Pricing inclusive digital extension services: Gender, delivery design, and farmers’ willingness to pay in Zambia

As digital extension platforms transition from subsidized pilots to subscription-based models, the imposition of user fees may exclude vulnerable groups, such as women and resource-poor smallholders. This study examines gender-based differences in willingness to pay (WTP) for Atubandike, a phygital extension platform in Zambia that combines interactive voice response messages on climate-smart agriculture with in-person community support. Using the Becker–DeGroot–Marschak method, we elicit WTP from 560 active users participating in a randomized controlled trial of five delivery models that vary levels of digital interactivity and in-person support. We find that demand is highly price sensitive, with WTP declining sharply as fees increase. Regression results reveal significant gender-based differences in demand. Women, especially married women, exhibit lower WTP than men, even when controlling for socioeconomic characteristics. Delivery design influences women's demand but not men's. Phygital models that combine digital extension with village-based digital champions and community engagement generate higher WTP among women than digital-only models. These results, alongside cost estimates, suggest that while socially inclusive delivery designs advance gender equity in digital extension, their higher recurrent costs cannot be recovered through user fees that are widely affordable. Sustaining inclusive digital extension therefore requires broader public and private financing arrangements, with user fees playing a complementary rather than primary role.