Public and private extension services delivery to cassava farmers in Sanniquellie and Saclepea Mahn districts in Nimba county, Liberia

Abstract

Public and private extension providers have been assisting farmers in Liberia but there has been no study done on services they deliver to cassava farmers.The purpose of the study therefore was to investigate the delivery system of public and private extension services on cassava farmers. The study used quantitative survey in which 318 proportionately randomly sampled cassava farmers in the Sanniquellie and Saclepea Mahn Districts were interviewed using an interview schedule.. The study revealed that the farmers were characterized by male dominance, large household sizes and married famers who have low level of education but vast cassava farming experiences. Majority (88.6%) of the cassava famers under public and private extension services were in their active working ages. Major sources of agricultural information were neighbouring farmers (88.4%), radio (86.8%) and other farmers outside their neighbourhood (71.4%). Nearly every farmer obtains their planting materials from their own saving (95.3%), relatives (94.0%) and other cassava producers (69.1%). Farmers receiving public and private extension regarded their involvement in extension services as very low, though public extension farmers were significantly more involved than the private. The level of adoption of improved cassava technologies by both public and private extension farmers was low. The perceived impact of extension services on farmers was regarded as low, but public extension was perceived to have a significantly higher impact on cassava farmers than private extension.