Appraisal of the first phase of the school farm progamme in Oyo State

Youth’s interest in agriculture is crucial to the sustainability of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA). The attempt to renew this crucial but dying interest through the School Farm Programme in Oyo state is currently moving towards its second phase. Therefore, an enquiry into the operations of the programme in its first phase becomes imperative for better programme delivery. In-depth Interview (IDI) with key informants was used to elicit information from principals, agricultural science teachers and participating students from three out of the eleven schools that participated in the programme based on enterprise being managed. Data on programme characteristics, achievements of the programme, inhibiting factors and areas of further improvement were collected and analysed qualitatively. Schools benefitting from the programme participated in one of the enterprise (arable, poultry or fishery) promoted under the programme while participating students felt that agriculture was worth being pursued as a future career. Inadequate manpower was a major inhibiting factor in the programme while capacity building of supervising officers and provision of incentives to participating students were advocated for enhanced project delivery. The programme was successful at enhancing the interests of the students in pursuing career in agriculture. The next phase of the project should be supported by a detailed implementation manual while incentives are provided for the implementers for more effective delivery.