Assessment of the Constraints to Effective Delivery of Agricultural Extension Services in Lagos State, Nigeria

Objective of the study

The general objective of the study was to assess the constraints to effective delivery of agricultural extension services in Lagos State. The specific objectives were to: i. describe the demographic characteristics of the agricultural extension personnel Nwanade CF, et al. Assessment of the Constraints to Effective Delivery of Agricultural Extension Services in Lagos State, Nigeria. J Agri Res 2017, 2(4): 000142.

ii. identify the constraints to effective delivery of agricultural extension services in Lagos State iii. Examine the strength of Lagos State Agricultural Development Authority Linkages with agricultural institutions / organization.

Justification of the Study

Effective delivery of agricultural extension services is expected to play a significant role in agricultural production, processing, storage and marketing of food commodities. This study would provide information to farmers, policy makers and government on constraints to effective delivery of agricultural extension services. This information will guide in making policies that will enhance performance of agricultural extension personnel, farmers and increase in productivity.

Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents

The demographic data were gender, age, marital status, educational level, household size and working experience as shown in table 2. Gender: Majority (57.5%) of the respondents were males while 42.5% were females. This implies that male agricultural extension personnel in Lagos State are more than the female. This finding is similar to report by Beintema (2006) [5] that only “one in five agricultural researchers in the developing world are female. The end result is fewer women than men filling the ranks of extension agents and agricultural scientists. They also take on a limited range of occupations in these services [6]. UNESCO (2003) [7] also reported that in 2000, women made up 20 percent of the agriculture students in African and Arab countries compared with 47 percent in Europe. Age: Majority (65%) of the respondents belongs to the age group of 39 – 48 years old and the average age of the respondents was 44 years. Result by Fagbohungbe (2009) [8] shown that age is a factor of experience and it largely determines the level to which an individual perceived the happening in the environment in which he / she lives to make meaning out of it. Marital status: A high proportion (80%) of the respondents were married, single (12.5%), divorced (0%) and widow (7.5%). The high proportion of the respondents that were married implies that most of them have family responsibilities that need financial commitment [9]. Educational level: Majority (65%) of the respondents had first degree and its equivalent (HND/B.Sc.), Post graduate degree (22.5%), OND/NCE (10%) and SSCE (2.5%). Generally, education is thought to create a Nwanade CF, et al. Assessment of the Constraints to Effective Delivery of Agricultural Extension Services in Lagos State, Nigeria. J Agri Res 2017, 2(4): 000142.

favorable mental attitude for the acceptance of new practices especially of information-intensive and management-intensive practices [10]. Household size: Majority (62.5%) of the respondents had household size of between 5 – 8, 1 – 4 (30.0%) and 9 - 12 (7.5%). The average household of the respondents was 6. Years of working experience: The percentage working experience of the respondents were; 1 -10 years 927.5%), 11 – 20 years (65%) and 21 – 30 years (7.5%). The average working experience of the respondents was 13.5 years. This implies that the respondents were experienced. In Table 3, the respondents agreed that trained agricultural extension staff for effective delivery of agricultural extension services in Lagos State were inadequate (X= 2.88), the respondent agreed that training and re-training programme for agricultural extension staff were inadequate (X= 2.68), the respondent agreed that agricultural extension staff in Lagos State have sufficient knowledge, attitude and skills that can contribute to excellent work (X=3.05), the respondents disagreed that the ratio of agricultural extension agents to farm families in Lagos State were adequate (X= 2.03), the respondents disagreed that socio-cultural belief and religion affected agricultural extension services (X= 2.33), the respondents agreed that improved agricultural technologies that enhances productivity were disseminated appropriately to farmers (X= 3.15), the respondents disagreed that agricultural extension agents were well motivated (X= 2.28), the respondents agreed that government funding of agricultural extension services were inadequate (X = 2.95), the respondents disagreed that effective delivery of agricultural extension services was influenced by gender issues (X = 2.35), the respondents agreed that information and communication Copyright© Nwanade CF, et al.

technology (ICT) affected agricultural extension services (X = 2.63), the respondents disagreed that poor linkages between agricultural research institutes and Lagos State Agricultural Development Project affected agricultural extension services (X = 2.25), the respondents disagreed that non-existence / inadequate farmers’ co-operative associations affected agricultural extension services (X = 2.33), the respondents agreed that poor government commitment to implementation of policies and programmes in agriculture affected agricultural extension services (X = 2.63) and respondents agreed that high level of illiteracy among farmer affected agricultural extension services in Lagos State (X = 2.50). The findings are similar to work done by Ajani and Onwubuya (2013) [11], who report that extension agents performance in Anambra State, Nigeria are highly constrained by several factors such as low incentives, poor communication skills, low educational attainment, cultural factors, and farmers’ illiteracy and lack of interest. Sociocultural factors are leading constraints to the effectiveness of extension [12]. The result in Table 4 showed that senior management staffs of agricultural extension in the Lagos State Agricultural Development Authority were (22.30%), Subject Matter Specialists (SMSs) were (16.55%), Field- level Extension Staff (38.85%), Information Technology and Communication Support Staff (12.23%), Service Training Staff (10.07%) and majority of this categories of extension staff (64.03%) were males while 35.97% were females. Vijayaragavan and Singh (1998) [12] reported that inadequate numbers and qualifications of staff remain a difficult problem for public-sector extension organizations. Salaries and benefits are rarely competitive with those of comparable private. In Table 5, the respondents agreed that Lagos State Agricultural Development authority had good linkages with Agricultural Research Organization (X= 3.60), poor linkages with Agricultural Universities (X= 2.98), poor linkages with Agricultural schools/colleges (X= 2.78), good linkages with Private sector inputs supply firm (X= 3.03), poor linkages with private sector market / exporters (X= 2.85), poor linkages with NGOs involved in extension activities (X= 2.65), poor linkages with Local government agencies (X= 2.53), good linkages with co- operative / consumer organization (X = 3.23), poor linkages with Banks and Micro-credit Institutions (X= 2.93) and poor linkages with other public / semi-public extension organization (X= 2.10). The findings are in agreement with Peterson (1997) [13], who reported that communication between extension and education Nwanade CF, et al. Assessment of the Constraints to Effective Delivery of Agricultural Extension Services in Lagos State, Nigeria. J Agri Res 2017, 2(4): 000142.

organizations is poor. As a result, extension commonly has staffing problems.