Tropicultura (Jan 2001)
Performance of Public and Non-Public Organisations in the Dissemination of Cooking Bananas in Nigeria
Abstract
The study assessed the performance of public (POs) and non-public (NPOs) organisations in the dissemination of cooking bananas in Southeast Nigeria. Cooking bananas were introduced in the area as an interim measure to reduce the incidence of black sigatoka disease on plantains. Eight POs and 4 NPOs carried out the dissemination exercise. In all, about 55, 000 cooking banana suckers were distributed in about 700 villages to about 30, 000 farmers. NPOs out-performed POs in the dissemination exercise ; they accounted for about 90 % of suckers distributed, as well as about 80 % of villages and 99 % of farmers reached with the crop. Without the involvement and the efforts of the NPOs, the majority of the farmers and villages would not have obtained the crop. Unfortunately, the distribution of suckers by NPOs was limited to villages within the areas where they carry out their main activities, i. e. oil exploration/exploitation. As a resuit, more than 80 % of suckers distributed in the region were concentrated in the states of Bayelsa and Rivers. For a more even distribution of the newly developed hybrid plantains a key recommendation of the study is the involvement in the dissemination exercise of as many church and village groups as possible, especially in areas where NPOs do not operate.
