As a result, both institutional memory and technical expertise in dealing with farmers (particularly large-scale commercial farmers) were lost. This was compounded by the arrival of new staff who had limited practical knowledge of dealing with farmers and providing technical expert advice. In addition, given that AGRITEX was a product of two organizations with different philosophies and experiences in dealing with farmers from different socio-economic backgrounds, it spent much of the past 20 years experimenting and establishing itself as a service for all farmers, but especially smallholder farmers.