Factors influencing time spent on management activities by the managerial staff of Agriculture Extension Departments of Projects and Ministries in Nigeria

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the factors influencing the time spent on management activities by the managerial staff of the Departments of Agricultural Extension in the Ministries of Agriculture, World Bank assisted Agricultural Development Projects, and River Basin Development Authorities. Specifically, the study (a) determined the degree to which managerial staff of these agencies spent their time on various managerial activities, (b) analysed the time spent on management activities by staff of different management levels of these agencies, and (c) looked at the effects of some personal characteristics of the managerial staff of these agencies on time spent by them on management activities. The data were collected from the managerial staff of extension departments of five state Ministries of Agriculture, eleven World Bank assisted Integrated Agricultural Development Projects, and three River Basin Authority Projects representing different ecological zones of the country. Three levels of management staff, namely top-level (TL), middle-level (ML), and second-line (SL) supervisors, were randomly selected for the study giving a total population of 99 made up of 22 top, 29 middle and 48 second-line staff. Of these, 51 were from the Ministries of Agriculture, and 48 from Agricultural Development Projects and River Basin Authority Projects representing both headquarters and divisional-level staff. The findings showed that top-level, middle-level and second-line supervisors of the three agencies did not differ in respect to the amount of the time spent on various management activities except in coordination and team building activities in which higher-level staff spent more time. There is need to determine through job analysis the amount of time various management levels should spend on management activities for increasing their effectiveness. The study further shows the need for training in management.