African Journal of
Agricultural Research

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Agric. Res.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1991-637X
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJAR
  • Start Year: 2006
  • Published Articles: 6883

Article in Press

Factors influencing effectiveness of agricultural communication methods among women farmers in Chanchaga Local Government Area of Niger State, Nigeria

Ajayi, O. J., Muhammed, Y., Jibrin, S., Muhammad, H. U.

  •  Received: 20 June 2014
  •  Accepted: 17 October 2019
The study examined the factors influencing agricultural communication methods among women farmers in Chanchaga Local Government Area of Niger State. Data for the study were obtained by means of household survey using structured questionnaires administered to 80 respondents. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics and logit regression analysis. The result of the study showed that 58.8% of the women farmers were aged between 31 – 40 years, 87.5% were married and 41.3% had no formal education. Group contact was found to be the preferred communication method used by extension agents as accounted for by 84.3% of the women farmers. Logit regression analysis revealed Pseudo R2 value of 0.3539 implying that about 35.4% variation in effectiveness of agricultural communication method are caused by the explanatory variables, while the Chi-squared value is 35.71 at p<0.05 level of significance. Age (-1.85, p<0.1), Education (2.26, p<0.05), Experience (2.54, p<0.01) and Farm size (2.78, p<0.01) were found to be significant factors influencing the effectiveness of agricultural communication methods. Major constraints faced by the women farmers were high level of illiteracy (81.3%), cultural and religious beliefs (73.8%), and non-inclusion in agricultural programmes (65.0%). Based on these findings, it is pertinent to recommend the intensification of literacy programmes by stakeholders especially for women farmers and their inclusion in agricultural programmes. This will in the long run improve their productivity as well as the food security status of the nation.

Keywords: Agricultural communication methods, effectiveness, women farmers