Short Papers
Farmers’ Awareness, Participation and Sources of Information on Extension Activities in Rural Nigeria: A Case of Patigi Local Government Area of Kwara State
2016 Volume 52 Issue 4 Pages 253-258
Details
2016 Volume 52 Issue 4 Pages 253-258
本論文はナイジェリア，クワラ州の農村を対象として，農民の農業普及活動に関わる情報源，認知度と参加状況について分析した．アンケート調査の結果，以下の諸点が明らかになった．農業に関する情報源では，農民が最も多く依存しているのが農業普及員であり，その次に多いのがラジオ，友人知人，テレビであった．しかし普及員に接触する頻度はそれほど多くなく，また普及員の多数が男性である．次に普及活動に関する認識については，SPAT（Small Plot Adoption Technique）を用いた圃場での技術実演がきわめて高かったが，他の様々な普及活動（集団研修など）も5割以上の農民が認知していた．普及活動への参加者数ではやはりSPATが多いが，認知者に占める参加者比率はいずれも8割以上であり，認知さえすれば高い確率で参加が見込めることが判明した．従ってSPATに加え，ラジオやテレビなどを組み合わせ，また女性の普及員を増やすことで，普及活動の認知度と参加率を増やすことが可能になるだろう．
Access to agricultural information is one of the major prerequisites to improve agricultural productivity in Nigeria (Fawole, 2008: p. 381). Though such information can be obtained by a variety of ways, previous studies revealed that the extension agents were one of the prominent sources of information in agriculture (Fadiji et al., 2005: p. 11; Adegboye et al., 2013: pp. 212–215). As information itself does not necessarily lead to the adoption of the technology, active participation of the farmers in various extension activities is required. The participation of the farmers is a very important factor for improvement of efficiency and effectiveness of extension activities at the grassroots level and it can contribute to sustaining the change brought about by extension activities for a long period of time (Wasihun et al., 2014: p. 80). Examining the sources of information available to farmers is important because access and use of different information sources will lead to different levels of awareness, and then participation, of extension activities.
As awareness is “the first stage of adoption process” of farming technology (Ekong, 2003: p. 271), some studies focus on the relationship between awareness and participation in extension activities. Both Ogunremi et al. (2011: p. 156) and Fawole and Tijani (2013: p. 50) found out that there is a high correlation between awareness and participation in extension activities among farmers in different states in Nigeria. However, neither study examines the sources of information used by villagers, which may provide the first opportunity for villager’s awareness.
Most previous studies did not relate information sources with awareness and participation in extension activities, dealing with each topic separately. Meanwhile, this study is a preparatory attempt to examine awareness and participation in extension activities, in connection to the topic of access to information, focusing on the role of extension agents, based on a questionnaire survey made in Patigi Local Government Area (LGA) of Kwara State, Nigeria.
Patigi Local Government Area is one of the sixteen local government areas of Kwara State, Nigeria. Patigi LGA has a total land area of 2,743 km2 and a population of 110,852 (NPC, 2010: p. 291). It is about 182 kilometers from the state capital (Ilorin). The people of Patigi are mainly farmers, but also include fishers and traders. Major crops grown include cassava, millet, rice, Guinea corn, and melon. All the crops are for both sales and domestic consumption.
The field research was conducted in 2013. Within the local government, three villages were selected, from which 200 households were listed. 100 farmers were selected from these households by a simple random sampling. A structured questionnaire covering sources of information available to farmers, awareness of extension activities, and participation in extension activities was used to collect the data.
Table 1 indicates multiple responses by the respondents on sources of information used by the farmers. Majority of the respondents (96%) indicated that extension agents were the main source of information available to them. This is followed by radio (74%), friends and relatives (73%), television (64%), and farmer’s associations/groups (55–60%). Other minor sources include cell phone (28%), newspaper (18%), and pamphlets (12%). From these findings, it can be deduced that interpersonal communication channels and oral methods are more important than the written materials.
