Farm management and extension in smallholder agriculture: Part 1—The role of farm management in extension

A case study from northern Malawi is used to examine arguments that the efficiency and homogeneity of smallholder agriculture allow farm management analysis only a minor role in extension work. It is shown that these arguments fail to take account of the change and heterogeneity found even in apparently homogeneous and stable agricultural systems. They also ignore the contribution that management skills might make in assisting extension workers to communicate with farmers about the adoption and management of a range of appropriate technical innovations. However, the development of a positive role for farm management in extension work with smallholders continues to be limited by the absence of analytical tools suitable for use by extension workers. The means of providing more suitable analytical methods are discussed in Part 2.