Given the marked heterogeneous conditions in smallholder agriculture in Sub‐Saharan Africa, there is a growing policy interest in site‐specific extension advice and the use of digital extension tools to provide site‐specific information. Empirical ex‐ante studies on the design of digital extension tools and their use are rare. Using data from a choice experiment in Nigeria, we elicit and analyze the preferences of extension agents for major design features of ICT‐enabled decision support tools (DSTs) aimed at site‐specific nutrient management extension advice. We estimate different models, including mixed logit, latent class and attribute non‐attendance models. We find that extension agents are generally willing to use such DSTs and prefer a DST with a more user‐friendly interface that requires less time to generate results. We also find that preferences are heterogeneous: some extension agents care more about the effectiveness‐related features of DSTs, such as information accuracy and level of detail, while others prioritise practical features, such as tool platform, language and interface ease‐of‐use. Recognising and accommodating such preference differences may facilitate the adoption of DSTs by extension agents and thus enhance the scope for such tools to impact the agricultural production decisions of farmers.

中文翻译：

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数字农业扩展工具的设计：尼日利亚扩展代理的观点

鉴于撒哈拉以南非洲小农农业的明显异质性状况，针对特定站点的扩展建议以及使用数字扩展工具来提供特定站点的信息的政策兴趣日益增长。对数字扩展工具的设计及其使用进行事前的经验研究很少。我们使用尼日利亚的一项选择实验中的数据，得出并分析了扩展剂对基于ICT的决策支持工具（DST）的主要设计功能的偏好，这些工具旨在针对特定地点的营养管理扩展建议。我们估计了不同的模型，包括混合logit，潜在类和属性非出勤模型。我们发现，扩展代理通常愿意使用此类DST，并且更喜欢具有更易于使用的界面且需要更少时间生成结果的DST。我们还发现偏好是异类的：一些扩展代理更关注DST的有效性相关功能，例如信息准确性和详细程度，而其他扩展代理则优先考虑实用功能，例如工具平台，语言和界面易用性。认识到并适应​​这种偏好差异可以促进推广人员采用DST，从而扩大影响农民农业生产决策的此类工具的范围。