Effects of Agricultural Extension Services on Farm Productivity in Uganda
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Date
2020-06-22
Authors
Sebaggala, Richard
Matovu, Fred
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Economic Research consortium
Abstract
Improving agricultural productivity in Uganda remains a major policy objective given
the key role of agriculture in the economy. In this study we evaluate the impact of
access to extension services on farm productivity. We use comprehensive baseline
survey data collected for monitoring and evaluation of the Agricultural Technology
and Agribusiness Advisory Services (ATAAS) project. Applying the ivtreatreg Stata
command, and probit 2-stage least squares (2SLS) model that addresses the selection
and endogenous bias, we found that access to extension services does not significantly
improve the crop productivity of farmers. The finding is consistent with similar studies
that control for selection and endogenous bias when estimating treatment effects.
We argue that the insignificance of extension contact on productivity when selection
and endogenous effects are addressed may reflect the inefficiency of the current
extension services in improving farmers’ productivity. In conclusion, the study shows
that increasing extension impact on farm productivity will require efforts to improve
the quality of extension services that directly translate into productivity effects.