Evaluation Of Farmers’ Perceptions On The Effectiveness Of Extension Delivery Channels Used In Communicating Improved Technologies To Farmers In The South-Western Zone, Nigeria

Evaluation of the effectiveness of extension delivery channels used in disseminating agricultural practices/technologies to farmers in the South-western zone of Nigeria was the focus of this study. Emphasis was placed on identification of various extension delivery channels used by various agencies and institutions, and the effectiveness of each of the channels in imparting knowledge, skill and attitude to farmers. Structured, pretested and validated interview schedule were completed by 600 respondents selected through multi-stage random sampling techniques in Ogun and Osun States. Descriptive statistical techniques like frequency counts, mean, weighted mean score and percentages were used to analyze the data. Correlation was used to determine the relationship between the variables investigated in the study. The study shows positive and significant correlation between the effectiveness of extension delivery channels and level of education (r =0.29), income (r = 0.28), membership of association (r = 0.26), and farming experience (r = 0.21). Also, farmers’ perceptions of the use of extension delivery channel in the study areas ranked very low showing the ineffectiveness of the delivery channels. The most effective extension delivery channels are other farmers (8.8), friends/relatives (8.54), radio (8.51) and extension agents (8.5). This paper therefore recommends that extension should play a more active role in helping farmers to get organized into functional organizations, including commodity groups, credit societies, cooperatives, and other types of farmer associations while using combination of different delivery channels to disseminate extension technologies to farmers. Media organizations particularly the public-owned should devout a certain amount of air time for agricultural extension (radio and TV) programmes.