Needs assessment and intervention technique among farmers in Egbeda local government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The successive government is often faced with the challenge of making policies that will ameliorate the farmers' production constraints and improve the economy. The study tries to assess needs and intervention techniques among farmers in the Egbeda LGA of Oyo State, Nigeria. A three-stage sampling technique was used to purposively select about 225 respondents. Parameters measured were household characteristics, and assessed needs using focus group discussion (FGD) and structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed descriptively and the need assessed using the pair-wise ranking and simple matrix. The five prioritized challenges listed in FDG among crop-livestock farmers were poor pricing of agricultural produce (Pb1), lack of capital (Pb2), the infestation of Cacao pests and diseases (Pb3), lack of processing (Pb4) and lack of farm Input (Pb5). The pairwise comparison of the percentage of Pb1 versus (vs.) Pb2 was 80/20%, Pb1 vs. Pb3 was 90/10%, Pb1 vs. Pb4 was 70/30%, Pb1 vs. Pb5 was 80/20%, Pb2 vs. Pb3 was 70/30%, Pb2 vs Pb4 was 30/70%, Pb2 vs. Pb5 was 10/90%, Pb3 vs. Pb4 was 20/80%, Pb3 vs. Pb5 was 10/90%, vs. Pb4 vs Pb5 was 70/30% respectively. The poor pricing was ranked highest as farmers' need assessed for possible intervention in Egbeda LGA.