In Zimbabwe, agricultural extension was introduced in 1927 by Emory D. Alvord, who started with nine agricultural demonstration workers. Later, the Department of Conservation and Extension (Conex) and the Department of Agricultural Development (Devag) were established. The former had the institutional mandate to provide advisory services to white large-scale commercial farmers, while the latter was meant to service native smallholder farming communities. At independence in 1980, the Department of Agricultural, Technical and Extension Services (AGRITEX) was formed as an amalgamation of Conex and Devag.