ASSESSING THE FACTORS INFLUENCING COMPETENCIES OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION PERSONNEL IN KANO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study analysed the level of competencies and factors influencing the competencies possessed by extension staff in Kano State. First, three LGAs were randomly selected from each of the three zones of the state. Then, primary data were collected from all the extension staff in the selected LGAs using a structured questionnaire and analysed using descriptive statistics and ordered logit regression model. The result showed that majority (93.4%) of the respondents were found to be male, 55.9% were between the ages of 18 – 40 years, 84.8% were married, and majority (67.2%) were found to have had 1-5 household members. The result also showed that all the respondents attended formal educational institutions. The main occupation of the most (90.6%) of the respondents is extension services, whereas 87.1% were earning income of N30,000 – N50,000 monthly. Areas in which the extension agents showed high levels of competencies include farm management (M = 3.16), identifying major pests (M = 3.41), weed identification and control (M = 3.55), and fertilizer application (M = 3.41). The result showed that age (β = 0.0824169, P-value = 0.005), education (β = 2.978308, P-value = 0.000) and distance to farm (β = -.0415872, P-value = 0.002) were significant at influencing the competencies of extension agents. Inadequate transport facilities such as vans, motorcycles and bicycles were identified by the majority (78.1%) as the major constraint. It is concluded that a good remuneration is one of the major indicators that attract competency delivery among extension agents. It is recommended that more programmes such as the Sasakawa Africa Fund for Extension Education (SAFE) that collaborate with higher institutions to provide more capacities and opportunities should be encouraged.