Rural farmers access to extension services: Implications for increased adoption of improved farm technologies in Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study analyzed rural farmers access to extension services and its implications for increased adoption of improved farm technologies in Delta State, Nigeria. It examined the personal characteristics of the respondents of the study, the rate of farmers access to extension services, evaluates the impacts of farmers access to extension services on farm technology adoption and identified the strategies that could be adopted to improve extension service access to farmers. The respondents were randomly selected through multi-stage sampling technique and the data gathered were analyzed using descriptive and inferential techniques. Results revealed that most of the respondents were males (65.96%), married (67.38%), have secondary education (38.29%) have membership with cooperative societies (86.52%) and have access to credit provision (82.27%). The average age, household size, farming experience and farm size was 40.04 years, 7 persons, 10.78 years and 3.23 ha. respectively. The rate of access to extension services was high (45.39%) and that have positively impacted on the farmers in several ways. Several strategies were agreed that can improving the rate of access of farmers to extension services to include: improving on farmers educational level (mean = 4.31) and members of farmers social group (mean = 4.31). Personal characteristics like gender, age, level of education, household size, cooperative membership and farm income were found to significantly affect the rate of farmers access to extension services. The result also showed that farmers access to extension services have also impacted significantly to household welfare. Based on results, the study recommended that there is still need to privatize, if not all but some sensitive aspects of the extension service system that could help to better the farmers output, income and welfare.