Assessment of an outsourced agricultural extension service in the Mutasa district, Manicaland province, Zimbabwe

Abstract

Zimbabwe has a pluralistic agricultural extension system. In addition to the public extension service, donors contract private service providers to deliver extension services in specific project areas. This study assesses the impact of outsourced extension services on rural households in the Mutasa district of Zimbabwe’s Manicaland province, and examines the financial cost and benefits of this service. The extension service was delivered by a local agribusiness firm and funded by USAID. The study analyses survey data gathered from 94 client and 90 non-client rural households in June 2014. Propensity score matching was used to identify a subset of comparable clients and non-clients. Descriptive statistics were compared across these groups, and the impact of the extension service on each of several outcome variables was estimated using two-stage least squares regression with instrumental variables to account for selection bias. The results show that the outsourced extension service contributed significantly to household crop income, net crop income and expenditure on farm inputs and services. In addition, clients perceived a range of socio-economic benefits such as better diets and health, improved product quality and job creation. An analysis of the financial cost and benefit of the extension service in the study area suggests an annual net incremental benefit of US$11,587, representing a 30% return on the investment made by the donor to finance the service. This estimate excludes the socio-economic benefits attributed to the extension service.