A criticism of community-based worker models is that they are costly to adopt and implement. CARE commissioned a study to compare the cost-effectiveness and institutional implications of implementation of the TEAM extension model with two other non-state agricultural extension models in Lesotho. It also compared these extension approaches with those of government, particularly the new Unified Extension System of the Ministry of Agriculture, which adopts many of TEAM's features. The research found that the non-state community worker models appear to be cheap, both in terms of cost per extension worker and also cost per active farmer. The cost of helping families become self-sufficient in most of their homestead food stuffs (e.g. vegetables, fruits) ranges from US$200 - 450 per household.

The research recommends that the supervision ratio of community-based workers needs to be fairly high, close to 1:15. The paper discusses how community-based worker models for simple and frequent tasks (homestead production, food and livelihood security) could complement government, private sector or NGO services for more specialised tasks, in providing a spectrum of services to poor, rural farmers. This is in line with the Ministry's move towards a community-based extension service supported by area-based Resource Centres for provision of back-up and support.