ABSTRACT
Government agricultural extension has tended to suffer from the same biases as research favouring slightly better-off farmers and simple yield maximisation rather than a range of choices more relevant to resource-poor farmers. The very large gap in all countries between extension recommendation and small farmer practice is an indication of poor research and extension performance. In the early 1990s the Malawi government agricultural extension staff worked almost entirely through credit groups, who were borrowing money for fertilizer in order to grow maize. In reaction to this programme, the government extension programme officially adopted a policy of working with existing community, church and mosque groups in 1994. Extension services are run in a highly centralised way, with little influence exerted on them at the regional, let alone the community level. Economic liberalisation has led to government withdrawal from many activities now considered to be better handled by the private sector.
