Privatisation of agricultural advisory services and consequences for the dairy farmers in the Mantaro Valley, Peru

The private sector’s presence in agricultural advisory services worldwide has been on the increase for over three decades. This trend has also been observed in the Mantaro Valley (Peru), in a context of dairy family farming. The objective of the communication is to analyse the modalities of advisory services privatization and assess the consequences of this privatization for the farmers and their livestock systems. Data were collected through input suppliers, different types of advisers and producers interviews. The activity of private advisers is most often associated with the sale of livestock inputs, which, while facilitating access to technical support for almost all producers, does not take the overall producer needs into account. This study shows the importance of improved coordination of advisory activities between public and private actors for an efficient agricultural advisory system, a condition that encourages a sustainable farming system approach. 

The paper was presented at the 12th European IFSA Symposium (Workshop : "Developing agricultural advisory systems for innovation: Governance and innovative practices") in 2016.