Analysis of Effectiveness of Agricultural Extension Service in among Rural Women: Case study of Odeda Local Government, Ogun State, Nigeria

Ogundiran Oluwasola Adekunle

doi:10.5539/jas.v5n12p65

Abstract

The study was aimed at determining agricultural extension service in among rural Women, using Odeda local government area of Ogun State as a case study. A sample size of 180 women farmers was initially taken for the study but only data for 160 respondents were analyzed. Simple random sampling technique was used for the sample selection and questionnaire was used to elicit information from the respondents. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. The findings of this study confirm that women farmers are not a homogeneous group. Despite their valuable contribution in agricultural production, women do not have easy access to agricultural resources, such as the required amount of cultivable land, title of land ownership, improved farm implements. It was also observed that real problems and needs for agricultural advice are not considered on a gender basis when planning and preparing extension packages in the agricultural services. Lack of address of women farmers explicitly as an important clientele group in respective extension programmed activities, the required amount of demonstration materials and equipment for the extension service, lack of appropriate training of field extension agents in extension methodology to serve women farmers and inadequate extension/research linkages are the most important factors which need to be improved to make agricultural extension activities effective in reaching women farmers. It is recommended that Government should encourage and assist women farmers by giving them special attention in terms of access to needed farm inputs.

Highlights

Agricultural extension still remain one of the most crucial and critical means to reach farming households in the rural areas and globally
To build up an existing understanding of women farmers as clientele of the agricultural extension system; To determine the competence of the agricultural extension service to provide advisory services to women farmers; To determine the constraint of the agricultural extension services in reaching women farmers
The socio-economic characteristic of the respondents examined include, age, marital status of household head, literacy level, farm size, income level these are shown in Table 1 below. It appear that age of the women farmer range from 15-60 years, the women within the age bracket of 30-45 years constituted the highest frequency as 71people (44.37%) of women fall into this group

Summary

Introduction

Agricultural extension still remain one of the most crucial and critical means to reach farming households in the rural areas and globally. The contribution of women to food security in developing countries is extensively documented. Rural women are the basis of small-scale agriculture, the farm labour force and day-to-day family subsistence. Rural women contribute to national agricultural output, save guide the environment and family food security. In acknowledgment women play very important roles in Nigeria agricultural production, processing and utilization (Nnadozie & Ibe, 2000). Women have been making prominent and important contributions to agriculture right from creation and the constitute the bulk of the world’s food producers. Women in Nigeria engage in various farming activities such as planting, weeding, hoeing, harvesting, threshing and winnowing of agricultural products as well as the processing, storage and marketing of these farm produce

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