The commodity-based approach in agricultural extension is generally organized through parastatal organizations or private firms and is very important for cash crops or export crops. In Zimbabwe, the major cash crops are tobacco, cotton, sugar cane and a diversity of horticultural commodities. For tobacco, the commodity-based approach has not yet been very successful owing to poor attendance. On the other hand, the cotton production sector has been greatly helped by a crop research programme supported by effective commodity-based extension, which has also established some successful out-grower schemes. Smallholder farmer participation in sugar cane production has risen as a result of the commodity-based approach in which private companies offer extension and processing facilities. In horticulture, the approach has been widely used to establish out-grower schemes and provide research, extension and input credit services to interested farmers.
Despite an illustrious history and remarkable achievements, the commodity-based extension approach has drawbacks. It often gives monopoly power to the parastatals and/or crop processing or marketing companies, thus enabling them to make excess profits at the expense of struggling, and at times poverty-stricken, farmers. In addition, poor management or changes to terms of trade and pricing can result in poor returns to farmers. The approach focuses on one crop, sometimes at the expense of a local area's specific needs. Furthermore, it retains characteristics of the conventional top-down extension approach, which does not give freedom to farmers and stifles their initiatives.