Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi

The effectiveness of agricultural extension bureaucracy can only be meaningfully understood in the context of the objectives of agricultural development which is an integral part of the overall developmental process. The paper therefore discusses the evolution of two concepts, agricultural and political development to put into proper perspective the role of extension bureaucracy in agricultural development in particular rod development generally with emphasis on rural development. The thrust of the paper is to spell out the usage of bureaucracy and agricultural development, the two key concepts in this inquiry. It locates agricultural extension as a subsystem of the overall governmental or public bureaucracy having a large role to play in the developmental process. Factors both internal and external i.e. task environment, influencing the effectiveness of agricultural extension bureaucracy are identified by juxtaposing it to the classical bureaucratic and other models which have been used to explain the functioning of bureaucracies basing the inquiry on organisation theory and development administration literature.