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Does Extension Work? Impacts of a Program to Assist Limited-Resource Farmers in Virginia

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  • Ebere Akobundu
  • Jeffrey Alwang
  • Albert Essel
  • George W. Norton
  • Abebayehu Tegene

Abstract

In this article the economic impacts of Virginia State University's Small Farm Outreach, Training, and Technical Assistance Program are assessed. Impacts are measured in terms of program effect on incomes of limited-resource participant farmers compared with their net farm incomes had they not participated. The program appears to significantly increase net farm income, provided there is sufficient intensity of participation. A single visit by an agent had no significant effect on income, suggesting a rationale for deepening participation intensity before broadening it. Aggregate program benefits may approach $5 million per year (for a cost of a few hundred thousand dollars). Copyright 2004, Oxford University Press.

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  • Ebere Akobundu & Jeffrey Alwang & Albert Essel & George W. Norton & Abebayehu Tegene, 2004. "Does Extension Work? Impacts of a Program to Assist Limited-Resource Farmers in Virginia," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 26(3), pages 361-372.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:revage:v:26:y:2004:i:3:p:361-372
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/j.1467-9353.2004.00185.x
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    1. Francisca Henriquez, 2009. "Microcrédito y su Impacto: Un Acercamiento con Datos Chilenos," OVE Working Papers 0309, Inter-American Development Bank, Office of Evaluation and Oversight (OVE).
    2. Doris Läpple & Thia Hennessy & Carol Newman, 2013. "Quantifying the Economic Return to Participatory Extension Programmes in Ireland: an Endogenous Switching Regression Analysis," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(2), pages 467-482, June.
    3. Brennan, Noreen & Ryan, Mary & Hennessy, Thia & Cullen, Paula & Dillon, Emma, 2016. "Going beyond FADN: The use of additional data to gain insights into extension service use across European Union Member States," Studies in Agricultural Economics, Research Institute for Agricultural Economics, vol. 118(3), pages 1-9, December.
    4. O'Callaghan, Daniel & Hennessy, Thia & Breen, James, 2016. "Factors Associated with Extension Programme Participation: The case of discussion groups for Irish cattle farmers," 90th Annual Conference, April 4-6, 2016, Warwick University, Coventry, UK 236329, Agricultural Economics Society.
    5. Rudra Bahadur SHRESTHA & Wen-Chi HUANG & Shriniwas GAUTAM & Thomas Gordon JOHNSON, 2016. "Efficiency of small scale vegetable farms: policy implications for the rural poverty reduction in Nepal," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 62(4), pages 181-195.
    6. Veronica González & Pablo Ibarrarán & Alessandro Maffioli & Sandra Rozo, 2009. "The Impact of Technology Adoption on Agricultural Productivity: The Case of the Dominican Republic," OVE Working Papers 0509, Inter-American Development Bank, Office of Evaluation and Oversight (OVE).
    7. Freitas, Carlos Otávio & Figueiredo Silva, Felipe & Neves, Mateus C R & Braga, Marcelo J., 2018. "Can rural extension reduce the income differential in rural Brazil?," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274496, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    8. Samikshya Kunwar & Pratibha Bist, 2021. "Socioeconomic Characters And Status Of Cut Flower Producers In Kathmandu, Nepal," Social Values & Society (SVS), Zibeline International Publishing, vol. 3(2), pages 58-60, July.
    9. Doris Läpple & Thia Hennessy, 2015. "Assessing the Impact of Financial Incentives in Extension Programmes: Evidence From Ireland," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(3), pages 781-795, September.
    10. Alessandro Maffioli & Diego Ubfal & Gonzalo Vazquez-Bare & Pedro Cerdan-Infantes, 2013. "Improving technology adoption in agriculture through extension services: evidence from Uruguay," Journal of Development Effectiveness, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 64-81, March.
    11. María Amelia Gibbons & Alessandro Maffioli & Martín Rossi, 2016. "Money for Wine?: Complementarities in the Provision of Private and Public Goods to Wine Producers," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 94217, Inter-American Development Bank.
    12. Faure, Guy & Davis, Kristin E. & Ragasa, Catherine & Franzel, Steven & Babu, Suresh Chandra, 2016. "Framework to assess performance and impact of pluralistic agricultural extension systems: The best-fit framework revisited:," IFPRI discussion papers 1567, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    13. Richard Sebaggala & Fred Matovu, 2020. "Effects of Agricultural Extension Services on Farm Productivity in Uganda," Working Papers 379, African Economic Research Consortium, Research Department.
    14. Anthony Cawley & Cathal O’Donoghue & Kevin Heanue & Rachel Hilliard & Maura Sheehan, 2018. "The Impact of Extension Services on Farm‐level Income: An Instrumental Variable Approach to Combat Endogeneity Concerns," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 40(4), pages 585-612, December.
    15. Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman & Jeffry D. Connor, 2022. "Impact of Agricultural Extension Services on Fertilizer Use and Farmers’ Welfare: Evidence from Bangladesh," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-16, July.
    16. Pedro Cerdán-Infantes & Alessandro Maffioli & Diego Ubfal, 2008. "The Impact of Agricultural Extension Services: The Case of Grape Production in Argentina," OVE Working Papers 0508, Inter-American Development Bank, Office of Evaluation and Oversight (OVE).
    17. Ali Sher & Saman Mazhar & Hossein Azadi & Guanghua Lin, 2020. "Smallholder Commercialization and Urban-Rural Linkages: Effect of Interest-Free Agriculture Credit on Market Participation of Rice Growers in Pakistan," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-24, December.
    18. Claire Jack & Adewale H. Adenuga & Austen Ashfield & Michael Wallace, 2020. "Investigating the Drivers of Farmers’ Engagement in a Participatory Extension Programme: The Case of Northern Ireland Business Development Groups," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-15, June.
    19. Adenuga, Adewale H. & Jack, Claire & Ashfield, Austen & Wallace, Michael, 2021. "Estimating the impact of membership of participatory extension programme across different enterprise groups: a conditional difference-in-differences approach," 95th Annual Conference, March 29-30, 2021, Warwick, UK (Hybrid) 311082, Agricultural Economics Society - AES.
    20. Adewale H. Adenuga & Claire Jack & Austen Ashfield & Michael Wallace, 2021. "Assessing the Impact of Participatory Extension Programme Membership on Farm Business Performance in Northern Ireland," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-12, September.

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