AN EVALUATION OF THE NATIONAL ACCELERATED FOOD PRODUCTION PROGRAMME STRATEGY FOR INCREASED SORGHUM PRODUCTION IN THE ZARIA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, KADUNA STATE

AN EVALUATION OF THE NATIONAL ACCELERATED FOOD PRODUCTION PROGRAMME STRATEGY FOR INCREASED SORGHUM PRODUCTION IN THE ZARIA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, KADUNA STATE

Abstract:

The broad objective of the study is to evaluate the effect of the National Accelerated Pood Production Programme (NAFPP?) as an extension strategy for increasing the production of Sorghum in the Zaria Local Government Area. To this end, four objectives were specified and examined. The first specific objective examined was the farmers’ personal characteristics and the effect those characteristics had on their adoption behaviour. The second objective examined was the extent of adoption of the NAFPP improved sorghum practices by the farmers who had been exposed to the new production technology in the study area. The third objective of the study examined the operational problems faced by the extension workers in the process of implementing the NAFPP Sorghum Programme in the area. The fourth objective of the study is to make suggestions for the improvement or otherwise of the new extension approach. Two types of questionnaires (one for the farmers and one for the extension workers) were designed to fulfill the objectives of the study. The main questionnaire was used to gather appropriate data from a sample of 180 randomly selected farmers. ‘ Fourty farmers who served as NAFPP sorghum demonstrators in the area were included among the samples. The data was analysed and percentages and means were used in reporting the farmers personal characteristics as well as their level of awareness and extent of adoption. The pearson Correlation procedure was used to test the hypotheses postulated, while the Stepwise Multiple Regression analysis procedure was used to further isolate the relative contributions of the variables. The .05> level of significance was used in reporting the significance of relationships between variables. The findings on personal characteristics showed that most farmers (68%) in the area were relatively young, with a mean age of 45.6 years. The average household size was 10.3 persons while size of holdings averaged 5.2 hectares. Nearly all the respondents ( 9 0 % ) had attended koranic schools and nearly two-thirds of them (61%) were literate in the Hausa (Ajami) script. On the other hand only a few of the respondents (14%) had any formal primary education. Although farming is a primary occupation in the area, all of the respondents reported practising secondary and even tertiary occupations all the year round. A substantial number of them were holding community leadership positions such as Village Head, (13%), Political Party Officials (8%), among others. It was found that only a few of the respondents belonged to any voluntary farmers organisations. Knowledge level or awareness of improved farm practices among the respondents was found to be fairly high, while the actual adoption of the practices was comparatively low. The highest level of knowledge was in respect of planting date (96%) and the lowest was close spacing (37%). On the other hand, most of the sorghum recommended practices attracted only very low rate of adoption. Close spacing, use of improved varieties, monocropping, use of storage chemicals, and thinning were adopted by only 19% 21%, 22% 24% and 33% of the respondents respectively. It was however observed that all of the respondents used fertilizers on that crops. It was concluded that the extent of adoption of improved practices varied from one practice to another, depending on their relative advantages, complexity and compatibility with farmers traditional practices, and other socio-economic factors. Desire for higher crop yields was found to be the most important motivating factor for adopting certain recommended practices such as the use of fertilizers and improved varieties. Non-availability of certain production inputs and incompatibility with existing practices were among the most important reasons for non-adoption of certain practices. The farmers were found to be facing a number of problems in adopting improved farming practices. The most important ones (in order of importance) are insufficient fertilizers, lack of tractor service, shortage of manpower, lack of credit/loan facilities, inadequate supply of improved seeds, poor crop marketing arrangements, lack of extension advice; and lack of storage and other agro-chemicals. Extension workers too, were faced with some operational problems that limit their success in implementing the NAFPP programme in the area. Among the most important ones are too many assignments to cope with; delay in receiving demonstration materials; lack of transportation to supervise trials, delay in settlement of allowances and claims: inadequate training and lack of cooperation from farmers. Statistically, a strong relationship was found (“both positive and negative) between the various personal characteristics studied and the adoption of the NAFPP sorghum innovations by the farmers exposed to such innovations in the study area. The characteristics of leadership} membership, level of living, participation in extension activities; use of various sources of information, additional occupations and formal education; were all found to be positively and significantly related to the adoption behaviour of the respondents. The variables of leadership, literacy, sources of information and size of farms were however, found to have more influence on the adoption behaviour.

AN EVALUATION OF THE NATIONAL ACCELERATED FOOD PRODUCTION PROGRAMME STRATEGY FOR INCREASED SORGHUM PRODUCTION IN THE ZARIA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, KADUNA STATE

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