Problems of rural extension in Latin America

Aiming to identify the problems faced by Latin American rural extensionists, 589 practitioners that work in ten different countries were surveyed. The open questions were categorized following Grounded Theory. The differences between national samples were studied using chi-square. Fifteen problems are highlighted because of having been frequently mentioned including: difficulties in group or cooperative work, use of inappropriate technologies, and problems to sell the produce. It is fundamental to address these problems, to strengthen rural extensionists' training and to re-shape rural extension practices.