Publication

This report investigates how agricultural extension systems might be organized, their agents trained, and their technical infrastructure updated to support a peacebuilding role. The report describes the current state of extension in the developing world, provides an overview of how conflict affects farming communities and consequently extension agents' ability to improve farmer productivity, and proposes a role for agents in helping manage conflict in rural communities. Recognizing that extension systems, though wide reaching, are underresourced, this report argues that extension agents can materially affect conflict with only modest adjustments to what is currently considered best practice in the organization and management of extension systems.