Bottom-up approaches and decentralized extension structures for improving access to and quality of extension services and technology adoption: Multi-level analysis from Malawi

This paper looks at village agriculture committees, model villages, and stakeholder panels at various levels as participatory and decentralized structures for improving demand articulation and accountability in agricultural extension service provision in Malawi. It uses various datasets including na...

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Autores principales: Ragasa, Catherine, Alvarez-Mingote, Cristina, McNamara, Paul
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Springer 2024
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141544
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author Ragasa, Catherine
Alvarez-Mingote, Cristina
McNamara, Paul
author_browse Alvarez-Mingote, Cristina
McNamara, Paul
Ragasa, Catherine
author_facet Ragasa, Catherine
Alvarez-Mingote, Cristina
McNamara, Paul
author_sort Ragasa, Catherine
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description This paper looks at village agriculture committees, model villages, and stakeholder panels at various levels as participatory and decentralized structures for improving demand articulation and accountability in agricultural extension service provision in Malawi. It uses various datasets including nationally representative household and community surveys, a survey of service providers, a survey of representatives from the various structures, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. It employs various estimation methods including matching techniques, matching plus regression adjustments, and an instrumental variables approach. Results show diverse experiences and functionality of these structures. Contrary to earlier reports, most of these structures are active, except for district stakeholder panels (DSPs), of which only about a quarter are active. Similarly, most of them provide a platform for discussion and feedback on service providers and the quality of their advice, except for DSPs. However, most structures were given poor ratings in terms of their responsiveness to the concerns and issues raised. Household participation in village development or agriculture committees is strongly associated with better household outcome indicators. These village committees, if they are active and responsive to farmers’ expressed concerns and needs, can contribute to better community-level outcomes. Results show that these village-level structures matter and that strengthening them is key to addressing their long-term functionality. On the other hand, a model village concept that focuses on an integrated approach to solving communities’ challenges is not associated with improved community outcome indicators; therefore, its implementation should be reviewed and improved to contribute to development outcomes.
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spelling CGSpace1415442024-11-18T20:09:08Z Bottom-up approaches and decentralized extension structures for improving access to and quality of extension services and technology adoption: Multi-level analysis from Malawi Ragasa, Catherine Alvarez-Mingote, Cristina McNamara, Paul agriculture stakeholders agricultural extension systems surveys capacity development This paper looks at village agriculture committees, model villages, and stakeholder panels at various levels as participatory and decentralized structures for improving demand articulation and accountability in agricultural extension service provision in Malawi. It uses various datasets including nationally representative household and community surveys, a survey of service providers, a survey of representatives from the various structures, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. It employs various estimation methods including matching techniques, matching plus regression adjustments, and an instrumental variables approach. Results show diverse experiences and functionality of these structures. Contrary to earlier reports, most of these structures are active, except for district stakeholder panels (DSPs), of which only about a quarter are active. Similarly, most of them provide a platform for discussion and feedback on service providers and the quality of their advice, except for DSPs. However, most structures were given poor ratings in terms of their responsiveness to the concerns and issues raised. Household participation in village development or agriculture committees is strongly associated with better household outcome indicators. These village committees, if they are active and responsive to farmers’ expressed concerns and needs, can contribute to better community-level outcomes. Results show that these village-level structures matter and that strengthening them is key to addressing their long-term functionality. On the other hand, a model village concept that focuses on an integrated approach to solving communities’ challenges is not associated with improved community outcome indicators; therefore, its implementation should be reviewed and improved to contribute to development outcomes. 2024-10 2024-04-19T20:42:35Z 2024-04-19T20:42:35Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141544 en https://doi.org/10.2499/1037800847 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104966 Open Access Springer Ragasa, Catherine; Alvarez-Mingote, Cristina; and McNamara, Paul. 2024. Bottom-up approaches and decentralized extension structures for improving access to and quality of extension services and technology adoption: Multi-level analysis from Malawi. European Journal of Development Research 36: 1093–1146. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-024-00627-y
spellingShingle agriculture
stakeholders
agricultural extension systems
surveys
capacity development
Ragasa, Catherine
Alvarez-Mingote, Cristina
McNamara, Paul
Bottom-up approaches and decentralized extension structures for improving access to and quality of extension services and technology adoption: Multi-level analysis from Malawi
title Bottom-up approaches and decentralized extension structures for improving access to and quality of extension services and technology adoption: Multi-level analysis from Malawi
title_full Bottom-up approaches and decentralized extension structures for improving access to and quality of extension services and technology adoption: Multi-level analysis from Malawi
title_fullStr Bottom-up approaches and decentralized extension structures for improving access to and quality of extension services and technology adoption: Multi-level analysis from Malawi
title_full_unstemmed Bottom-up approaches and decentralized extension structures for improving access to and quality of extension services and technology adoption: Multi-level analysis from Malawi
title_short Bottom-up approaches and decentralized extension structures for improving access to and quality of extension services and technology adoption: Multi-level analysis from Malawi
title_sort bottom up approaches and decentralized extension structures for improving access to and quality of extension services and technology adoption multi level analysis from malawi
topic agriculture
stakeholders
agricultural extension systems
surveys
capacity development
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141544
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AT mcnamarapaul bottomupapproachesanddecentralizedextensionstructuresforimprovingaccesstoandqualityofextensionservicesandtechnologyadoptionmultilevelanalysisfrommalawi