Farmers’ perception of the activities of lower Niger Basin Authority in Ilorin East Local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

Owing to the huge amount of naira invested into the irrigation sub-sector by the Nigerian government, the study assessed the perception of farmers on the activities of Lower Nigeria River Basin Development Authority (LNRBDA) in Ilorin East local government area of Kwara State, Nigeria. Primary data were used for the study and the data were collected by means of a well-structured questionnaire coupled with interview schedule. A two stage sampling technique was used to select one hundred and six (106) respondents from the list of registered farmers who had participated in the scheme. Descriptive statistics and Pearson Product Moment Correlation were used in analyzing the data. Findings of the study indicated that 98.1% of the famers had a positive perception on the effectiveness of the scheme. Also, 92.5% of the respondents reported flexibility in the payment schedule in participating in the LNRBDA irrigation scheme while 81.1% of the respondents paid for irrigation services install mentally. It was also found that 99.1% of the respondents experienced increased production output as a result of the use of irrigation facilities. There is a significant relationship between age, farm size and the perception of farmers on some of the activities in the scheme (pvalue < critical p-value of 0.05). The study concludes that farmers’ participation and perception in LNRBDA irrigation scheme in the study area is highly encouraging and there is association between age, farm size and the perception of farmers on effectiveness some of the activities of LNRBDA in the study area. It is therefore recommended that government should continue to enhance and strengthens the performance of LNRBDA in the study area.

Keywords: Perception, Lower Niger Basin Authority, farmers, Irrigation, Scheme, Production