| dc.description.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. | en |
