Practice of community agricultural extension activities in Vietnam

Community agricultural extension (CAE) is a new organizational model for agricultural extension piloted in Vietnam since 2022 under a government project. This study aimed to assess the status and key factors affecting the operations of CAE groups. This study assessed the current situation and identified key factors affecting the activities of CAE units using primary data from interviews with 26 leaders of CAE units in 13 piloted provinces and officers in charge of CAE activities in other 21 provinces. The findings reveal that CAE units had diverse components, involving both public and private sectors, and were more flexible and more service-oriented compared to traditional agricultural extension activities. However, CAE units faced difficulties and challenges in their operations, including policies, operating conditions, capacity, multi-component nature of the team as well as other external factors. Several recommendations to improve the performance of CAE units were proposed in the coming time.