Participatory methodologies for rural development: The case of agricultural extension and food production in nyamira district.

Abstract

This study inquires into the role of farmers' participation in agricultural extension and of extension methodology in their adoption of improved farm practices. The study further looks into the function of farmers' adoption of improved farm practices in their relative self-sufficiency in food production and levels of living of farm families. The objectives of the study were; to find out how farmers' participation in the agricultural extension process affected their adoption of improved farm practices; to examine the impact of specific agricultural extension methodologies on farmer's adoption of improved farm practices and; to find out the impact of agricultural improvement on food production and levels of living of farm families. In this study the farm household was the unit of analysis, and the household heads were the respondents. Sampling was done through a combination of probability and non probability techniques. The administrative district where the survey was conducted was chosen purposely, and the final clusters (administrative sub-locations). from where individual respondents were picked were randomly sampled through the multi-stage cluster sampling design. The main research tool consisted of a standardized interview schedule made up of both closed and open-ended questions. Informal interviews with three agricultural extension agents in charge of the respective sub-locations sampled, as well as with some social group leaders in the three sub locations, were also employed. This study benefited from the guidance of two broad theories; the modernization theory and the communication theory. Despite the theories' daunting weaknesses which came out In relation to this study; from the modernization perspective agricultural extension is understood as the vehicle of the "modernizing" technological and organizational packages and from the communication perspective these are information packages which must reach the audience (farming community) and elicit certain responses. From this theoretical position several hypotheses were derived which the study tested. The main findings of this .study were; that farmers' participation in agricultural extension influences their adoption of improved farm practices; that the agricultural extension methodologies influenced farmers' adoption of improved farm practices; that there is no relationship between farmers' adoption of improved farm practices and their relative self-sufficiency in food production and; that farmers' adoption of improved farm practices influences their levels of living at farm family levels. The major conclusion of this study is that a participatory-oriented agricultural extension service employing methodologies that involve farmers in the extension process is likely to lead to a more widespread adoption of improved farm practices. The study's recommendations are two-pronged; first regarding policy and second, concerning future research. With regard to policy it is recommended that efforts to make agricultural extension more participatory in orientation be strengthened and that because T & V approach seems inhibitive to the diffusion of agricultural messages, extension methodologies such as the mass media and billboards be emphasized to reach more farmers. In respect of future research studies are recommended in the areas of extension agents' ability and suitability to facilitate farmers' participation; personal characteristics of farmers who prefer respective extension methodologies and; the relationship between cash crop production and relative self-sufficiency in food production.