We use cookies to provide you with the best possible website experience. This includes cookies that are necessary for the operation of the site, as well as cookies used for anonymous statistics, comfort settings, or displaying personalized content. You can decide which categories you want to allow. Please note that depending on your settings, some features of the website may not be available.

Cookie settings

These necessary cookies are required to enable the core functionality of the website. Opting out of these cookies is not possible.

cb-enable
This cookie stores the user's cookie consent status for the current domain. Expiry: 1 year.
laravel_session
Stores the session ID to recognize the user when the page reloads and to restore their login session. Expiry: 2 hours.
XSRF-TOKEN
Provides CSRF protection for forms. Expiry: 2 hours.
IZA Discussion Paper No. 19041
October 2026
Digitizing Extension Services: Evidence from a Two-Sided Randomized Experiment in Indonesia
Irene Furlani, Michael Grimm, Alia Bihrajihant Raya, Ishadiyanto Salim, Nadila Puspa Arum Widjanarko

We conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial to evaluate a platform-based training intervention designed to integrate digital technologies into agricultural extension services and aimed to reduce information delivery costs while improving the efficiency of extension systems. The intervention targeted both extension workers and farmers and combined a digital literacy module with modules on digital agribusiness practices. We compared fully online delivery with a blended format combining online and in-person instruction, examining effects on platform adoption, digital literacy, and the use of digital agribusiness practices, as well as the cost-effectiveness of each modality. Both delivery modalities increased knowledge and adoption of the digital platform among extension workers and farmers and reduced digital literacy constraints among farmers, suggesting that digital platforms can facilitate information diffusion in agricultural extension systems. The intervention also increased the integration of digital agribusiness practices by extension workers, with evidence of adoption of some practices among farmers. Both interventions were relatively inexpensive compared to conventional extension training programs.

Communications
Mark Fallak
mark.fallak@liser.lu
+352 585-855-526
World of Labour
Olga Nottmeyer
olga.nottmeyer-ext@liser.lu
+352 585-855-501
Network Coordination
Christina Gathmann
christina.gathmann@liser.lu

The IZA@LISER Network is a global community of scholars dedicated to excellence in labor economics and related fields, now coordinated at the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) following its transition from Bonn.

About IZA@LISER Network
Contact
IZA@LISER NETWORK (Current Site Operator):

Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER)
11, Porte des Sciences
Maison des Sciences Humaines
L-4366 Esch-sur-Alzette / Belval, Luxembourg

IZA Institute (In Liquidation):

Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH i. L.
Schaumburg-Lippe-Str. 5-9, 53113 Bonn. Germany
Phone: +49 228 3894-0 | Fax: +49 228 3894-510
E-Mail: info@iza.org | Web: www.iza.org
Represented by: Martin T. Clemens (Liquidator)