This handbook provides a methodological framework for decisions concerning decentralization of agricultural services through deconcentration of agricultural services through deconcentration of the public administration, delegation to public or private agencies, devolution, partnerships with civil society organizations or privatization. Although focused on the analytical process of determining the production and allocative efficiency of the various options, the handbook also covers the political dimensions that impinge on the desirability and feasibility of decentralization, both at the level of individual organizations and of the government reform process.