The digitalization of agriculture intensified as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic unfolded. The process was particularly brisk in agricultural extension, where the transformation towards digital formats was accelerated by the health crisis, and especially by reduced mobility and public funding constraints. 

Recent progress in digital technologies has enabled a novel way to communicate with producers, paving the way for a new approach to agricultural extension services. Through that process, the digitalization of agriculture has changed how knowledge is exchanged in rural areas, reducing transaction costs and establishing a new framework for public policy design.

It has thus become possible to build new models for open, decentralized, in person or digital extension systems, with a strong focus on the cognitive —rather than solely the technical and procedural— aspects of knowledge-sharing in markets and in social and economic organization. These new models, which are organized in various ways and based on digital tools, are known as mixed rural extension systems (SISMER) and can be adapted to any institution, making them suitable for all countries and situations.

This document explores the potential of SISMER to digitalize specific areas of public policy, in particular extension and marketing, and presents examples that illustrate the role of social networks in these new rural extension systems.