Aims: The creation of an agricultural extension system and its evolution over time is
affected by many factors such as history of the country, cultural and community
mandates, farming systems, and public policy. There are notable differences in the
agricultural extension systems operating around the globe. The purpose of this paper was
to review the agricultural extension systems in Nepal, India, and the United States
Methodology: A comprehensive review of literature was conducted to identify the
similarities and differences in the agricultural extension systems in the stated countries.
Relevant documents used included creation legislation for each country, global analysis
from organizations such as Food and Agricultural Organization, and peer-reviewed journal
articles. The authors’ extension experiences working in the stated countries also provided
inputs to develop this paper.
Results: Differences were observed in the area of extension models, program delivery,
outcomes assessment, and research–extension interface among agricultural extension
systems compared in this study. The program delivery mechanism of Nepal and India was
mainly driven by ‘top down expert model’. Contrary to this, in the United States, extension
was operating under a learning model. In all three countries many small scale-farmers felt
underserved and disengaged from their extension services. It was found that only small
segments of the extension audience were served in comparison to the large number of
farmers and their families residing in these countries. In Nepal and India, it was perceived
that extension agents lacked professional commitment to serve farmers and were mostly
accountable to their managers.
Conclusion: Needs were found not–aligned to the extension services offered by all,
suggesting a lack of appropriate extension leadership. All the systems need to ensure
they are meeting both the perception and realities of their clients. Clients and taxpayers
need to feel there is a public value for the extension systems.