Agricultural extension in Latin America: current dynamics of pluralistic advisory systems in heterogeneous contexts

Abstract

In Latin America agricultural rural extension have gained renewed attention in policy discourse and practice in recent years and provide an interesting context for studying the dynamics in extension systems. In the past decades work on extension system dynamics in Latin America has appeared in English language scientific journals. However, recent studies from Latin America remain under-represented in English language scientific journals, such as the JAEE. We are aware that there is a wealth of insights available through studies in Portuguese and Spanish language publications and policy reports, but these may not reach part of the scholarly community. This special issue aims to fill this gap, by bringing together a collection of papers which document recent dynamics in agricultural extension systems in Latin America. In this introductory paper, we will set the scene for the special issue by providing a historical overview of the evolution of extension systems in Latin America, we will introduce the papers in the special issue and we will draw some overarching discussions from these, and will give some reflections on the process of organizing this special issue and scholarship on extension in Latin America