Although many studies have shown that sub-Saharan African countries could increase agricultural productivity and output through better technologies and improved crop varieties, the adoption of yield-enhancing technologies by smallholder farmers in the region still remains very low. In this paper, we use a cluster randomized controlled trial to examine whether improved extension services influence smallholder farmers’ decisions to try a newly introduced improved wheat variety in Ethiopia. The experiment involved demonstration trials and field days, and improved capacity of Development Agents in facilitation and communication skills. The empirical results revealed that farmers’ decisions to try the newly introduced wheat variety were highest in the villages where demonstration trials and field days, and improvements in the Development Agents’ facilitation and communication capacity were introduced simultaneously. We also found a positive effect of improved extension services on yields, and the use of chemical fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides, but only the use of herbicides and pesticides were statistically significant. Our findings provide some insights into the significance of revisiting the curriculums of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training, and Farmers’ Training Centers.

尽管许多研究表明，撒哈拉以南非洲国家可以通过更好的技术和改良作物品种来提高农业生产力和产量，但该地区小农采用提高产量的技术仍然很低。在本文中，我们使用集群随机对照试验来检验改进的推广服务是否会影响小农在埃塞俄比亚尝试新引进的改良小麦品种的决定。该实验包括示范试验和实地考察，并提高了发展代理在促进和沟通技巧方面的能力。实证结果表明，农民尝试新引进小麦品种的决定在示范试验和田间天数的村庄中最高，同时引入了开发代理的便利化和通信能力的改进。我们还发现改进推广服务对产量以及化肥、除草剂和杀虫剂的使用有积极影响，但只有除草剂和杀虫剂的使用具有统计学意义。我们的研究结果为重新审视技术和职业教育与培训以及农民培训中心的课程的重要性提供了一些见解。