations of such services, however, have concluded that they are ineffective. This paper examines an alternative strategy -- the provision of agricultural extension services by capitalist enterprise. It presents a case study of the privatization of extension services in Papua New Guinea and discusses the implications. This paper concludes that private agencies have the ability to boost agricultural production, but are unlikely to achieve broader objectives of contemporary rural development.
Buccola, J.T. (author), Orden, D. (author), and University of Minnesota, Dept. of Agricultural and Applied Economics.; University of Minnesota, Dept. of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1980
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 52 Document Number: C00632
Preconceived notions exist about small-scale farmers in the U.S. Beyond research on new and beginning farmers, few empirical studies have learned directly from small-scale farmers in the U.S. about their perspectives and experiences. By analyzing semi-structured interviews of small-scale farmers in Indiana, this study develops an in-depth understanding of the multi-dimensional motivations and experiences of small-scale farmers and the interconnected, multi-scalar challenges they face. The lack of social infrastructure to support small-scale farmers becomes paramount as they contend with dilemmas of engaging in pluriactivity, securing reliable labor, and navigating relationship building with consumers and peers for both short-term profits and long-term social capital. This study contributes to understanding how small-scale farmers’ motivations, experiences, challenges, and strategies interact to shape their relationship to the land, their farming enterprise, and their perception of and position in the larger agro-ecological-social-economic system, and highlights the need to improve social infrastructure to support small-scale farmers.
