Abstract

The study analysed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) for the enhancement of agricultural extension services in Kano State, Nigeria. Agricultural extension officers (head of units and their deputies) were purposively selected for the study due to their responsibilities as administrators and planners. In this paper, the SWOT-AHP methodology was employed to assess and prioritize management strategies for the Kano State Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (KNARDA), as a means to facilitate efficient and effective extension services delivery to small scale farmers. Considering the mandate and management objectives of KNARDA, seventeen SWOT sub-factors were identified and used in rating four alternative management strategies. The major finding established that partnering with universities/research institutes to train and upgrade skills of extension agents (SO1) is the most important strategy, indicating that authorities must pay more attention to collaborative efforts given the limited budgetary support. It is recommended that KNARDA management authorities focus their attention on those four priorities from each TOWS group. Furthermore, prompt attention should be on the SO group to deploy the strengths and take adequate advantage of the opportunities identified. Key words: Agricultural extension services, management, multi-criteria, SWOT-AHP analysis.

Highlights

  • The Kano State Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (KNARDA) was established as an Agricultural Development Project (ADP) following the observed success of the World Bank Financed enclave Agricultural Development Projects (ADPs) at Gombe, Funtua and Gusau in 1975

  • The SWOT-analytic hierarchy process (AHP) techniques have been applied in several fields including hospitality, engineering and resource management

  • The SWOT-AHP analysis can determine both priorities of SWOT factors and the strategic management focus for the KNARDA

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Summary

INTRODUCTION

The Kano State Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (KNARDA) was established as an Agricultural Development Project (ADP) following the observed success of the World Bank Financed enclave Agricultural Development Projects (ADPs) at Gombe, Funtua and Gusau in 1975. One needs to determine the degree of preparedness of extension agents, over questions of their efficiency and competencies These criticisms have been partly responsible for instigating the appraisal of the Kano State Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (KNARDA). Improvement in extension services delivery to farmers can be achieved by critically reviewing the current position of KNARDA in terms of efficiency and effectiveness of extension services delivery to the state To this end, this study employs the combined SWOT-AHP methodology to assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats with regards to management and prioritise the strategies to enhance the achievement of overall objectives of KNARDA. According to Saaty (1980), when applying the technique for decision making, a hierarchy of the problem or issue is constructed from which a matrix of pair-wise comparisons (Equation 1) is obtained. General rule, for a matrix to be considered consistent, a CR ≤ 0.1 or 10% should be maintained

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