The Feed the Future Developing Local Extension Capacity (DLEC) project officially ended on June 30, 2021. DLEC (2016-2021) was led by Digital Green, in partnership with consortium members, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS). Over the last five years, DLEC has galvanized diverse extension and advisory services stakeholders globally to measurably improve agricultural extension programs, policies and services. DLEC has reached more than 1.2 million farming households and influenced 77 partner organizations to adopt recommendations that improve the delivery and operations of extension and advisory services. DLEC generated evidence of best-fit extension and advisory services through 19 diagnostic studies and 12 in-country engagements. DLEC supported four regional networks and 17 countries and mobilized a global community of practice of extension and advisory services professionals. In total, the DLEC team produced and shared 100 publications (journal articles, diagnostic studies, engagement research, blogs, factsheets, etc.), organized 42 knowledge-sharing events reaching over 2,800 participants and participated in 68 external conferences sharing evidence from DLEC’s work.

Where can you find our work?

The body of evidence developed by DLEC lives online and is accessible to anyone who wants to learn more about extension and advisory services:

• DLEC’s Project in Review page contains recommendations from studies and reports with insights about strengthening local extension capacity, as well as an interactive map showcasing the 17 countries where we worked. 
• DLEC’s page on Agrilinks serves as a repository of all diagnostic studies and engagement factsheets. It also contains blogs about DLEC’s work.
• Digital Green’s DLEC Resource Library also contains links to all diagnostic studies, factsheets and other materials.
• IFPRI's DLEC project page includes all research and outputs led by the IFPRI team.
• GFRAS' World Wide Extension Study contains stakeholder maps DLEC produced that showcase extension actors in the countries where we conducted diagnostic studies.  
• DLEC’s Twitter page lives on as timeline of our work.

Thank you to our partners and collaborators!

The Digital Green team is extremely grateful for the support of its two key implementing partners, IFPRI and GFRAS, in particular Dr. Kristin Davis, DLEC co-director and IFPRI senior fellow, for her ongoing leadership. We are also grateful for CARE International for their role in DLEC through 2019.

We would like to thank all of the consultants and collaborating organizations that supported DLEC over the years. Your support was extraordinary!

We would also like to thank USAID for their guidance and support over the last five years, in particular John Peters, Gary Alex, Erin Baize, Peggy Carlson and Jane Lowicki-Zucca.

Additionally, we would like to thank the farmers and extension agents who have worked with DLEC and those who shared their insights with our team. We certainly hope that our work has given extension providers the tools and information to reach farmers more effectively and efficiently.

Last but certainly not least, we would like to thank YOU for being part of our community of practice. We have valued your inputs over the last five years and hope you will keep this community alive. Don’t forget to participate in GFRAS’s community networking area!