The Role of Agricultural Extension in Poverty Reduction of Rural Eritrea

Abstract

Agriculture is the backbone of the Eritrean economy, and it is the livelihood of most of the Eritrean people of whom more than 70 per cent of the population depends on agriculture and its allied fields for income and employment. The productivity in Eritrean agriculture is low because of the long devastating war, frequent droughts, and serious land degradation. In subsistence farming, farmers use their own traditional farming practices as well as inputs and produce mostly for family consumption. To improve the situation, agriculture extension programmed to the farmers is imperative. An attempt is made in this paper to discuss the agriculture extension and its impact in the reduction of poverty in Eritrea. It provides the various factors that affect the efficiency of agriculture extension system. The paper also highlights the incidence of poverty in Eritrea and provides the implications for the improvement of productivity in agriculture.