Funding of Agricultural Research and Extension: A veritable Tool for Agricultural and Rural Transformation in Nigeria. A case study of Rubber Farmers in Edo State

Abstract

The concept of rural development and transformation embraced by most countries connotes a process through which rural poverty is alleviated by sustained increases in agricultural productivity, brought about by extension and research. The study examines the sourcing, funding and distribution of funds to extension and research workers. Data collected from 135 rubber farmers were analyzed using descriptive statistic and the results revealed that 61.8% of the respondents fell within the age range of 41-50 years bracket which form the cream of productive work force. 27.9% were into research, 22.1% had teaching as an extra occupation and there was virtually no respondent that do not have one form of training or the other, either in agriculture or agro- related fields. 37.8% of the funds got to the farmers through farmers family meeting and closely followed by 20% the respondents getting their funds through farmers co-operatives societies .Corruption, lack of co-ordination, inefficient monitoring and evaluation of extension and research activities are key areas identified as major constraint to efficient funding, with34.8% and 24.4% of the respondent in agreement.