Assessment Of The Training Needs Of Farmer Based Organizations In Ekiti State, Nigeria.

Abstract

Most of the farmers were encouraged to join Farmer Based Organizations (FBO) to benefit from development programmes. Despite that, it was discovered that their output has not increased appreciably. Since training is germane to boosting farmers output and income, the study is embarked upon to determine the training needs of FBOs in Ekiti state. A multi-stage sampling was used to select 140 respondents from 27 FBOs in the state. A structured interview schedule was used to collect data. Descriptive statistics, and Chi Square were used to analyze the data. The result shows that all the FBOs needed training on credit access, leadership, Cooperation and cooperatives, farm resources management and climate change adaptation strategies. The most important training need to crop-based farmers' association was on market access. Others are the post-harvest management of crops, value addition, and processing techniques. There is a significant relationship between some socio-economic characteristics of the FBOs and their training needs. The educational statuses of the respondents have a positive correlation with their training needs, but the age and household sizes have a negative correlation with their training needs. The study recommends that the extension agents intensify efforts in organizing training programmes for FBOs on deficient areas to improve the output, income and the livelihood of farmers in Ekiti state.