An Overview of the Agricultural Extension System in Egypt: The History, Structure, Modes of Operation and the Future Directions

The main purpose of the current manuscript is to review the agricultural extension system in Egypt. The information gleaned in this article could be useful for policymakers, extension administrators, and extension researchers to identify ways for improving educational services of devising training programs for audience and agents, approaches of farmers' participation, and schemes of policy development. More specifically the objectives of this study are to review the Egyptian agricultural extension system in terms of the: 1) the history of the Egyptian agricultural extension system, 2) the organizational structure of the Egyptian extension system, 3) types of agricultural extension and program delivery mechanisms in Egypt, 4) current situation of the Egyptian agricultural extension system, and 5) the possible future direction for the Egyptian agricultural extension system. A comprehensive review of gray literature was conducted to identify characteristics of the agricultural extension system in Egypt, relevant documents used including, foundation legislation, review and analysis of literature of international organizations as well as peer reviewed journal articles. The extension history, structure, and modes of operation were discussed, and the future directions were concluded.