FACTORS AFFECTING THE PERFORMANCE OF VILLAGE EXTENSION AGENTS (VEAs) IN THE WESTERN ZONE OF THE BAUCHI STATE AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (BSADP)
FACTORS AFFECTING THE PERFORMANCE OF VILLAGE EXTENSION AGENTS (VEAs) IN THE WESTERN ZONE OF THE BAUCHI STATE AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (BSADP)
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Date
1999-03
Authors
MUHAMMAD, GARBA DEEN
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Abstract
One of the key units of the agricultural sector is the
extension services network. This is all the more important in
a developing country like Nigeria where crop production is
still dominated by a large number of small scale peasant
population. The agricultural sector depends on the
effectiveness of a functional extension services network for
spreading new and improved farming techniques to farmers where
ever they live, which will in turn boost agricultural
production to the desired level. The extension services
system in turn depends on the competence of its village level
extension agents, who form the link between the agency and the
farmers; between research and laboratory results and practical
experiment at the farm situation. Thus in a sense, the success
of any agricultural organization depends on the competence
and effective performance of the village level extension
agents. In Nigeria, the performance of extension agents is
generally regarded as below expectation. A number of factors
ranging from poor or inadequate planning to lack of motivation
have been identified as responsible for this unimpressive
situation. This study examines the performance of the village
level extension agents as seen by the farmers; focusing on
those variables that define the personality of the individual
with a view to determining the kind of influence that these
variables have on the job performance of the village level
extension agents. Results obtained show that more than 80% of
the farmers in the study area were not satisfied with the
performance of their VEAs. The results also show that all the
variables tested were positively related to job performance,
with age, education and attitude as the most important
variables in explaining VEA job performance, when tested at
the 0.05% level of significance.
Description
A Thesis submitted to the Post Graduate School, Ahmadu Bello
University, Zaria, in partial fulfilment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Master of Science (M.Sc) in Agricultural
Extension and Rural Sociology.
Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology
Faculty of Agriculture
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
Nigeria.
March, 1999
Keywords
FACTORS,, AFFECTING,, PERFORMANCE,, VILLAGE,, EXTENSION,, AGENTS,, VEAs,, WESTERN,, ZONE,, BAUCHI,, STATE,, AGRICULTURAL,, DEVELOPMENT,, AGPROGRAMME,, BSADP,