ABSTRACT
Swaziland has two unique features, which have far-reaching implications for rural development efforts in general and agricultural extension services in particular. These are ethnic homogeneity and dualism. The major government thrust in the Rural Development Areas Programme was to improve agricultural methods and the general welfare of the rural populace rather than transform the system through tenurial reform. Colonial rural development policy sought to transform agriculture with two primary aims: stimulating agricultural production for export and maintaining stability. The agricultural extension service in Swaziland was established in 1930 as a function of a division within the colonial Department of Agriculture. The constraints arising from pitfalls in the policy environment for agricultural extension include: lack of clearly defined mission and philosophy of extension; dysfunctional linkage between research and extension; poor understanding of the clientele of extension; and poor understanding of the frontline extension worker.
