2003, Volume 19(1), June
Environment Protection World Environment Day 5 June-2003The World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg South Africa during first week of September-2002 witnessed desperate attempts to implement promises to save the Environment and set targets to reduce environmental pollution and protect endangered species. This resolution brought consciousness not only in business houses but also in common-man to be environment friendly. This consciousness campaign made every human being to contribute something to protect the environment around them. This did not require their large efforts but a basic understanding of ecological issues and a heightened sensitivity towards them. It did not need to be a firebrand crusader either. A few simple steps can go a long way towards protecting the environment. These steps can make this world a better place to live in. You can thus make a difference (p. 1-5).
NGO Involvement in Bilateral Aid Projects for Community Forestry in Nepal, Ito Kasumi, Takeya Hiroyuki, & Oura Yumi, 6-21. As the number of community forestry (CF) programs increase in Nepal, the services of District Forest Office staff; who are responsible for both instituting and overseeing CF management have been increasingly insufficient. To mitigate this problem and extend CF activities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been expected to become more involved in CF activities, and several bilateral aid projects for CF that involve NGOs as a project partner have been started. In spite of these high expectations for NGOs, the current status of their involvement has not been clarified yet. The goal of this paper was to clarify the involvement of NGOs in bilateral aid projects for CF, and to identify factors that influence types of NGO involvement. We identified three different types of NGO involvement among six different projects: (A) contract with a bilateral aid project, (B) contract with a government agency, (C) non-contractual coordination and collaboration. Although NGO involvement in these six projects tended to differ depending on the level of expectation to NGOs, policy and strategy of aid agency or donor country, NGOs have been implementing grass root level activities that directly support the locals for CF extension. Since method of NGO involvement will influence the future CF extension, it is necessary to develop NGO involvement system that will make NGO effective for community forestry extension.
Expanding the Tool Box: Experiences with Self-Discovery Extension In Trinidad, Wayne G. Ganpat & Pauline Dowlath, 22-31. Farmers in Tableland, Trinidad were producing Pineapple continuously on steep hillsides and applying improper management practices. Traditional extension approaches were having little impact on farmers’ behaviour mainly because these farmers were operating a profitable enterprise, albeit in an unsustainable manner. An alternative approach to extension education based on constructivist learning principles was conducted. Interactive techniques, which facilitated self-discovery, were used to address the identified problems of improper fertilizer use and insufficient soil conservation practices. The primary objective was to pilot a Participatory Approach (PA) to encourage farmers to change the practices that they discovered reduced their optimum returns and which have adverse consequences on the environment. Group administered pre-evaluations, simulation exercises, walk-about on plots, simulations and focused discussions were used to enable farmers to identify problems in their production practices and to suggest workable solutions to which they could commit themselves to implement. Farmers involvement and feedback throughout the sessions were high and initial evaluations indicated improved knowledge. This initiative also presented an extension field staff, who would be the main facilitator of this approach and to challenge them to use creativity in designing extension programmes. The experience has wider application in other farm enterprises.
Farmers Perception of Effectiveness of Fisheries Extension Services in Nigeria, L. A. Akinbile, 32-44. The paper analyzed farmers perception of the effectiveness of fisheries extension services of Lagos State Agricultural Development Authority in Nigeria. Data were obtained from 110 respondents. Results show that extension services were rendered to the fish farmers on pond construction, stocking, pond management, fish breeding, credit, fish harvesting, feed formulation, group formation and marketing outlets. The respondents perceive the services as effective as they demonstrated positive attitude towards the services. Respondents derived benefits most in the service of pond management as well as group formation. They derived the least benefit from the organization’s marketing outlets and credit services. Respondents age and educational level had significant relationship with the benefits they derived from the service rendered by extension agents (EAs) from the organization. There is thus the need to intensify the extension efforts of the institution to reduce the bill from fish importation in the country.
Analysis of Mass Media Use for Agricultural Information by Farmers in Nigeria, Michael Tunde Ajayi, 45-53. The study analyzed the use of mass media for agricultural information by farmers in Egbeda Local Government of Oyo State, Nigeria. A total of 180 farmers from six randomly selected villages were surveyed through personal interview. Findings of the study showed that use of radio was the most popular even though majority of the farmers prefer the use of television. News was chosen as the first priority followed by agricultural information. Lack of frequent use of local language and follow-up of farm information by extension agents are major problems with the use of mass media. Significant relationships were obtained between the use of mass media and farmers’ level of education, annual income and membership of cooperative society. It was suggested that due to preference of television to other media farmers’ television viewing centers should be established in rural areas to be managed by cooperative unions. Local language should often be used for agricultural information.
Socio-Economic Factors as Correlates of Job Stress Among Extension Agents, O. M. Adesope & A. C. Agumagu, 54-59. The study examines the correlation between socio-economic factors such as age, gender, marital status, work experience, monthly income, educational attainment and job stress of Extension agents in the Akwa Ibom State Agricultural Development Programme. A structured questionnaire was administered to 75 randomly selected respondents from the study area, and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, and Pearson correlation. Findings of the study revealed that the level of job stress among extension agents is medium. Of the socio-economic factors investigated, only work experience is significantly correlated with job stress. Other factors like gender, age, marital status, work experience, monthly income, educational attainment did not correlate significantly with job stress.
Listening to Rural Youths: Determining the Training Needs of Future Citizens, Sabyasachi Roy, 60-69. Rural youths form a vital human resource. A face-to-face survey research was carried out with a random sample of 100 rural youth respondents to determine their perceived training needs in diversified agriculture and other employment generating activities in Karnal district of Haryana, India. The findings indicate that most of the respondents desired training in vegetable cultivation, followed by dairy farming, crop farming, motor repairing, and in the use of new Information Technologies respectively. They also perceived that a method-mix of various instructional methods should be used for providing training.
