Fadama III Beneficiaries’ Adherence to Project Guidelines in Ogun State, Nigeria

Fadama III project in Nigeria like other community driven development projects is faced with a lot of challenges in spite of the laudable goals and approach. A major challenge of the projects is non-adherence to implementation guidelines among the implementers and beneficiaries. This study therefore assessed the adherence of project beneficiaries in Ogun state to the Fadama III implementation guidelines in order to make necessary recommendations to the implementers for proper management. Ijebu division was randomly selected out of the four (4) divisions in Ogun state. Two (2) out of the six (6) local government areas (LGAs)  constituting the division were randomly sampled for the study. All the eight (8) registered Fadama Community Associations (FCAs) in the two LGAs were sampled. Eight focus group discussions (FGDs) and four in-depth interviews with key informants (IDIs) were used to verify secondary data obtained from the records of the FCAs. Adherence to project  implementation guidelines ranged from fair to high while adherence to procurement guidelines and Fadama users’ equity fund (FUEF) requirements needed to be improved. Beneficiaries were over expectant of the benefits accruable from the project, which led to reduction in their enthusiasm towards the project because of its slow implementation. It was recommended that the implementers should keep up their efforts at sensitising beneficiaries on the implementation guidelines of the project, re-work their strategies at addressing procurement and FUEF inadequacies among the beneficiaries and fast-track the delivery of project benefits in the communities.Key words: Beneficiaries’ adherence, implementation guidelines and Fadama users’ equity fund complianc

Perceived effectiveness of Agricultural Information Channels (AIC) in marketing of poultry eggs in Ijebu North-East local government area of Ogun State

The productivity of the poultry industry like any other industry is hinged on adequate dissemination of information through appropriate channels. This study assessed the perceived effectiveness of agricultural information channels in marketing of poultry eggs in Ijebu North East local government area of Ogun state. Fifty four randomly selected poultry farmers and an equal number of purposively selected marketers were administered with questionnaires. Data on socioeconomic characteristics, availability and extent of use of AIC as well as perceived effectiveness of the channels were collected and analysed. Results showed that more of the farmers were male (81.7%) compared to the marketers, majority of the respondents had formal education (91.7%) and had over five years of experience in their trades (94.4 and 90.7%). Mobile phone was the most readily available and utilised AIC (97.2% and x = 1.46) while the presence of extension agents was not very pronounced (62.0% and x = 0.73). Inconsistent power supply (x =1.52) was the most limiting constraint to the use of the AIC. There was significant difference in the perceived effectiveness of AIC among poultry farmers and marketers (t=3.833, p.0.005). Sustained use of preferred channels of information was thus advocated while extension agents were urged to step up their activities.Keywords: egg marketing, extent of use, information channel

Private Sponsorship of Rural Development Broadcasts on Radio in Southwest Nigeria

The study explored the private sponsorship prospects of rural development broadcasts (RDBs) on radio in Southwest Nigeria. Forty private sponsors of programmes were randomly selected for the study. Questionnaire was used to collect data on private sponsorship status of RDBs, reasons for broadcasts’ sponsorship, factors hindering RDBs sponsorship and willingness to sponsor RDBs. Frequency counts and binomial logit were used to analyse the resulting data. There was a low sponsorship status (26.7%) of RDBs among the sponsors. Inadequate knowledge of benefits derivable from sponsorship of RDBs (30%) hindered sponsorship of RDBs while increased sensitisation on these benefits (40%) would enhance their sponsorship status. Increased brand awareness was the most important reason (46.7%) that propelled sponsors to support broadcasts. Most sponsors (66.7%) would be willing to support RDBs on radio. Sponsors’ characteristics were not significantly related to their willingness to sponsor RDBs. Stakeholders in rural development broadcasting should therefore step up their sensitisation campaigns among prospective sponsors to intimate them of the listenership strength of RDBs in the area in order to improve the sponsorship situation.Keywords: Willingness, broadcast, sponsorshi

Sustainability of the Benefits Derived from Fadama II Critical Ecosystem Management Project in Eriti Watershed of Ogun State

This study investigated the sustainability of the benefits derived from Critical Ecosystem Management Project in Ogun State. Interview schedule was used to elicit information from 166 respondents randomly drawn from three communities in the project’s catchment area. Data on beneficiaries’ involvement, benefits derived and satisfaction as well as constraints to benefits derived from the project were collected. Frequency counts and Students’t-test were used to analyse data. Many of the beneficiaries (55.4%) generally had high level of involvement in the project, but reported low involvement in the selection of service providers (̄x = 1.36) and decision on how much to pay them(̄x = 0.96). Meanwhile, bee hives and other honey making equipment recorded the highest proportion (85.0%) of beneficiaries. About 57.2% of the beneficiaries had high level of satisfaction with the benefits derived from the project but were constrained by lack of technical knowledge and maintenance (̄x = 0.8072). There were significant differences in the statuses of benefits derived from bee hives (t = -25.39) (p≤0.05), bee making equipment (t = -33.221) (p≤0.05), snail (t = -33.681) (p≤0.05), grasscutter weaners (t = -136.106) (p≤0.05) and plantain plantations (t = 9.717) (p≤0.05) between project intervention period and current period. Benefits derived from the project were not well sustained by the beneficiaries. Future projects should improve on the involvement of beneficiaries in procuring service providers in addition to been exposed to capacity building workshops on asset maintenance to enhance their sustainability.Keywords: Eriti watershed, Fadama II, Sustainable ecosystem management

Adherence to cooperative principles among agricultural cooperatives in Oyo State, Nigeria

This study assessed agricultural cooperatives’ level of adherence to cooperative guiding principles in Oyo State, Nigeria. Multi stage sampling procedure was used to select 126 respondents for the study. Data on group characteristics, level of awareness, adherence and constraints to adherence to cooperative principles were collected using structured questionnaire and analysed using chi square at 5% level of significance. The mean year of existence of the cooperatives was 10years while the mean membership size was 44. In addition, many of the cooperatives (44.4%) were fairly strong financially. More than half (53.2%) of the respondents had high level of awareness of the cooperative principles while 57.1% had high level of adherence to the principles. Meanwhile, inadequate financing and loan recovery difficulty ( ̅=1.4 each) were the main constraints to adherence to the principles. There was a significant relationship between respondents’ level of awareness and adherence to the cooperative principles (2= 0.013, p ≤ 0.05). Agricultural cooperatives in the area largely adhered to the cooperatives principles. However, capacity building on innovative financial sourcing and loan recovery mechanisms should be embarked upon by management to enhance the adherence.Keywords: Cooperatives principles, loan recovery, agricultural cooperatives, group adherenc