15 pages., The determinants of agricultural extension communication channel usage depend on several factors but have not been explored in the context of emergency (Fall Armyworm outbreak) and non-emergency situations. A multistage purposive sampling technique was used to select 318 farmers, focusing on the districts and the communities with the highest reported cases of fall armyworm infestation. Descriptive statistics and a multivariate probit analysis were used in the analysis of the data. The results showed an increase in the intensity of channels’ usage in the emergency situation. It was also found that fertilizer and improved seeds were the most common extension need. Channels are found to be more complementary in the emergency case. In both situations, some factors explaining the choices of these channels varied, while others agreed. The study recommends multiple channels are made available and that time-consuming channels irrespective of their effectiveness should be avoided by extensionists in emergency situations.
11 pages, This study examined village extension agent’s access and use of information and communication technology in extension services delivery to farmers in Plateau State, Nigeria. The population for the study consisted of all the village extension agents (VEAs) of the Plateau Agricultural Development Program (PADP) in the central agricultural zone of the state. Multistage sampling technique was employed in selecting the respondents for the study. Primary data were collected through the administration of questionnaires and interview techniques and were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings from the study shows that majority (77%) of the sampled village extension agents (VEAs) were males with a mean age of 43 years, Majority (87%) of the respondents were married with a mean household size of 4 persons. The study also showed that majority (80%) of the VEAs had tertiary education with a mean working experience of 13 years and average monthly income of ₦64875. The result also shows that four (4) out of the seven (7) listed ICT facilities were adjudged the ICT facilities accessible to VEAs in the study area having had mean values above the discriminating index (x̅ =2.50). They included; GSM (phone) (x̅ =3.94), radio (x̅ = 2.83), television (x̅ = 2.73) and computer (x̅ = 2.68). Based on 2.50 discriminating index, only two out of seven listed conventional ICT facilities had mean values above the discriminating index (x̅ 2.50) and thus were adjudged the ICT facilities used by VEAs. The GSM (phone) had the highest mean value of 3.62 followed by radio with mean value of 2.54. The logit regression result shows that coefficients of years of working experience and monthly income were significant and positively related to ICT use, while age and complexity in use of ICT were significant and negatively related to ICT use. Major constraints to use of ICT by VEAs includes; lack of administrative support in provision of ICT (87%), lack of in-service training on ICT use (66%), Poor salary/remuneration (64%), lack of awareness of ICT importance in extension (56%) among others. The study recommends intervention, serious synergy, and proactive response on the part of the government, non-governmental organization,s and extension organizations in ICT provision and training of VEAs on ICT use as well as stepping up campaigns on the importance of ICT use in agricultural extension delivery.
20 pages., Agricultural extension and advisory services in information and technology dissemination and delivery are critical in a
developing country’s food security and sustainability. Without extension service provision, the productivity and
production smallholder farmers are experiencing would have been much lower, and current global hunger and
malnutrition worse. This paper assesses the effects of COVID-19 on the sustainability of agricultural extension
models/approaches for smallholder farmers in developing countries. Over 60 papers were reviewed covering 2019-2021,
commencing with the disease outbreak in China. Based on characteristics and usage, the findings indicate most reviewed
extension models were disrupted. No single model was entirely disbanded as the impact of COVID-19 was being felt.
However, each model incorporated a digital means of communication to keep farmers and service providers in touch.
There is considerable criticism around the inadequacy of these extension techniques in advancing the agenda for
smallholder farming’s long-term viability that needs to be addressed
9 pages., Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is an important regional food source, providing food and income to over 30 million farmers, processors, and traders in Nigeria. Extension programs support awareness and interest in new technologies; they facilitate the adoption and adaptation of new approaches to crop production, post-harvest processing, and marketing. Extension can be understood as an intermediary or catalyst in the dissemination of information to rural farmers. This study analyzed the effect of cassava farmers’ exposure to extension on a broad measure of cassava technology adoption, while considering the influence of some individual and farm characteristics as control variables. Data were obtained from personal interviews with sample of 952 households conducted in southern Nigeria. Results show a relationship between extension exposure and technology adoption. Farmer-to-farmer interaction played the greatest role in diffusion of the technologies. Interactions with extension agents were low, suggesting that adoption of improved technologies could be enhanced by improved regular contact with extension information. The results underscore the importance of farmer-to-farmer interaction processes that often overshadow extension assistance in supporting and guiding the use of production technology. The conclusions consider some implications for 21st century extension.
8 pages., This study ascertained factors influencing adoption of improved maize seed varieties in three local government areas of Kaduna State, North-central Nigeria. It collected cross-sectional data for a sample of 180 randomly selected farming households across three local government areas of the State in 2015/16. Both descriptive and inferential analyses were performed on the data. The descriptive statistics differentiated adopters from non-adopters, while the inferential analysis involved estimation of a logit model to determine factors driving adoption of improved maize seed varieties in the study areas. The results of the descriptive analysis show significant mean differences between adopters and non-adopters regarding several farm households’ characteristics. The model results reveal that adoption of improved maize seed varieties among the households was positively influenced by age, household size, level of education, farming experience, labour availability, contacts with extension agents, farm size, off-farm income and membership of associations. Thus, the study concluded that improving farmers’ education, expanding coverage and depth of extension services and strengthening farmer associations are useful policy actions for promoting adoption of improved maize varieties. It is also important to address availability, accessibility and affordability issues constraining adoption, enhance credit access and mitigate risk perceptions. The link between researchers and innovators and the farmers who are the off-takers of their outputs should be reinforced to increase maize productivity in order to satisfy national demand and promote food security.
