Farmers' perception of the contribution of maize farming technologies to livelihoods in the Buea sub-division of Cameroon

Abstract

The main objective of the study was to examine farmers’ perceptions of the contribution of maize farming technologies to livelihoods in the Buea Sub- Division of Cameroon. The specific objectives dealt with farmers’ demographic characteristics and their use of maize technologies, farmers’ views of other factors that influence their use of maize technologies, a comparison of the yields, incomes and livelihood perceptions of farmers who use traditional technologies and those who use improved technologies, and the roles played by extension officers in enabling farmers to adopt and diffuse maize technologies. The study covered 215 farmers who were selected using the simple random sampling technique, while all four extension officers in the subdivision were interviewed. Structured interview schedule and questionnaire for the farmers and extension officers respectively, were employed as the instruments for data collection. The chi square test of independence, mannwhitney u test, cross tabs, pie charts and bar graphs were the methods of data analysis used to analyse and present the results. Results from the study revealed that farmers who used improved maize technologies had higher yields, incomes and better perceptions of their livelihoods than their counterparts who used traditional maize technologies. Among the recommendations made were that farmers should press for the subsidisation of improved maize technologies and training sessions organised by extension officers. This would enable more farmers to have access to the services of the officers and adopt improved technologies to obtain higher yields, incomes and have better perceptions of their livelihoods