Agricultural Extension Sustainability in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Smallholder Markets: A Structured Review

Abstract

Purpose. The COVID-19 pandemic placed severe strain on agricultural extension and advisory services, particularly for the smallholder farmers who form the backbone of food production in sub-Saharan Africa. Treating the pandemic as one instance of the systemic shocks that extension must increasingly absorb, alongside climate change and market disruption, this structured review synthesises the literature on the sustainability of agricultural extension delivery systems during the pandemic, with the aim of clarifying the theories that explain extension sustainability, the factors that drive or undermine it, and the mitigation strategies adopted by service providers and farmers.Approach. This structured narrative review draws on 90 peer-reviewed articles and 25 institutional reports identified through searches of Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, CAB Abstracts, AGRIS, and Google Scholar and published between 2019 and November 2021, with the evidence base subsequently updated to early 2026. Records were screened for relevance to extension sustainability, smallholder market systems, and pandemic response, and were synthesised thematically. In all, the revised article draws on 127 cited sources.Findings. The analysis reveals that no single sustainability theory adequately explains how the pandemic disrupted extension delivery; rather, the economic, ecological, systems, and social-capital perspectives each illuminate only part of an irreducibly multi-dimensional problem. Crucially, the disruption was experienced unevenly: whereas comparatively well-resourced providers adapted by migrating to digital channels, under-resourced public systems and the poorest farmers were largely left behind. Across the literature, extension delivery emerges as having shifted progressively from linear technology transfer toward systemic, demand-led, and increasingly digital models; yet this transition remains constrained by weak information and communication infrastructure, low worker-to-farmer ratios, and persistent rural poverty. Consequently, effective sustainability appears to depend far less on any single actor than on the coordinated participation of multiple stakeholders.Conclusion. Sustainable extension delivery is best understood not as the product of one model or theory but as the integration of several complementary perspectives, support functions, and formal and informal rules that bind extension stakeholders together. By contrast with reductionist, supply-driven approaches, a holistic, systems-based reorientation, coupled with targeted investment in digital and increasingly AI-enabled delivery, offers the more credible route to reducing future disruption and broadening inclusion.

Introduction

This review examines the sustainability of agricultural extension services for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on the combined impacts of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. While climate change has long threatened agricultural productivity, the pandemic intensified existing weaknesses in extension systems by disrupting advisory services, supply chains, and market access. Rather than being an isolated crisis, COVID-19 highlighted the need for extension systems that are resilient to multiple future shocks, including climate, health, and economic disruptions.

The literature identifies two major causes of low smallholder productivity: ineffective extension service delivery and outdated extension business models that prioritize short-term outputs over long-term sustainability. The review argues these factors are interconnected and particularly harmful to smallholder farmers who rely heavily on agriculture for their livelihoods.

Research Gap and Contribution

Existing studies often examine digital agriculture, climate resilience, or pandemic impacts separately. Few integrate these dimensions to explain extension sustainability. This review addresses that gap by combining sustainability theory, agricultural innovation systems, market-system approaches, digital extension, and AI-enabled advisory services into a unified systems-based framework.

Review Methodology

The study uses a structured narrative review of 127 sources (peer-reviewed articles and institutional reports published from 2019 to early 2026). Literature was collected from major academic databases and organized around themes including extension systems, sustainability, digital transformation, financing, governance, and workforce development.

Current Status of Agricultural Extension

Extension systems in developing countries continue to face challenges such as:

• Chronic underfunding and shortages of extension workers.
• Weak infrastructure and low digital connectivity.
• Dependence on traditional Transfer of Technology (ToT) models that treat farmers as passive recipients.
• Disruptions caused by COVID-19, including lockdowns, staff shortages, and reduced face-to-face advisory services.

The pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital extension (e-extension), although its success depends on adequate infrastructure, internet access, and government support.

Agricultural Extension as an Open Social Network System

The review proposes viewing extension as an open social network system where farmers, researchers, governments, agribusinesses, and civil society collaborate. Sustainable extension depends on strong interactions among:

• Livelihood capitals (human, social, financial, natural, and physical),
• Governance structures,
• Support services,
• Adaptive delivery mechanisms, including digital and AI-based technologies.

Two propositions are presented:

1. Greater integration among these components improves extension sustainability and resilience.
2. Weak connections between system components increase vulnerability during external shocks.

Drivers of Sustainable Extension

Key factors supporting sustainable extension include:

• Continuous training of extension workers.
• Strong human and social capital.
• Effective management of natural, financial, and physical resources.
• Adoption of digital technologies, automation, and Industry 4.0 tools.
• Improved farmer access to advisory services, which has been shown to increase agricultural productivity.

Components of a Sustainable Extension System

Successful extension systems should:

• Promote participatory learning rather than one-way technology transfer.
• Encourage collaboration among farmers, researchers, governments, NGOs, and private organizations.
• Support decentralization and pluralistic service delivery.
• Integrate agricultural advice with public health information.
• Emphasize environmental sustainability, organizational learning, transparency, accountability, and inclusive participation of women and youth.

Conclusion

Sustainability theories and frameworks are indispensable to understanding how rural extension services are evolving under recurrent shocks such as COVID-19. The pandemic constrained the delivery of extension and advisory services and, with it, smallholder production and productivity, even as it paradoxically accelerated the adoption of digital platforms. The lesson is that the sustainability of extension resides in its capacity to keep providing information under stress, which in turn calls for a decisive move away from reductionist thinking toward holistic, systems-based models whose performance depends on the fit between components and their environment. A thoroughgoing rethinking of extension components is therefore required, one that defines new functions, methods, and objectives oriented toward long-term viability (Davis, 2020). Future systems are likely to operate through hybrid arrangements that combine face-to-face engagement with digital and increasingly AI-enabled advisory services, and their sustainability will depend not on technological innovation alone but on parallel investment in human capacity, institutional learning, inclusive governance, diversified financing, and rural digital infrastructure. Future research should therefore interrogate these hybrid models more closely, with sustained attention to infrastructure, inclusion, and the changing roles of extension workers, so that smallholder farmers remain resilient to future pandemics, climate shocks, and market disruption while continuing to contribute to food security, poverty reduction, and sustainable development.

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Copyright © 2026 Enock Siankwilimba, Edwell S. Mwaanga, Joshua Munkombwe, Chisoni Mumba, Bernard Mudenda Hang\\\\\'ombe. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.