Journal of Sustainable
Development Vol. 1. No. 2 pp. 2-11
FARMERS WILLINGNESS TO PARTICIPATE IN
THE FINANCING OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICES IN OYO STATE, NIGERIA: A
FACTOR ANALYSIS
AJAYI, A. O.
Department of Agricultural Extension
and Rural Sociology, Faculty of Agriculture, Obafemi Awolowo University,
Ile-Ife
ABSTRACT
Agricultural Extension services in
Nigeria are still being solely funded by the government. The various shades of counterpart funding
known in some other parts of the world were informed by the need to allow for
participation of people in programmes that will benefit them. This study therefore investigates the factors
that influence farmers’ willingness to participate in financing agricultural
extension services in Nigeria. Data was
collected from 228 farmers selected in a stage wise procedure using random
sampling technique. Evidence from data
analysis showed that ten factors were central in influencing farmers’
willingness to participate in the financing agricultural extension
services. The factors identified include
farm related economic status, educational and literacy status, impact of
government agricultural related programmes, farmers’ self assessment of their
abilities to pay and farm characteristics among others. The study concluded that these factors should
be given attention prior to any efforts aimed at awareness creation for
influencing farmers to participate in agricultural extension service financing.
Key words: participation, extension
financing, farmers’ willingness, factor analysis
Journal of Sustainable
Development Vol. 1. No. 2, pp. 12-19
RESOURCE-USE EFFICIENCY IN MAIZE
PRODUCTION IN OYO STATE, NIGERIA
OGUNNIYI L. T.
Department of Agricultural Economic and
Extension Ladoke Akintola University of Technology P.M.B. 4000, Ogbomoso, Oyo
State, Nigeria E-mail: titiogunniyi@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
This study examined the socio-economic
characteristics of the maize farmers, undertook cost and returns analysis of maize
production as basis for assessing the profitability of the enterprise and
estimated the farm production function of maize so as to determine the
productivity and efficiency of resource in maize production. The population for
the study consists of all maize farmers in Oyo State, Nigeria. Both structured
questionnaire and interview schedule were used in collecting information from
300 maize farmers in the study area. A multistage random sampling technique was
employed. The results show that farm size (x1), labour cost (x2)
and cost of seeds (x4) have a significant relationship with revenue.
The ratio of the MVP of the various resources to the value of their cost
indicates that the resources are yet to be efficiently utilized as far as maize
production is concerned in the study area. However, optimum economic returns to
maize farmers could be achieved by increasing the size of the farm, employing
more labour, applying more fertilizer and chemical and increasing level of
employment of seed.
Keywords: Economic
Efficiency, Costs and Returns, Net Farm Income, Marginal Value Productivity
Journal of Sustainable
Development Vol. 1. No. 2, pp. 20-31
INCORPORATING
SOCIAL AND SUSTAINABILITY ASPECTS INTO ECONOMICS OF AGROFORESTRY: A CASE STUDY
FROM SOUTH INDIA
SHANMUGAM, T. R.1 AND BABU,
S. C.2
1 Department of Agricultural Economics, Tamil Nadu
Agricultural University, Coimbatore-641 003
2 International Food Policy Research Institute, 2033 K
Street, N.W. Washington D.C., USA.
Email: s.babu@cgiar.org
<mailto:s.babu@cgiar.org>
ABSTRACT
In spite of the well known economic,
social, and sustainability benefits of agroforestry systems, the adoption of
agroforestry technologies continues to be very slow in developing
countries. This is partly due to the
design and implementation of agroforestry expansion programs, which rely
heavily on the economic benefits and costs of agroforestry technologies, while
the social and sustainability benefits remain unaccounted for. This paper is an attempt to incorporate
social and sustainability benefits into the evaluation of agroforestry
systems. Based on a case study of 200
farmers engaged in four types of agroforestry systems in the south Indian state
of Tamil Nadu, it shows that if the externalities associated with agroforestry
were internalized, these systems would be more attractive as investments. The paper argues that the future evaluation
of agroforestry systems should account for both private and societal benefits.
