ISSN: 2574-2701
Authors: Ajaero JO* and Aminu GO
Conflicts disrupt every economic activities of man including extension activities. This study investigates the effects of Crop farmer/pastoralist conflicts on agricultural extension practices and services delivery in South east, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to examine perceived extension practices and services in the area; identify causes of crop farmer/ pastoralists’ conflicts in the area and determine perceived effects of conflicts on agricultural extension services delivery in the study area. A total 452 workers was purposively selected for the study. Percentage, mean and standard deviation were used to analyze the data collected with the aid of questionnaire and interview (oral). The results showed that the extension workers educate rural farmers with a mean (M) response of 3.60, training farmers on new practices (M=3.68), organize demonstrations (M=3.43), keep record of visits (M=3.40), conduct needs assessments (M=3.30), organize extension campaigns(M=3.42) among others. The causes of conflicts include disagreement over access to land and use of water with 88.5% and 87.8% responses respectively, ownership/right to land (100%), right to use water (94.6%), migration (84.9%), lack of respect for traditional authority with 88.9%. Conflicts disrupts extension practices and services delivery by limiting the cooperative activities of farmers used by extension workers (M=2.87), prevents acquisition of training by extension workers (M=2.87), destroys knowledge transmission channels (M=2.87), makes programme monitoring difficult (M=2.91), delays completion of extension work (M=3.41), leads to abduction of extension workers (M=3.15) and disrupts extension work plan (M=3.19).
Keywords: Agriculture; Conflict; Extension Service; Pastoralists; Crop Farmers
