Determinants of the involvement of extension agents in disseminating climate smart agricultural initiatives: Implication for scaling up

Abstract

Globally, the role of extension agents in scaling up the utilization of Climate Smart Agricultural Initiatives (CSAI) by farmers remains very crucial. This study examined the determinants of the involvement of extension agents in the dissemination of CSAI to farmers. A two-staged random sampling technique was used to elicit information from 277 extension agents in South West Nigeria using a structured questionnaire. Data were analysed using frequency counts, percentage and linear regression analysis. The findings revealed that prominent initiatives extension agents disseminated were cover crops planting and minimum tillage practices. However, extension agents had low involvement in the dissemination of use of soil amendments, conversion of waste to compost, agro-forestry, resource conservation and use of agro-weather related initiatives Significant factors influencing extension agents’ involvement in the dissemination of CSAI are educational qualification (t = 2.57; p = 0.011), years of experience (t = 5.11; p = 0.000), participation in CSA training (t = 1.77; p = 0.077) and numbers of community covered (t = −2.30; p = 0.022). The study concludes that although extension agents are involved in the dissemination of some CSAI, there are still a wide range of initiatives that are not adequately disseminated to the rural farmer. It was therefore recommended that extension agents should be trained especially on the wide range of CSAI identified not to be predominantly disseminated so as to scale-up their adoption by farmers to enhance sustainable agricultural productivity and food security for all.

Keywords

• Climate smart agricultural initiatives
• Determinants
• Extension agents
• Involvement
• Nigeria