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for urban classes to ally with the narrow rural elites. In such a

situation, most of the benefits of development will go to the cities,

but the rural elites will also prosper. The rural poor will remain

clients of the rural elites, and are tempted to migrate into the urban

Tabor force..

 Certain features in the methodology of extension work are

congruent with, and reinforce, such a political alliance. Analysis

of the activities of extension workers in many countries shows that

they tend to focus attention on the few "progressive farmers," who

have adequate resources to afford and risk new technologies, and who

are interested in selling (and buying) more. Such an empirical find-

ing is often'converted to a prescription. It is presumed (sometimes

accurately) that knowledge will "spread" from these "community

leaders" to other farmers, and that the benefits will eventually

"trickle down" to the poor, through more efficient technology, more

jobs, or lower food prices. (There is, however, a risk. The "progressive

farmer" may, for ethnic, cultural, psychological, or historical reasons,

turn out to be someone who is not trusted or respected in the community.

In such a case, there may be very little spread affect.)2

 From an administrative point of view, it is convenient for
extension agents to work with large farmers. To have an innovation
utilized on 100 hectares of land, it is far easier to convince
one farmer with 100 hectares than to convince 100 farmers with only
one hectare. If the extension agent is judged by his success in
extending an innovation over a wide area, he will not waste his time
with small farmers. In addition, the extension agent, often coming

 1Michael Lipton, "Towards a Theory of Land Reform," in David
Lehmann, ed., Agrarian Reform and Agrarian Reformism (London: Faber
and Faber, 1974), pp. 311-312.
 2Everett M. Rogers, with F. Floyd Shoemaker, Communication of
Innovations (New York: Free Press, 1971), p. 5.