Technical and Entrepreneurial Training Needs of Agricultural Extension Workers for Service Delivery in Borno State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the technical and entrepreneurship training needs of agricultural extension workers for service delivery in Borno state, Nigeria. The study was guided by two specific objectives, two research questions and two null hypotheses. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study was 405 Agricultural Extension Workers in Borno state and the entire population was used for the study. The instrument for data collection was adopted 4-point scale structured questionnaire.  The instrument was validated by experts and pilot tested at Yobe state and a reliability coefficient of 0.82 was obtained. The researchers personally administered the instrument. The data collected were analyzed using Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS), 23 to run mean scores and standard deviations to answer the research questions. The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the research hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The results indicated that Agricultural Extension Workers in Borno state highly need technical and entrepreneurship training for effective service delivery. It was concluded that, providing the training to the workers will help them to acquire requisite skills needed for effective job performance. The study recommended that, Borno state government should organize workshops, conferences and seminars for the extension workers. In addition, the extension workers should be encouraged to undergo staff development programme in tertiary institutions.