Other Side of Farmers’ Adoption Behaviour Forms of Discontinuance, O. D. Kolawole, A. J. Farinde, & J. A. Alao, 70-80. The study investigated the forms of discontinuance of agricultural innovations among farmers in Ekiti North of Ekiti State in western Nigeria. About 150 farmers were selected through random sampling technique from five communities namely: Oye Ikole, Ayede, Ayedun and Irele in Ikole and Oye Local Government Areas. Data were collected through the use of pre-tested structured interview schedule on the type/forms and causes of discontinuance; and characteristics of the farmers and the innovations. It was found that majority (55.3%) of the farmers in the study area had low level of discontinuance once agricultural innovation adopted. Three forms of discontinuance were identified: Immediate; Gradual; and Rapid based on the nature of innovations and farmers’ situation. Natural hazards, uncertainty in weather conditions, economic constraints, senility, and ill-health were five major causes of discontinuance. Test of relationships about the population sample slope show significant and positive regression relationship between sex (t=2.986), and fatalism (t=3.254), and discontinuance while significant and negative relationship was found between family size (t=2.211), availability of the innovation(s) (t=2.255) and discontinuance.
Extension Re-Organizational Engineering Commensurate with Technology Progress, Hassan Sadighi, 81-90. The primary purpose of this study was to measure the perceptions of extension professional staff toward the organization’s management systems (existing and desired). Four provincial extension organizations (representing each geographical region) were randomly selected for the study. A total of 478 extension professionals were selected by a complete randomized sampling technique. Likert’s instrument, the Profile of Organizational Characteristic (POC) which is based on Likert’s system-4 theory was used to gather data on existing and desired management systems of extension organizations. The result indicated that Iran’s extension organization epitomizes a system-2, which is a benevolent authoritative organization. However, the organization has a great potential to become a participative management system. The result showed a moderate association between the participants’ perception of management system and their level of professional satisfaction. This implies that improving the existing management system could enhance the staffs’ professional satisfaction. About 20% of the variation in management system could be explained by the respondents’ professional characteristics, their tenure, level of participation in team activities, and perceived justly promoted and rewarded.
Women Farmers Training Needs and Their Correlates for Effective Extension Programme and Poverty Reduction in Oyo State, Nigeria, A. O. Ajayi, A.J . Farinde, & E. A. Laogun, 91-102. This study investigated the women farmers training needs and the associated correlates to promote effective extension programme for women empowerment and poverty reduction in Oyo State, Nigeria. A total of one hundred and seventy one women farmers were selected through multistage random sampling technique and interviewed with a 31 items structured interview schedule. Result of the data analysis show that the mean age of women farmers was 38.34 years. About 71.76 per cent were literate having varied levels of education. On an average, farming experience was 11.24 years. The mean farm size of the respondents was 3.82 ha with an annual average income of N 9,701.75 from farming and N 5,830.41 from other sources. It was also found that the women farmers had low knowledge and skills in performing the farm operations: chemical weeding and pest control, preparation and utilization of organic fertilizer, livestock and poultry breed selection, and construction of livestock houses. Other areas of training needs are identification and treatment of sick animals; slaughtering and dressing of animals, and marketing of livestock. The significant correlates of the training needs identified were age (r=0.200/-0.305); years of formal education (r=0.474/0.515); years of farming experience (r=0.245/0.329); income from farming (r=0.332/0.356); income from other sources (r=0.267/0.393); cosmopoliteness (r=0.346/0.396); group/organizational participation )=0.315/0.335); number of extension contact (r=0.304/0.303); and number of sources of information (r=0.190/0.153).
Perception of Environmental Issues by Cassava Processors In Ogun State, Nigeria: Implications for Environmental Extension Education, K. Adebayo, A. C. Anyanwu, & A. O. Osiyale, 103-112. Extension services carry great potentials for improving the use of natural resources and promoting the right attitudes among natural resource managers. When the key environmental issues are faced by cassava processors, extension agencies can begin the process of promoting preventive measures. Against this proposition, this study examined the attitude of cassava processors towards environmental issues in the processing of cassava. An interview schedule was used to obtain primary data from the respondents on their socio-economic characteristics, stages involved in the processing of cassava, their attitude towards important environmental issues in the processing of cassava, and suggestions for addressing the issues identified. The cassava processors rated three major environmental issues arising from cassava processing. These are erosion arising from transportation of cassava from the farm (77 per cent), hydrocyanic content of cassava (89 per cent), and deforestation of firewood (64 per cent). The characteristic odour of the cassava processing environment, the disposal of wastes and their health implications were not considered major environmental issues by the processors. The study concluded that the attitude of grassroots operators in the cassava-processing sector portends far-reaching implications for the environment. They therefore, need to be properly enlightened on the need for improved waste disposal systems in the cassava processing units and the health implications of the effluents from cassava processing activities.
Gender Sensitization: Success Stories, O. S. Verma, 113-120. Rural women face tough decisions what with no work in the villages and no income. There are tangible schemes of employment either. Women thus have no choice but to move the nearby towns to do odd jobs like manual labour, domestic work, or simply hawking goods on the streets. Success stories of many innovative women are, however, a pointer to shift the paradigm from no work to generate own work in participation with development agencies. Success stories are, therefore, the driving force behind the development of womenfolk. Sensitize it.
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