| Source of Information | Yes | Type of Information | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Production | Inputs | New Variety/Crop | ||
| Extension agents | 96 | 83 (86.5%) | 83 (86.5%) | 53 (55.2%) | 89 (92.7%) |
| Radio | 74 | 66 (89.2%) | 64 (86.5%) | 37 (50.0%) | 64 (86.5%) |
| Friends/relatives | 73 | 63 (86.3%) | 53 (72.6%) | 34 (46.6%) | 63 (86.3%) |
| Television | 64 | 56 (87.5%) | 54 (84.4%) | 25 (39.1%) | 58 (90.6%) |
| Other farmers/farmers’ associations | 60 | 50 (83.3%) | 42 (70.0%) | 24 (40.0%) | 53 (88.3%) |
| Other groups or associations | 55 | 48 (87.3%) | 38 (69.1%) | 21 (38.2%) | 49 (89.1%) |
| Cell phone | 28 | 25 (89.3%) | 22 (78.6%) | 16 (57.1%) | 23 (82.1%) |
| Newspaper | 18 | 13 (72.2%) | 12 (66.7%) | 5 (27.8%) | 15 (83.3%) |
| Pamphlets | 12 | 9 (75.0%) | 10 (83.3%) | 3 (25.0%) | 10 (83.3%) |
| Library | 10 | 8 (80.0%) | 7 (70.0%) | 3 (30.0%) | 8 (80.0%) |
| Internet | 9 | 6 (66.7%) | 6 (66.7%) | 3 (33.3%) | 6 (66.7%) |
| NGO | 8 | 4 (50.0%) | 6 (75.0%) | 1 (12.5%) | 7 (87.5%) |
Source: Field survey.
1) Percentage in each parenthesis represents the proportion of respondents who actually received that type of information among all those who got information from each category of sources.
This is in line with the findings of Daudu et al. (2009: p. 47) that extension agents, followed by friends and radio, were the main source of information to the farmers in Benue state, Nigeria. Haruna et al. (2015: p. 52) also opined that extension agent, followed by co-farmers and workshops, was the main source of information available to fish farmers in Hadejia, northwestern Nigeria. Okwu and Daudu (2011: pp. 90–91) reported that in Benue state, interpersonal communication channels such as extension agents, contact farmers, opinion leaders and friends/neighbours were generally used by the farmers than the mass media to obtain information on improved farm technologies.
Sources of information rarely used by the farmers include internet (9%) and library (10%). This may be due to the fact that most of the farmers are not educated (63% of respondents received no formal education) and facilities such as internet and library are not readily available in the rural areas.
(2) Types of Information Received by the FarmersTable 1 also shows that farmers obtained different types of information from various different sources. All the sources of information have the same tendency of providing information on price, production and new variety/crops. However, the number of those who obtained information on inputs was relatively small in all the sources. This may be due to the fact that ordinary farmers rarely use modern inputs such as fertilizers and tractors, which is normally obtained through special connections to the government officials.
(3) Access to Extension ServiceThe result on Table 2 shows the access to extension services by the farmers when asked if they had contact with the extension agents in the past 12 months. Majority of the farmers indicated that they had contact with the extension agents (76%), while only 10% indicated that they did not have contact with the extension agents at all, possibly due to their remote locations which is not easily accessible for extension workers. Large number of farmers that had contact with the extension agents is likely to be responsible for high level of awareness and participation of the farmers in various extension activities, as will be discussed below. However, the frequency of visits made by the extension agents to the farmers is relatively low as more than half of the farmers (62%) indicated that the number of visit made to their farms by extension agents was less than 10 visits in the past 12 months. This may be due to inadequate funding of the Agricultural Development Programme (ADP), the main extension organ which deploys extension agents to disseminate information to the farmers and carries out various extension activities to improve technology adoption of farmers. Oladele (2004: p. 144) found out that there is a reduction in number of farm visits by extension agents after withdrawal of World Bank loan to support ADP.
| Question | Answer | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Contact with Extension Agent in the Past 12 Months | Yes | 76 |
| No | 10 | |
| No response | 14 | |
| Number of Visits in the Past 12 months | 0 | 7 |
| 1–5 | 17 | |
| 6–10 | 38 | |
| 11–15 | 13 | |
| 16–20 | 0 | |
| 21–25 | 5 | |
| No response | 20 | |
| Gender of Extension Worker | Male | 56.5 |
| Female | 6.6 | |
| Both | 26.3 | |
| No response | 10.5 |
Source: Field survey.
Another important finding is that majority of informants responded that they were visited by male extension agents (82.8%, including those who responded “both male and female”), while only 32.9% indicated that female extension agent visited them. This may reflect the fact that fewer female extension agents are actually employed. Having few female extension agents may in turn affect the participation of women in extension activities, as socio-cultural norms and religious belief often prevent interaction between male extension agents and women farmers. Government officials tend to assume that agriculture is men’s work and women are rarely offered an opportunity to get information on new technology, which may in turn affect women’s productivity.
