Ninety farmers selected at random from three cotton growing districts of Zambia were interviewed to assess the current status of training and other sources of advice available, to help them in insect pest management of cotton. Training courses and demonstrations on pest control were attended by only about 50% of the farmers interviewed. The training, organized mostly by Government Farm Training Institutes, emphasized general aspects of cotton production. Whereas the demonstrations on chemical control were occasionally organized by multinational companies like ICI, Hoechst, and Shell Chemicals. Ninety-two per cent of the farmers were aware of the extension workers in their respective areas and were visited on an average of 4.8 times per growing season. The ratio of extension workers to small scale cotton farmers is reported and the means of communication are discussed. The other sources of information on cotton pest management available to farmers were radios, field days, leaflets and informal discussions within the farming community. Farmers expressed the need for more advice on methods of insect scouting and application of insecticides on cotton. Farmers generally felt that cotton pest management can be improved by introducing frequent training courses, increased number of extension workers coupled with demonstrations in cotton fields. The average yields of seed cotton obtained by trained farmers was 759.39 kg/ha as compared to untrained farmers who obtained 719 kg/ha.