ASSESSMENT OF SMALLHOLDER FARMERS’ WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR PRIVATE AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICES IN DOMA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, NASARAWA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study assessed smallholder farmers’ willingness to pay for private agricultural extension services in Doma Local Government Area (LGA) of Nasarawa State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 80 farmers from four districts and sixteen villages. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analysed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression. The results showed that 36.25% of the respondents were aged 35–48 years, with a mean age of 42 years. Majority of the respondents were male (78.75%), married (83.75%), and had secondary education (56.25%). The mean household size was 7 persons, while the mean farming experience was 6 years. Majority of the respondents (82.50%) had access to extension services. Furthermore, 91.2% of respondents believed that private extension services could increase the frequency of contact with extension agents, while 83.8% believed that such services could provide more appropriate technical information. The results further revealed that 60.0% of the farmers were willing to pay for private extension services, with 43.75% willing to pay ₦6,000–₦10,000 per month. The binary logistic regression analysis showed that membership of a farmers’ association was the only variable that significantly influenced willingness to pay at the 5% level. The major constraints identified were low farm income (98.8%), poor enabling environment for farmers’ participation in extension funding (95.0%) and irrelevant extension packages (86.2%). The study concludes that private extension services have considerable potential in Doma LGA, particularly where farmers’ organisations can facilitate farmers’ participation and support effective service delivery. It is recommended that farmers' associations be strengthened and that private extension providers offer flexibly priced, need-specific packages to encourage wider uptake of private extension services.