(4) Awareness of Extension Activities by the FarmersTable 3 indicates awareness of extension activities by the farmers in the study area. Out of all the extension activities listed, majority of the respondents had more awareness on On-Farm SPAT (Small Plot Adoption Technique) Demonstration (95%). This is because it enables the farmers to see the actual demonstration of the new technology on their farm. It is followed by training of group leaders/contact farmers (81%), where the group leaders learn about the new innovation and are supposed to pass it across to other farmers. Meeting with researchers/supervisors is the third extension activity they were aware of (79%). This is an occasion when the subject matter specialists meet with the farmers to discuss the problems facing the farmers on their farms. Although the least awareness among the extension activities listed include evaluation of technology (71%), identification of problems (71%) and visitation to research institute (62%), each respond is more than half.
| Extension Activities | Number of Those Who are Aware (A) |
Number of Those Who Participated (B) |
B/A (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| On farm (SPAT) demonstration1) | 95 | 80 | 84.2 |
| Training of group leaders/contact farmers2) | 81 | 71 | 87.7 |
| Group meeting/discussion | 79 | 74 | 93.7 |
| Meeting with researcher/supervisors | 79 | 72 | 91.1 |
| On farm adaptive research (OFAR)3) | 74 | 65 | 87.3 |
| Visitation to OFAR site | 73 | 66 | 90.4 |
| Evaluation of technologies4) | 71 | 64 | 90.1 |
| Identification of problems | 71 | 62 | 87.3 |
| Diagnostic research5) | 71 | 58 | 81.7 |
| Visitation to research institute | 62 | 56 | 90.3 |
Source: Field survey.
1) On farm (SPAT) demonstration also known as Small Plot Adoption Technique. This is a demonstration on farmer’s field, usually carried out by both farmers and extension agents to enable the farmer to compare the improved technology with the existing technology.
2) Contact farmers are the farmers selected by extension agent based on their socioeconomic characteristics such as access to land and literacy level. They are expected to be trained and pass on the knowledge to other farmers.
3) On farm adaptive research (OFAR). This is a demonstration managed by researchers on farmer’s farm to know the suitability of the improved technology on farmer’s farm environment.
4) Evaluation of technologies is done to assess the impact of the improved technology.
5) Diagnostic research is a research usually carried out by the extension agents and the farmers to understand the most prevalent need or problem facing the farmers on their farm.
Table 3 also shows the number of farmers who actually participated in these extension activities, along with percentage of those who participated among those who were aware. Larger percentage of farmers that were aware of on farm SPAT demonstration also indicated they participated in the same activity, followed closely by group meeting and discussion, and then followed by meeting with researchers/supervisors. This is in line with the findings of Obinna and Agu-Aguiyi (2014: p. 289) which revealed that, demonstration and SPAT were ranked 2nd and 3rd as preferred channels of cassava-based improved technologies disseminated in Abia state, Nigeria. This may be due to the fact that SPAT is organized by extension agents on a portion of the farmer’s farms so that the farmers can see the difference between the exiting methods and the new technology.
The extension activities with lower participation by farmers include; visitation to research institutes, followed by diagnostic research and identification of problems.
The study revealed that there is a high correlation between awareness and participation in all kinds of extension activities. This result suggests that once the farmers are aware of the extension activities, a large proportion of them are likely to participate in these activities. As mentioned earlier, this result is supported by Fawole and Tijani (2013) and Ogunremi et al. (2011). However, neither study revealed what kind of method can be used to make farmers aware of information on agriculture most effectively.
This study, therefore, attempted to analyze the sources of information used by farmers. The major sources of information include extension agents, radio and television. Information on price, production and new crops/varieties was accessible in most sources, while that on agricultural input was provided in a lesser extent. This study also revealed that there is a shortage of extension agents, especially female ones.
Because of the limitations of the design of questionnaire, we could not effectively reveal the direct relationship between sources of information and awareness as well as participation in extension activities. However, since extension workers are most important sources of information in the study area, it is likely that if information on specific extension activities (such as SPAT) can be disseminated effectively by extension agents, villagers might be aware of those activities and eventually take part in them. In particular, as agriculture is mostly conducted by women, increase in female extension agents may lead to an easier access to extension activities, and then active participation, by female farmers.
It is therefore strongly recommended that government should increase the funding made available to the Agricultural Development Programme (ADP). This will enable the ADP to employ more staff, female agents in particular so as to increase the level of interaction between the farmers and the extension agents, which can influence farmers’ awareness on new technology and efficiency of extension services (Matanmi et al., 2012: p. 474). The combination of extension agents and other sources of information such as radio and television will further improve the effectiveness of extension activities as a whole.
