Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi

The Kenya Government intends to organise an extension service for small business. Previous attempts to do this in other countries have often failed, usually because of the high qualifications and experience which are demanded of the staff. It is suggested that fourth form school leavers can be employed for this work with a minimum of specialised training. An experiment has been undertaken to test this hypothesis , and the results in terms of innovations adopted, and the costs and benefits of possible nationwide replication, suggest that the approach has some merit.