Re-training needs of village extension agents in Nigeria: A study of Benue State

Abstract

The unified extension system introduced in 1990 necessitated the delivery of extension services through a single line of command and the use of one agent in disseminating varied innovations to farmers. This study, which involved 106 village extension agents, was aimed at determining the adequacy of agents' training in vocational agriculture and their level of competency in the subject matter areas of agriculture. One major finding of this study was that most of the agents were trained mainly in General Agriculture (46.67%) with little or no emphasis on many other areas of specialisation. Areas agents felt they had highest competence were principles of crop production (X=2.75) and Animal Nutrition (X=2.57). Subject matter areas of relevance and competence have been identified. There are several areas in agriculture in which the agents need functional training.

Keywords: Re-Training Extension Agents, Benue state.