The role of Agricultural Extension Services in Agricultural Fransformation for Rural Poverty Reduction: a situational study in the Ashanti Region

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2012-07-11
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Abstract
The majority of agricultural producers in Ghana still use the traditional approach in crop production with technological change very slow and minimal. In view of this, Agricultural Extension Services have been adopted by the government as a major agricultural transformation strategy. Nevertheless, the expected impact from the intervention has not been realized due to inadequate funding, lack of logistics, insufficient Field Staffs and non-participatory modes of technology transfer. This is the problem which the study investigated taking Ashanti Region as a case study. The study was guided by the following objectives; the examination of the nature of the extension services provided and the assessment of the institutional and logistical arrangements put in place for the extension services delivery. The study further sought to assess the modes of agricultural technology dissemination, examine the feedback mechanisms and, based on the findings, recommendations were made towards effective extension services delivery. A case study method was adopted in which Ashanti Region was chosen to facilitate the ease of data collection. Respondents were selected through a simple random sampling technique to gather data from the farmers using structured questionnaires from three purposively sampled Districts of Ahafo-Ano South, Atwima-Nwabiagya and Ejisu-Juaben Districts. Institutional survey involving the Directorates of Agriculture in the selected Districts was also embarked upon. The study identified that 100 percent of the farmers received agricultural technology whilst an average of 53.3 percent of them received non agricultural technology. The study also identified a deficiency in logistical supply, inadequate and irregular government funding. It was also revealed that 89 Agricultural Extension Agents were required in the Districts but 47 of them were available, creating a huge deficit of 42. Recommendations were made to help provide solutions to the challenges of extension services provision in the country. Some of these include disseminating technology to farmers in manageable groups of a maximum of twenty, increasing logistical and EFS capacity, motivating Field Staffs, institutionalizing provision of credit in kind and establishing a National Extension Services Provision Fund to help make extension services delivery sustainable.
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A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Development Policy and Planning,
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