Perceived rural interventions for meeting the energy and agri-food needs of smallholder farmers in Imo State, Nigeria
Date
2020-12-09
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kosmos Publishers
Abstract
The study examined rural intervention programmes for meeting the energy and agri-food needs of smallholder farmers in Imo State, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to identify energy sources available to farmers in the study area; examine energy and agri-food needs of respondents and ascertain perceived rural interventions for meeting the energy and agri-food needs of respondents in the study area. A total of 360 smallholder farmers were selected and interviewed.Data were collected with a structured questionnaire and analyzed using percentages and mean. The available energy sources include human power (100%), mechanical power (70.5%), electrical power (66.6%), candles and kerosene (81.6%), charcoal/wood residues (78.8%). Energy is needed for cooking/preparing food (100%), crop production (100%), processing (88.5%) and the agri-food needs were to improve farmer livelihoods (66.6%), increase crop productivity (89.1%), reduction poverty (88.8%) among others. Rural interventions for meeting energy and agri-food needs included rural electrification programmes (M=4.09), standalone off grid energy solution (M = 3.91), agricultural mechanization (M=4.05), rural road /transport programmes (M=3.90) and training /retraining of both farmers and extension officers with mean of 4.08 and 3.41 respectively. Improved/clean energy facilities be provided to the rural populace by the relevant stakeholders – governments, donor agencies, NGOs, etc for improved livelihood and food security.
Description
The article contains tables
Keywords
Agriculture, energy, farmers, food, poverty, rural, Department of Agricultural Extension
Citation
Chikaire, J. U., Godson-Ibeji, C. C. & Ogueri, E. I. (2020). Perceived rural interventions for meeting the energy and agri-food needs of smallholder farmers in Imo State, Nigeria, Advances in Agriculture, Horticulture and Entomology, 138(6) 1-5