Socio-Economic Factors Influencing Extension Workers’ Satisfaction With Job Condition in Kebbi State Agricultural And Rural Development Authority (Karda), Kebbi State – Nigeria (Published)
This study assessed the agricultural extension condition in Kebbi State Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (KARDA). Both the primary and secondary data were used for this study. The target population for this study is the extension workers and the farmers in Kebbi State Agricultural and rural development authority (KARDA). Multi-stage random sampling procedure was used to select 120 extension workers from 24 agricultural extension blocks (5 extension workers per block). The results of the study shows that majority (95.5%) of the extension workers were male and only 5.0% were female, were within the age group of 48 – 57 years, while only 1.7% were within the age group of 18 – 27 years, had Ordinary National Diploma (OND, had their household size ranging from 1 to 11 people, while 30.8% had household size ranging from 12 – 22 persons and had 21 to 30 years working experience, while 19.2% had 1 -10 years of working experience. Regarding the most frequently used methods in communicating new ideas, majority of the extension workers (96.7%) frequently used farm, home and office visits. The study also reveals that majority of the respondent (45.8%) organized visits for the farmers every two weeks as a strategy for educating and communicating of information towards enhancing agricultural productivity and skills. It was found that of the six (6) variables included in the model, only socio-economic characteristics such as education (X4), household size (X5) and experience (X6) had a significant relationship with their job satisfaction. The most pressing constraints, as perceived by the respondents, is that their remuneration was inadequate. The study recommends that the Kebbi State Government should improve the level of job satisfaction of the extension agents in Kebbi State Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (KARDA) through provision of funds, equipment, mobility and housing accommodation and should enhance the skills and make the extension staff equips with the latest technologies training programme should be organized for extension agents.
Keywords: Karda, Kebbi State agricultural and rural development authority, Nigeria, Socio-Economic Factors, extension workers, job condition