Bridging the gender gap in agricultural extension

After briefly reviewing women"s farming roles and the evidence for women"s lack of access to extension services, the paper describes the goals of agricultural extension, the content of the messages and assistance delivered, the relationship between extension and research, and the evolution of extension services in developing countries. A review of different approaches to extension (e.g., via farmer training centers, mass demonstrations, working with select contract farmers) and of the characteristics of the farmers served thereby illustrates how access to seven key resources - land, labor, capital, time, education, organizations, and political power - influences women"s participation in extension programs. The institutional context of extension services and the characteristics of extension agents (e.g., training, motivation, gender) are examined to show how these affect their ability to assist women farmers. Examples of projects or country-wide programs that contain specific extension recommendations for women are cited. A series of policy- and project-level recommendations concludes the report. A 134-item bibliography (1964-84) is appended.