Attitude of farmers towards Non-Governmental Extension Organisations in Oyo-State, Nigeria

The study examined the attitude of farmers towards non-governmental extension organisations (NGEOs) in Oyo State. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to choose 160 respondents. Data were collected through interview schedule and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics at p=0.05. More than one-third of the respondents were in the age bracket of 41-50years, majority were males (67.5%), 76.9% had ten years of formal education and 81.9% were married. Only 28.8% cultivated between 2.43-4.05hectares, 23.7% had more than 20years of farming experience and 65.0% grew cash crop. Majority (86.3%) of the respondents were aware of NGEOs through radio and FADU was ranked 1st followed by Leventis as the most prominent NGEOs. Greater percentage (93.7%) was willing to pay for the services of the organizations. However, 82.5% could only afford between N1,000.00–N10,000.00/month. Prohibitive cost of services provided (mean = 0.719) was the major limiting factors to respondents’ willingness to access services of NGEOs. Notwithstanding, 57.5% had favourable attitude towards NGEOs. There was significant relationship between years of formal education (r=0.346), years of farming experience (r=0.187), marital status (χ2=25.47), primary occupation (χ2 =10.016) and attitude towards NGEOs. Also, type of crops grown (χ2 =4.32), willingness to pay (χ2 =9.525), number of hectares under cultivation (r=0.171), source of information (r=0.519) and constraints to using NGOE services (r=0.428) had significant relationships with respondents’ attitude towards NGEOs. Synergies and collaboration between governmental and NGEOs become imperative for efficient and effective delivery of extension services.Â