An Assessment of the Impact of the Agricultural Extension Programme of the Volta Regional Agricultural Development Project(VORADEP)

Abstract

This paper reports an investigation into the impact of the extension programme of the volta Regional Agricultural Development Project (VORADEP) on the farming behaviours of the farm families in the Volta Region of Ghana. The scope of the study covered: the level of awareness of the major innovations extended under the programmes the rate and level of adoption of those innovations; the continuity and or discontinuance of adoption; major determinants of the adoption or otherwise of the innovations; and the market orientation of the farmers since their contact with the programme. The adoption of new technologies related to cultivation of maize was used for the study and measurements were made on three major categories of innovations extended by the programme. These were improved maize seeds, agro-chemicals (fertilisers, pesticides and weedicides/herbicides) , and planting and farm management techniques. Generally, the attempt was to estimate the extent to which the farmers in the project area were making use of improved methods, techniques and ideas of cultivating maize so as to be self sufficient in the production of maize both for consumption and for local markets. The research was conducted using a survey method of the descriptive type and in the interview and questionnaire forms. The sample study was selected at random in a multi-stage sampling design from three agricultural districts in the Volta Region. And, in order to ensure some appreciable measure of comparability as a means to test the effectiveness of the intervention programme, a "before-and- after" design, in which each respondent was his/her own control, was used. The research findings have shown that VORADEP had made significant impact in the areas of:creating a high level of awareness for the major technologies extended; generating a high degree of interest for the technologies in the farmers for them to want to use these new technologies on their farms; achieving a high trial and relatively low drop out rate in the adoption of the innovations; ensuring that all the technologies extended are still in use in the project area. However, the rate of adoption of the technologies, in general had not been phenomenal. Although a significant proportion of the farmers had adopted the new maize seed varieties and planting in lines, the rate of adoption of the agro-chemicals and the other planting and farm management techniques was rather low. Again, an insignificant proportion of the farmers had adopted the new technologies as a package. The major obstacle to the adoption of the new technologies had been financial constraints in the project area. However, other factors such as complexity, marketing, transportation and availability of inputs also determined the adoption or otherwise of the innovations. Consequently, it was observed that the modest achievements made under VORADEP could be sustained and reinforced if structural and institutional changes are effected in the areas of marketing, credit and risk alleviation. When this is done, it is envisaged that the Training and Visit (T & V) system of extension of VORADEP will be made more effective to the extent of achieving:an increased use of improved maize seed varieties, fertilisers and preservative chemicals; relatively new attitude to use of weedicides/herbicides; a full-scale adoption of the technologies; and the spread of the benefits of the programme to the small scale farmers.