ABSTRACT
This study evaluated the agricultural extension activities
of Green River Project (GRP) in rural communities of Niger Delta region of
Nigeria. The GRP is an agricultural extension project of the Nigeria Agip Oil
Company. The study objectives analysed the socio-economic characteristics of
beneficiaries, investigated the adoption status of the Project, determined the
current level of poverty reduction indicators achieved through the Project by
beneficiaries, assessed beneficiaries' perceptions about the achievement of the
Project's objectives and determined the problems militating against their
adoption of the extension technologies. Data collection for the study was by
the use of structured questionnaire and interview schedule which were
administered through the stratified and random sampling techniques. The sample
size of the study was made up of 270 beneficiaries of the Project drawn
randomly from the three randomly selected states out of the four states where
GRP is operational in the Niger Delta region. Descriptive statistics of
frequency distribution, percentages and means score were used for data
analyses. The tests for stated null hypotheses were carried out with the
inferential statistics involving Analyses of Variance (ANOVA) of the
F-statistics and multiple regression analysis. Soclo-economic results indicated
that 57.8% of the respondents were males. Their average age was 48 years with
First School Leaving Certificate as their highest (38.9%) level of education.
The average household size of the Project's beneficiaries was 7 persons. The
highest (3 7.8%) annual net farm income of beneficiaries in the Project was in
the range of N(44,000.00 — 94,000.00) per year. More (58.5%) beneficiaries had
three times monthly contacts with the Project's Extension Officers. The
Project's mean adoption status in the region was 56.6%. The production
recommendation for cassavalmaize/egusi intercrop was the most (77. 56%) adopted
into the region's farming systems. A good number (78.9%) of beneficiaries
indicated that insufficient storage facilities was their major militating
problem to adoption. Improvement of the traditional system of agriculture of
the rural communities was the best satisfying objective of the Project to
beneficiaries with a mean result of 3.76, while the least was distribution of
capture fisheries facilities with a mean result of 2.29 response. While the
result for hypotheses 1 and 4 were not significant and accepted, hypotheses 2
and 5 were significant and therefore rejected. The relationship between
socio-economic characteristics of beneficiaries and adoption status in
hypothesis 3 gave an R2of 0.668 and therefore explained about 66.8% variability
of the adoption behaviour of the beneficiaries. The study recommended the
involvement of more youth farmers as beneficiaries, improvement of the
educational levels of beneficiaries through adult education, improvement in the
distribution of capture fisheries facilities and improvement of storage
facilities for farm products of beneficiaries.
NLERUM, E (2021). Evaluation Of Agricultural Extension Activities Of Green River Project In Rural Communities Of Niger Delta, Nigeria. Mouau.afribary.org: Retrieved Dec 23, 2024, from https://repository.mouau.edu.ng/work/view/evaluation-of-agricultural-extension-activities-of-green-river-project-in-rural-communities-of-niger-delta-nigeria-7-2
EZIHO, NLERUM. "Evaluation Of Agricultural Extension Activities Of Green River Project In Rural Communities Of Niger Delta, Nigeria" Mouau.afribary.org. Mouau.afribary.org, 08 Nov. 2021, https://repository.mouau.edu.ng/work/view/evaluation-of-agricultural-extension-activities-of-green-river-project-in-rural-communities-of-niger-delta-nigeria-7-2. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.
EZIHO, NLERUM. "Evaluation Of Agricultural Extension Activities Of Green River Project In Rural Communities Of Niger Delta, Nigeria". Mouau.afribary.org, Mouau.afribary.org, 08 Nov. 2021. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. < https://repository.mouau.edu.ng/work/view/evaluation-of-agricultural-extension-activities-of-green-river-project-in-rural-communities-of-niger-delta-nigeria-7-2 >.
EZIHO, NLERUM. "Evaluation Of Agricultural Extension Activities Of Green River Project In Rural Communities Of Niger Delta, Nigeria" Mouau.afribary.org (2021). Accessed 23 Dec. 2024. https://repository.mouau.edu.ng/work/view/evaluation-of-agricultural-extension-activities-of-green-river-project-in-rural-communities-of-niger-delta-nigeria-7-2