IMPACT OF NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION AND RESEARCH LIAISON SERVICES ADOPTED VILLAGE PROJECT ON BENEFICIARIES’ LIVELIHOOD IN ABIA AND OYO STATES, NIGERIA

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page
Table of Content
Abstract

CHAPTER ONE
1.0       INTRODUCTION
1.1       Background to the Study
1.2       Problem Statement
1.3       Objectives of the Study
1.4       Justification of the Study
1.5       Hypotheses of the Study

CHAPTER TWO
2.0       LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1       Socioeconomic Characteristics of Smallholder Farmers
2.2       Extension Activities of the Adopted Village Project
2.3       Impact Assessment of Intervention Projects
2.4       Factors Influencing Farmers’ Participation
2.5       Constraints to Effective Implementation and Participation in Adopted Village Projects
2.6       Theoretical Framework
2.6.1    The theory of social change
2.6.2    Participatory development model
2.7       Conceptual Framework
2.7.1    The concept of impact assessment
2.7.2    The concept of adopted village
2.7.3    The concept of participation (Farmers’ Involvement)
2.7.4    The concept of livelihood
2.8       Conceptual Model

CHAPTER THREE
3.0       METHODOLOGY
3.1       The Study Area
3.2       Sampling Procedure and Sample Size
3.3       Methods of Data Collection
3.4       Analytical Techniques
3.5       Operational Definition and Measurement of Variables
3.5.1    Independent variables
3.5.2    Dependent variables
3.5.3    Expected outcomes measurement

CHAPTER FOUR
4.0       RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1       Socio-Economic Characteristics of Respondents
4.1.1    Age distribution
4.1.2    Sex distribution
4.1.3    Educational level
4.1.4    Household size
4.1.5    Farming experience
4.1.6    Marital status
4.1.7    Contact with NAERLS staff
4.2       Extension Intervention Activities Introduced to Beneficiaries of the Project in the Study Areas
4.3       Impact of the Project on Output of the Respondents in the Study Areas
4.3.1    Impact of the project on income of the respondents in the study areas
4.4       Socio-economic and Institutional Factors Influencing Performance of the Project in the Study Areas
4.5       Constraints Faced by Beneficiaries Participating in the Adopted Village Project

CHAPTER FIVE
5.0       SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE
5.1       Summary
5.2       Conclusion
5.3       Recommendations
5.3       Contribution to Knowledge
REFERENCES
APPENDICE

ABSTRACT

The study sought to analyze the impact of National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS) of Ahmadu Bello University Adopted Village Project on beneficiaries’ livelihood (crop output and income) in Abia and Oyo States. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 140 respondents for the study. The data for analysis was based on 2013/2014 cropping season and were collected using a structured questionnaire. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution, percentages, mean and inferential statistics such as t-statistic and multiple regression. Results of data analysis reveal that the mean ages of beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of the Project were 43 and 41 years for Abia and Oyo states, respectively. All (100%) the beneficiaries of the Project had contact with NAERLS staff with a mean of 2.4, while all (100%) the non-beneficiaries had no contact with NAERLS staff. It was found that beneficiaries in Abia and Oyo states ranked fertilizers, insecticides and herbicides as the foremost, improved seed/breeds was ranked 2nd, while maize seed and cassava cuttings was ranked 3rd among the input received. The result from Z-test reveals that the mean annual crop output of the beneficiaries of the Project was significantly higher (10827.86 kg) than the mean annual crop output of the non-beneficiaries (9910.71kg) by 917.15kg. (z=2.931; P<0.01). Also it was found that the mean annual income of the beneficiaries of the Project was significantly higher ( 634112.80) than the mean annual income of the non-beneficiaries ( 498,955.70) by 135,157.10. (z=2.281; P<0.05), this imply that the NAERLS Adopted Village Project had a significant impact on the crop output and income of beneficiaries of the project. The results from multiple regression analysis reveals that age (t=10.999;P<0.01), household size (t=9.008;P<0.01), income (t=6.64;P<0.01), contact with NAERLS staff (t=12.405;P<0.01), access to inputs (t=1.883;P<0.1), cooperative association (t=10.815;P<0.01) and amount of credit (t=4.31;P<0.01) were found to significantly influence participation in the Project with R-2 value of 0.609. This imply that the above mentioned independent variables collectively contributes about 61% of the variation in the participation of the beneficiaries. Poor market was mentioned as part of the constraints faced by beneficiaries of the Project in the study area but limited land was ranked 1st. It is recommended that the Land Use Act of 1990 should be reviewed to facilitate access to land by landless peasantry who produce the bulk of agricultural produce. Farmers should also form a production clusters to improve their market accessibility in groups. In each group, there should be an advisory committee trained by specialist in various aspects of marketing to enable them have access to up-dated pricing information and make it available to farmers on time. Storage and processing facilities should be made available to farmers by stakeholders so as to avoid food wastage and to enhance value chain of products. High cost of agricultural product could be reduced through provision of good and accessible roads by stakeholders which will in-turn cause a reduction in high cost of transportation.

CHAPTER ON
1.0              INTRODUCTION
1.1               Background to the Study
Poverty is acknowledged to be largely a rural phenomenon where agriculture is the predominant occupation (Adeolu et al., 2004). Agriculture has been an important sector in the Nigerian economy, It accounts for the highest employer of labour, provision of food, eradicating poverty and contributing to the overall growth of the economy, However, the sector is characterized by low yields, low level of inputs, limited land area under cultivation and traditional production tools capable of generating very little income for the farmers (Izuchukwu, 2011).
In the early 1960s to 1980s, Nigeria was largely self-sufficient in food production, Agriculture contributed about 42% of the Gross Domestic product (GDP), employing over 65% of the labour force in Nigeria (Emeka, 2007). However, there has been a gradual decline in agriculture’s contributions to the nation’s economy. For instance, the index per capita food production, which was 150 in year 2000/2001 was only 120 in year 2002/2003 (Manyong et al., 2005). The major reason for this was largely due to poor extension services. Presently, less than 50% of the Nigeria’s cultivable land is under cultivation and are cultivated by subsistent smallholder farmers, cropping about 1-2 hectares under a traditional system characterized by low yield (Olajide et al., 2012).
In recent times, deliberate efforts have been made to improve agricultural production through the establishment and dissemination of agricultural programmes. The spread of such programmes and subsequent adoption of same by farmers is the primary responsibility of extension services.
However, agricultural extension system are poorly managed and lack essential resources to adequately take research findings to rural farmers, thus, efforts by extension systems to transfer technologies to farmers have yielded very little result (Babaleye, 2007). Farmers rarely feel the impact of agricultural innovations either because they have no access to such innovation or because the technologies were poorly disseminated (Babaleye, 2007)

The “Adopted Villages Scheme” was introduced to the National Agricultural Research Institutes

(NARIs) in Nigeria by the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) in 2009 following the collapse of National Agricultural Research Project (NARP). The National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Service is one of the NARIs that has adopted the scheme in the six geo-political zones, among which are Abia and Oyo States in the South-east and South-west, respectively (National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services, 2014).

The National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS) is one of the research institutes under the National Agricultural Research Institutes directed by the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria to establish the adopted village scheme within 20km distance from their respective head offices to serve as laboratories for showcasing agricultural technologies developed by the research institutes. Thus, the offices of the adopted villages serve as Agricultural Research Outreach Centers (AROCs), jointly managed by the farmers and the NARIs (NAERLS, 2014).


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