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AbstractRecent developments in agricultural extension policy in Thailand emphasise the importance of working with and through local organisations of rural people (RPOs). The paper describes these developments and explores four sets of arguments commonly used to support them: that they will increase the efficiency of extension by reducing the unit cost of "contact" between farmers and extension staff; that they provide a more effective means of enabling farmers, both individually and collectively, to take action in the interests of local agricultural development; that they promote equity in the provision of extension services; and that they can lead to the empowering of rural people to take greater initiative in their own development. Northern Thailand has a long history of the active involvement of local organisations in agricultural development, most notably the independent "muang fai" irrigation associations. The present century has seen a number of government sponsored efforts to promote the formation of new types of RPOs, efforts which have met with mixed success. Research conducted by the Universities of Reading and Chiang Mai in the nine provinces of the upper north identified the varied processes by which RPOs come into being and investigated the relationships between RPOs and extension agencies in the government and voluntary sectors. A series of case studies in different parts of the region provides evidence in support of the above four sets of arguments. These studies also show, however, that current approaches can lead to new patterns of exclusion among the rural population and may lead to a debilitating dependence of newly created RPOs on government or voluntary agencies. The limitations of current approaches are identified and suggestions made for increasing the benefits of RPO‐based agricultural extension.

AbstractThe private sector, after shifting fortunes in development theory and practice over the years, is now widely recognised as the key to economic growth, which itself is indispensable for poverty reduction. The Development Studies Association (DSA) Annual Conference in 2006 brought together academics, private sector actors, NGOs and policy makers to share insights and experiences on how this vital contribution to growth, development and poverty reduction can be realised. This paper summarises the main themes and discussions of the conference and introduces the papers selected for inclusion in this conference issue. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

AbstractThe study was undertaken to investigate how willing would farmers be to pay for agricultural extension service in Nigeria. A multistage random sampling technique was used to select 268 respondents. Results showed that most farmers (95.1 per cent) were willing to pay for improved extension service as long as the service remained relevant to their needs. Farmers were willing to pay N1000 annually as their own share of the service cost. The most important factors that influenced farmers' willingness to pay were states of origin, items originally paid for, major occupation, minor occupation, number of years in school and sale of farm produce. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.