Agricultural & Rural Studies 2024, 2, 0001. https://doi.org/10.59978/ar02010001 www.sccpress.com Article Role of Farmer Information and Advice Center in Providing Extension Services to Smallholder Farmers: Lessons From Bangladesh Sohel Rana 1, * , Md Abdul Halim 1 , Muhammad Mohiuddin 2 , Md. Shajidur Rahman 3 and Md Masud Rana 4, 5 1 Department of Agricultural Economics and Social Science, Chattogram Veterinary and Animal Sciences University Chattogram 4225, Bangladesh; halimcv2002@yahoo.com 2 On-Farm Research Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Kishoreganj 2300, Bangladesh; mohijee1977@gmail.com 3 United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Tottori University, 680-0945 Japan; tex.shajid@gmail.com 4 Department of Agricultural Extension Education, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh2202, Bangladesh; kabir38663@bau.edu.bd 5 Graduate School of Science and Technology, Niigata University, Niigata 950-2181, Japan; f23m010f@mail.cc.niigata-u.ac.jp * Correspondence: sohelrana@cvasu.ac.bd Abstract: The Farmer Information and Advice Centers (FIACs) are currently working to provide one-stop agricultural advisory services, including climate-friendly agriculture, to farming communities in rural Bang- ladesh, but their role has yet to be explored. Therefore, the aim of this study is to assess the role of FIACs in providing need-based extension services to the farming communities to create social innovation through trans- forming smallholders’ agriculture into a farm business in rural Bangladesh. This study was conducted in Kishoreganj district, Bangladesh. The data were collected by questionnaire survey, semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussions (FGD). Both quantitative and qualitative (Trajectory Equifinality Model, TEM) analysis was applied based on the data obtained. It was found that the local FIAC approaches give farmers easy access to improved agricultural technologies. It is a needs-based service for farming households to im- prove their farming practices and livelihoods. Second, their resource use efficiency has increased, and their agriculture has diversified. This has improved institutional access on the ground and farmers feel empowered. So, we can call it social innovation. Third, FIAC interventions help farmers to develop farm business. Finally, farmer characteristics such as gender, farm size, farming experience, household income, and local institutional access are significantly positively related to access to FIAC services. Therefore, our policy implications sug- gest that FIAC should offer a gender-sensitive service approach. However, farmers faced some difficulties in obtaining services from FIAC, they needed more competent staff and female staff. Keywords: Farmer Information and Advice Center; agricultural extension services; rural innovation; Bang- ladesh; farm business development 1. Introduction 1.1 Background and Rationale of the Study The majority of the poor live in rural areas worldwide. More than 60% of them live on sub- sistence farming. Most of them are small farmers and contribute about 80% to the world’s food supply (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [FAO], 2014). Although agricul- tural productivity increases, it faces greater challenges from the impacts of global climate change (Rahman et al., 2022). In some regions of Bangladesh, farmers are producing more, while at the same time, poverty is increasing (Rana et al., 2022a). In addition, most of farmers (83.38%) are small farmers with farm sizes of less than 2.5 acres (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics [BBS], 2021) in Bangladesh. Hence, it is very difficult for the farming community to meet the challenges with their limited resources. Thus, to reduce rural poverty, farming must be turned into a profitable business. Therefore, social innovation is necessary to address the issue. Because social innovation is viewed as a new process or product or service that meets social needs and overcomes problems Citation: Rana, S.; Halim, M. A.; Mohiuddin, M.; Rahman, M. S.; Rana, M. M. Role of Farmer Information and Advice Center in Providing Extension Services to Smallholder Farmers: Lessons from Bangladesh. Agricultural & Rural Studies, 2024, 2, 0001. https://doi.org/10.59978/ar02010001 Received: 13 November 2023 Revised: 6 December 2023 Accepted: 15 December 2023 Published: 1 February 2024 Publisher’s Note: Trenton Gary, SCC Press stays neutral with regard to juris- dictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Copyright: © 2024 by the author(s). Licensee Trenton Gary, SCC Press, Kowloon, Hong Kong S.A.R., China. The article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/b y/4.0/).