ASSESSMENT OF COMPETENCY LEVEL OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION PERSONNEL IN NORTHWESTERN NIGERIA

Abstract

The study was carried out in Northwestern Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 306 respondents for the study. Primary data was collected via a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and Principal Component Analysis (PCM) were employed to analyze the data. Results of the knowledge level of extension personnel on agricultural service delivery revealed that 90.8% of the respondents had a high knowledge on extension delivery. Results revealed that the overall competency level shows that 99.3% of respondents fell within the High Competency category (3.51 – 5.00). However, result on competency gaps among respondents revealed that there is weak competency in familiarization with community resources (0.448), understanding the concept of M&E (0.425) and knowledge of report writing among others. Results on constraints faced by respondents revealed that too many jobs with different specializations (97.1%) were ranked 1^st amongmany constraints. It was concluded that addressing key gaps in competency would significantly improve the effectiveness of agricultural extension services in the region. Therefore, it was recommended that there should be a continuous professional development, particularly in familiarization with community resources, understanding the concept of M&E and knowledge of report writing, for extension personnel.