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Investing in knowledge to support the adoption of environmentally-friendly farm practices is\ud commonly perceived as a key driver behind innovation processes in agriculture. Yet changes at the\ud national and global levels have led to dramatic changes in the orientation of advisory services, how these\ud are organised, and their methods of intervention. This report examines the role, performance and impact\ud of farm advisory services, as well as the training and extension initiatives undertaken in the OECD area to\ud foster green growth in agriculture. The merits of the different types of providers are also discussed and\ud the experience of selected OECD countries presented.\ud Assessing the impact of agricultural advisory services, training and extension measures on green\ud growth involves a range of methodological issues, but for which evaluations of outcomes and assessment\ud of their overall cost-effectiveness is scarce. Nevertheless, a key conclusion of this report is that there is no\ud one-size-fits-all evaluation methodology and that any evaluation of the impact of these measures should\ud take into account all actors that provide agricultural advisory services, training, and extension measures as\ud they are part of a wider agricultural knowledge and innovation system in which multiple stakeholders\ud interact.\ud This report contributes to OECD work on green growth which emphasises the importance of research,\ud development, innovation, education, extension services and information to increase productivity in a\ud sustainable way. This report was prepared by the OECD’s Trade and Agriculture Directorate and was\ud declassified by the OECD Joint Working Party on Agriculture and the Environment in January 2015.\ud Dimitris Diakosavvas was project leader and is the principal author of this report. Chapter 5 draws on\ud background papers prepared by consultants for the five case studies: Bruce Kefford and Clive Noble\ud (Australia); Rivellie Tschuisseu and Pierre Labarthe (Canada), Janet Dwyer and Matt Reed (England and\ud Wales), Dimitris Damianos (Greece) and Brian Bell and Michael Yap (New Zealand). A further paper\ud prepared by Clunie Keenleyside also contributed to the present report. Comments and review from OECD\ud colleagues are also appreciated and acknowledged, including Nathalie Girouard, Justine Garrett and\ud Annabelle Mourougane. Françoise Bénicourt and Theresa Poincet provided invaluable secretarial\ud assistance throughout the production process. The report was prepared for publication by\ud Michèle Patterson, who also co-ordinated its production.