Assessment of Level of Information Transfer by Farmer Field School Graduate Cocoa Farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study assessed level of information transfer from cocoa FFS farmers to other cocoa farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to: describe the socio-economic characteristics of the FFS graduate farmers in Ondo State; examine the percentage of FFS who were involved in transfer of information to other farmers, and determine the nature of information shared with other farmers. A multistage sampling   procedure was used in selecting 77 FFS graduate farmers for the study. Descriptive statistics used included frequency counts and percentages while the logit regression was used to test for the relationship between socio-economic characteristics of respondents and their level of knowledge transfer. The results of the study indicated that 75 FFS farmers (97.4%) were able to transfer information received on several aspects of cocoa cultivation with other cocoa farmers. From the logit regression result, educational level, farming experience and gender were positively and significantly related to information transfer abilities of the FFS farmers. It was concluded among others that FFS facilitators should continue to strengthen their ties with the FFS graduate farmers and to encourage them the more in sharing information with other farmers.

Keywords: Information Transfer, Farmer Field School, Logit Regression, Ondo State.