A Comparative Assessment of Sustainable Livestock Extension Service Delivery in Benue and Nasarawa States, Nigeria

Authors

  • A. I. Age
  • M. N. B. Agbarevo
  • K. Beetseh Department of Rural Sociology and Agricultural Extension, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike

Keywords:

Comparative, assessment, sustainable, livestock, extension service, delivery

Abstract

A  survey  was  conducted in  2005  to assess  Sustainable Livestock Extension Service  Delivery in  Benue  and  Nasarawa   States. The  population  of this  study  consisted of  all  livestock  extension  policy  stakeholders, and due to the enormity of  this population , a sample  size  of 220 respondents  was  selected  using  purposive, snowball  and  simple  random  sampling techniques. Data for this  study were collected  mainly  from  primary  sources   through  the use  of  a well  structured  questionnaire. The  collected  data  were   analysed   using  descriptive  statistics such  as  frequency distribution  tables,  and   percentages  , as  well   as  inferential  statistics  such  as Kruskal   Wallis(H) test, Mann-Whitney(U)test  and  Ranked  correlation coefficient(rho).It  was  found that  there   is a significant difference between Benue and Nasarawa  States(U1=22.5.>0) in terms of the commonest species of Livestock kept and that there is  a  significant difference between  Benue   and   Nasarawa  States (H.cal.10.3>X2-Tab.7.81) in  terms of  sustainable livestock extension  service   delivery. Besides, it was   found that  funding of livestock extension  service delivery  has  been unsustainable in  Benue(R2=12.0)  and     Nasarawa(R4=12.5) States, and that   majority  of  livestock  farmers  in  Benue(72.7%) and  Nasarawa(63.6%)  States had  been  obtaining  their  sources   of agricultural information  from extension  agents. Finally, there  was   a strong  relationship(rho=0.9) between  Benue   and  Nasarawa States  in  terms of  implementation of  key  operational extension policy measures. It   was  recommended that cost  sharing   should  be  adopted  by the  three  tiers of  government ,commercial banks , oil and gas companies  and the  private  sector in funding   of our  Unified Agricultural Extension System(UAES), development of the 141 grazing reserves earlier mapped out in the Northern parts of Nigeria and implementation of Sedentarisation livestock  policy, and putting in place a sustainable policy framework akin to that of Tertiary  Education Trust  Fund(TETF)  and the Smith Lever Act of  May 8,1914 that established the Co-operative Extension Service(CES) in the USA, to  ensure adequate  funding of  livestock extension  service delivery in  Nigeria in  general and  Benue  and Nasarawa  States in  particular  with  a  view  to  ensure sustainable livestock extension service delivery  and transformation of  agriculture in  this  country.

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Published

2014-10-31

How to Cite

Age, A. I., Agbarevo, M. N. B., & Beetseh, K. (2014). A Comparative Assessment of Sustainable Livestock Extension Service Delivery in Benue and Nasarawa States, Nigeria. Asian Journal of Agriculture and Food Sciences, 2(5). Retrieved from https://www.ajouronline.com/index.php/AJAFS/article/view/1295