Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi

The Reading University/Overseas Development Institute joint Programme of research on agricultural development has been based on the belief that, however good agricultural policies might be, there is a widespread failure in implementation. This paper expands on the main hypothesis underlying the research, namely, that in considering the choice of methods (administration, organisation and institutions) for implementation of agricultural policies, consideration of four main factors will lead to choices which are more likely to succeed: 1) The attitudes, capacities and needs of the local farming community at the time; 2) Technical factors, especially the primary type of crop or animal husbandry practised; 3) The nature of the processing and marketing channel; and 4) The administrative resources and capacity of the main agency of change (usually government or a parastatal agency).