Agricultural extension service accessibility under decentralised governance

Abstract

Despite significant investments in agricultural extension systems in Tanzania, a critical research gap persists regarding the effectiveness of decentralised models for delivering extension services to marginalised smallholder farmers. Drawing on access and decentralisation theories, the study employed a cross-sectional research design to examine agricultural extension services' (AES) accessibility across districts and genders in the Dodoma and Singida regions of Tanzania. The target population comprised smallholder sunflower farmers across selected districts, and a sample size of 385 farmers was selected through multistage sampling techniques comprising purposive selection of districts and random sampling of farming households. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and analysed using descriptive statistics, an accessibility index derived from factor analysis, a χ² test, ANOVA and ordinal logistic regression. Findings revealed disparity in AES accessibility across districts, while across sex it was not. Conversely, findings further indicate that farmers’ education, farm experience and frequency of extension visits positively predicted AES accessibility, whereas greater distance to extension centres was associated with lower accessibility. The findings suggest that decentralised extension service delivery exhibits uneven outreach of services across districts, particularly those with resource constraints. Hence, it recommends that the government allocate extension agents based on needs to ensure districts with low accessibility receive proportionately greater support, integrate adult literacy programmes within extension frameworks and leverage experienced farmers as peer educators through farmer field schools to promote extension services. This study contributes novel insights into extension service accessibility under decentralised governance structures, as it provides evidence-based recommendations for policymakers and development practitioners seeking to enhance agricultural transformation outcomes in Sub Saharan Africa.