E. Group Organization

 Throughout the discussion of centralized organization, decentralized

control, modes of communication and feedback lies the question of the degree

to which extension systems should help farmers bring about group action. In

some philosophies of extension, the notion of group action seems useless.

If an extension agent is going to work with progressive individual farm

managers and help them develop specific farm plans, then he must work with

individuals; groupings of farmers are irrelevant. Similarly, it would

appear, if the extension system emphasizes mass communication (e.g. radio,

newspaper) which reaches each individual directly, local organization would

seem unnecessary.


 On the other hand, organizing farmers into groups can greatly sim-
plify many of the tasks in agricultural extension and development. Working
with a group enables the extension agent to reduce the equity problems
inherent in working with the large progressive farmers. He need not risk
the administrative problems of working individually with large number of small
farmers. He can also get around the problem of working with progressive
people who are socially isolated in the village and whose innovations
will be shared by others.

 Group approaches to extension serve a broader purpose also. There
 is a wide range of innovations in agriculture which require social interaction.
 There are three reasons for this. The first is the issue of economies of
 scale. Many activities, such as marketing, have important economies of scale.
 The second issue is the free rider problem, i.e., how to make sure that every-
 one contributes his share to building or maintaining collective goods, such
 as roads or irrigation canals. The third is the external diseconomy pro-
 blem, e.g., how to make sure that one person's rational actions do not harm
 other people.

 In the latter two situations, some coercion and/or special indivi-

dual incentives are required to enforce contribution and participation, or

to prevent some action. Typically, coercion is applied through the police



 Mancur Olson, Jr., The Logic of Collective Action (New York:
Schocken, 1968), p. 2.