The effectiveness of information can be measured in terms of the extent to which it enables clients to adapt to c_hanging circumst?nccs. The degree of the development of such an adaptation depends on the value of the_ inf?~ation passed on ~o the clients. The provt~1on_of appropriate and relevant information is, besides the conccpt_ua_l framcwo~k on _which II 1s_dcvcloped, als~ mflucnced by the underlying mstitutional and operational frameworks. There arc two distinct paradigms m the agncultural extension sphe~c of the RSA e.g . . the technical-educational and economic, each with their own separate institutions. As a result of the total dominance of th~ tcchni~aleducational paradigm, the economic paradigm has not come into its own with the rc_sultant poor d~velopment of b?th formal information systems and the managerial resource in agriculture. The inc~fectivcncss of the agncultural extens1o_n framework in the RS~ in te_rms of the generation of information is further enhanced by the existence of separate departments of agncul_turc for each parad1~m! ~t~ the result that extension is not being presented in a holistic (systems based) manner. The proposed hohsllc and therefore mult1-d1sc1phnary approach to agricultural extension in the RSA should be viable within the to be instituted regional agricultural development centres under a single department of agriculture.