18 pages, Assessing farmers’ satisfaction with the quality of agricultural-extension services is essential for developing extension programs that comply with farmers’ needs and agroecological conditions. This study aimed to determine factors influencing farmers’ satisfaction with extension services. Data were collected through a questionnaire from a random sample of 393 farmers in the Kafr El Sheikh governorate. Farmers assessed the quality of extension services by five main indicators: (1) availability, (2) accessibility, (3) diversity, (4) relevance, and (5) effectiveness. Descriptive statistics and a logistic-regression model were used to analyze the data. Results showed that farmers had lowly participated in the provided extension services. The accessibility of services was ranked first with regard to satisfaction, while diversity of services was the lowest-ranked quality attribute. Results also revealed that factors significantly influencing farmers’ satisfaction included farm size, diversity of farming activities, annual income, and participation in extension services. Results provide practical implications for policy makers to support smallholder farmers by providing high-quality extension programs.
7 pages., Agricultural information sources play a pragmatic role in knowledge building among the farming community. Farmers use various traditional and modern information sources such as extension field staff, fellow farmers, private sector, electronic media, print media, and information communication technologies (ICTs) gadgets to get the latest information necessary for agricultural productivity. This study aimed to explore the patterns of farmers to access and receive information from different sources. A well-structured and expert reviewed interview schedule was used to collect data from farmers from Huailai county. A total of 122 interviews were conducted for the collection of data. Data were recorded using EpiData software program and a logistic regression model was applied using the computer-based statistical program “STATA”. The findings indicate that media (electronic media and print media) was the key information source for the farmers and 40.16% of farmers accessed media particularly for agricultural information whereas 34.43% used agricultural extension field staff (government) to acquire agricultural information. The government of China should start some educational interventions for farmers to improve their educational level so that the farming community could utilize multiple information sources for crop productivity.
18 pages, This paper presents the findings of challenges facing Zimbabwe’s extension services and how these have affected the adoption of technologies they render to small-scale farmers. This study uses a critical review of relevant literature on Zimbabwe’s primary public extension agency (AGRITEX). Additionally, 21 key informant interviews (KIIs) were conducted to corroborate data collected in secondary research on extension approaches currently in use, the key factors affecting technology adoption, and the technology adoption process of small-scale farmers. The study found AGRITEX’s major challenges to be poor funding, poor remuneration and incentives for extension personnel, lack of in-service training, lack of appropriate technology, as well as poor operational resources like transport to reach all farmers. Consequently, services offered to small-scale farmers were compromised, which led to poor adoption of recommended technologies. Furthermore, the study determined that key factors influencing technology adoption are related to the farmers’ circumstances, the operating environment, and the attributes of technology itself. As a lasting solution to poor technology adoption, an adaptive extension system that promotes building the capacity of extension workers and researchers, as well as embracing farmers and their indigenous knowledge, is proposed
11 pages., This paper was initiated in order to find the usage and relevance of theInformation and Communication Technologies(ICT) by the smallholder farmers of the Umzimvubu Local Municipality of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. A survey questionnaire was then developed to collect the relevant data from randomly selected six villages of Umzimvubu Local Municipality targeting 138 respondents. The questionnaires structure employed both closed and open-ended questions that were administered using a face to face interview, conducted on the sample population in each village. There seems to be a correlation between ICT usage and the economies of scale in agricultural development, where smallholder farmers tend to use less of highly modernized ICT, while commercial large scale farmers use more of the modernized ICT. This disparity amongst farmers is exacerbated in many areas by the differing support systems employed by the public extension services.
35 pages, Mozambique remains predominantly poor. The official statistics show that poverty incidence barely changed from 54% in 2002–03 to 55% in 2008–09, which stands way above the government's target of 45% by the year 2009. This places the country off-target to cut hunger and poverty by half by 2015, despite an annual economic growth of about 7% in the period 1994–2010. In rural areas, poverty levels have slightly increased, due to the underperformance of the agricultural sector. Extension services can have a significant impact on poverty reduction through stimulating growth in agricultural productivity. Based on a nationally representative household survey from Mozambique, this paper uses three econometric models, namely an OLS regression, the doubly robust estimator and matching and regression to estimate the economic impact of receipt of extension. The results suggest that the receipt of extension increases farm incomes by 12%. However, rather than crafting resource-poor technologies, extension services tend to target wealthier households who are relatively more likely to adopt the existing technologies. This might increase income inequality. The impact of extension, and therefore its contribution to poverty reduction, can be enhanced through several mechanisms (e.g., programme design and the number of staff).