Key words: Agroforestry, socioeconomic
analysis, social costs and benefits, South India
Journal of Sustainable Development Vol. 1.
No. 2, pp. 32-40
TRAINING NEEDS OF AGRICULTURAL MEDIA PRACTITIONERS IN THE NIGER
DELTA AREA OF NIGERIA
AGBAMU, J. U.
Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Delta State
University, Asaba Campus, Nigeria
ABSTRACT
This study ascertained the competence and
importance scores of selected skills for agricultural media practitioners in
order to determine those skills with low competence and high importance scores
and therefore those skills with the highest need for training. It administered questionnaire
on 120 respondents in three states of the Niger Delta in Nigeria. The study
found that the respondents need training in simplification of agricultural
research results, reporting information in print media, agricultural
broadcasting, producing teaching aids, demonstrations, and use of visual aids.
It also found that at 0.05 level of significance, there was no significant
relationship between professional competence and educational levels of the
agricultural media practitioners.
Key Words:
Training, Agriculture, Media Practitioners
Journal of Sustainable Development Vol. 1.
No. 2, pp. 41-52
SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS AFFECTING THE ADOPTION OF AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION AMONG RURAL
HOUSEHOLDS IN KOGI STATE, NIGERIA
YOMI ALFRED, S.D. AND EWUOLA, S.O.
Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Federal
University of Technology, Akure.
ABSTRACT
Despite increasing research activities
and resultant increase in findings for
the improvement of agricultural production, production in agriculture still remains low in NIgeria. The
consequence of this is high level of
food importation with its
attendant gross financial implication on the national economy. This
trend may be attributed to low level
of utilization of research findings by
farmers resulting from certain factors which may be socio-economic or psychological. This paper therefore, examined the effects of socio-psychological factors
affecting rural households' level of
adoption in Nigeria. The study was
carried out in Kogi State, Nigeria Three out of the
four Agricultural Development Project (ADP) delineated zones were
randomly selected. A multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select respondents and data were collected using a pre-tested interviewed schedule. It was found that socio status and support from wife
and children had significant association
with level of adoption while attitude
and knowledge of technology were not. Since level of adoption of innovations cannot be high enough based on socio-psychological
factors alone without the proportionate
economic pre-conditions, it was
recommended that economic packages, such as input supply, marketing and credit facilities be made accessible to farmers. In addition,
the disposition of the individuals, his knowledge of the
technology and the support of
his family members should be
explored even where the economic
packages have been provided.
Key Words: Socio-Psychological, Adoption,
Innovations, Rural households
Journal of Sustainable Development Vol. 1.
No. 2, pp. 53-58
EFFECT OF SOME SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS ON THE OUTPUT OF
GROUNDNUT IN BEKWARA AREA OF CROSS RIVER STATE, NIGERIA
AGOM, D. I., IDIONG, I. C. AND EJIM, A. O.
Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, University
of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria
ABSTRACT
An analysis of some socio-economic factors
that affect groundnut production in Bekwara Local Government Area of Cross
River State was carried out in this study. Primary data were obtained from
ninety-three (93) groundnut farmers in the study area through the use of
questionnaires. Frequency tables were
used in describing the socio-economic variables, while an analysis involving
the use of Ordinary Least Square (OLS) multiple regression estimating technique
was used to determine the effect of level of education (X1), labour
(X2) and access to credit (X3) on the output of groundnut
in the area. The results show that majority
of the farmers (67.8%) have had education at different levels, while majority
(67.7) had no access to credit. The
results of the regression analysis showed that level of education and labour
use had a positive and significant relationship (P < 0.05) with output of
groundnut. However, access to credit
showed an inverse relationship. It was therefore recommended that for credit to be effective in boosting
groundnut production, it should be backed up with improved technology and other production incentives.
Keywords: Socio-economic factors,
Groundnut, Nigeria
