Item Details

Title: AN IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF THE AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICES TO FARMERS; A CASE STUDY OF DANGME WEST DISTRICT, GHANA

Date Published: 1991
Author/s: JANE REDEMPTA BIRUNGI-MIJUMBI
Data publication:
Funding Agency :
Copyright/patents/trade marks:
Journal Publisher:
Affiliation: University of Science and Technology
Keywords: agricultural extension services

Abstract:

Agriculture is the backbone of Ghana and about half of the country's population are classified as farming population. It is therefore necessary to put a lot of effort in developing this sector to the optimum so as to benefit the farming population and the country as a whole. Efforts have been made to provide credit to farmers, marketing facilities and any other assistance that has been
deemed appropriate. It should however be noted that without adequate know how of combining and managing the various factors of production (land, labour,capital) there will not
be much improvement in agricultural production. This necessitates educating the farming population on better farming methods so as available resources. to achieve the best out of the Research institutions and extension services are charged with this task. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of the Agricultural extension service in the district. Data was collected from both secondary and primary sources. Secondary sources included mainly library research and primary sources involved administering questionnaires to farmers and extension workers in the district. Guided interviews were conducted with key persons at the District Agricultural office and the Department of extension services. The Questionnaires and Interviews were aimed at finding out the activities of the Agricultural extension services,
the problems being faced and effectiveness as viewed by both
e
(iv)
farmers and extension personnel.
The major finding was that although effort has been
made by the extension personnel to do a good job, the
majority of the farmers are not receiving extension
services.
Inadequate transport facilities and absence of a
conducive socio-economic framework for extension workers
were identified as major causes of inefficiency of the
Agricultural extension services.
given in the report.
Based on these findings,
Other findings are also
recommendations are offered
f r improving these services in the district and in the
country as a whole.
The major recommendations are based on improvement of supervision, mobility and morale of extension workers. In order to sensitize farmers and make them more receptive to innovations, community development activities and formation of local organizations have been recommended.