Review on the Contribution of Agricultural Extension on Increasing Smallholder Farm Productivity in Case of Ethiopia

Abstract

Increasing agricultural productivity is a major challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where 62% of the population (excluding South Africa) depends on agriculture for their livelihoods (Staatz & Dembele, 2007). Since the 1960s, agricultural production in SSA has failed to keep up the pace with population growth (Benin, 2006). Improving the productivity, profitability, and sustainability of smallholders farming is, therefore, the main pathway to get out of poverty (World Development Report [WDR], 2008). It is widely argued that achieving agricultural productivity growth will not be possible without developing and disseminating improved agricultural technologies that can increase productivity to smallholder agriculture (Asfaw, Shiferaw, Simtowe, & Lipper, 2012).