Bottom-Up Agricultural Extension Services Delivery in Nigerian Local Government Councils : An Assessment of Delta State
Local Government Councils (LGCs) in Nigeria is the closest level of formal government to the grassroots. They have the same organizational structure and are expected to implement the assigned roles stipulated in the new Nigerian Agricultural Policy (NAP) which adopts Community-Driven Development (CDD) approach. The study therefore assessed the extent of implementation of field activities and the perceived competency/skills possessed and required by the extension personnel of LGCs in Delta State. Constraints to effective role performance of LGCs were also assessed. The purpose was to evaluate the conformity of the LGCs to the paradigm shift. Simple random sampling technique was used to select six (6) Local Government Councils from the 25 LGCs in Delta State and all the 65 technical staff of the Agricultural and Rural Development (ARD) departments of the LGCs constituted the sample. Structured questionnaire was used for data collection and were analyzed. Results show that only 44.52% of the established staff positions were filled. Majority of the personnel were males (71.74%), with 6-10years working experience (60.87%) and Higher National Diploma (HND) and above (67.39%). Most of the extension delivery activities relevant to the new roles of LGCs were not implemented. The respondents perceived themselves to have low competence in CDD, technical and communication tasks hence indicated strong need for skills to adequately deliver extension services. Educational level of staff had a significant but negative relationship with their competency (r=-0.433; p=0.003). Some constraints to effective role performance of LGCs were insufficient fund allocation to agriculture (Mean=2.82), lack of interest in agriculture of some LGC chairmen (Mean=2.63) and poor technical knowledge of staff (Mean=2.59). It was concluded that LGCs were not well equipped with competent personnel to deliver effective extension services due to poor funding six years into the new NAP. Adequate staffing, funding and capacity building through collaboration between Federal, Delta State and Local governments and with international partners are recommended
Year of publication: |
2015
|
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Authors: | Koyenikan, Margaret ; Koyenikan, E. ; Ilekendi, B. |
Publisher: |
[S.l.] : SSRN |
Subject: | Landwirtschaftliche Entwicklung | Agricultural development | Nigeria | Landwirtschaftsberatung | Agricultural extension | Kommunalverwaltung | Local government | Öffentliche Dienstleistung | Public services |
Saved in:
freely available
Extent: | 1 Online-Ressource (10 p) |
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Type of publication: | Book / Working Paper |
Language: | English |
Notes: | In: OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 87-96, 2012 Nach Informationen von SSRN wurde die ursprüngliche Fassung des Dokuments October 15, 2012 erstellt |
Source: | ECONIS - Online Catalogue of the ZBW |
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10014164742
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