Abstract: | A critical review of the traditional agricultural extension system in Tanzania and the reasons why it has failed to produce positive results. After describing the growing criticisms of agricultural extension in Africa generally, the author reviews current issues relating to the agricultural extension model within the context of development, arguing that extension agents are not always right and many extension recommendations unsound, that the traditional topdown approach is inadequate since based on the false assumption that peasants are ignorant, that it is an epistemological fallacy to suggest that knowledge can be given by an educator to a learner, and that extension work is directed towards the 'wrong' group. In the final part, the author discusses the application of extension services in rural Tanzania by looking specifically at productivity and the adoption of new farming practices, and showing how the extension system has hindered agricultural transformation. Bibliogr. |