ABSTRACT

The West Africa agricultural productivity programme (WAAPP) has a package of technologies for farmers’ adoption, which are expected to increase rice production. But whether this expectation has been met is worth investigating. This study was therefore carried out to determine the effect of adoption of WAAPP technologies on rice farmers’ production in Ebonyi state, Nigeria. Specifically, the study described the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, determined the effectiveness of WAAPP in training and input delivery to the respondents, determined the extent of adoption of the technologies disseminated by WAAPP, ascertained the effect of adoption of WAAPP technologies on the respondents’ yield, determined the effect of adoption of WAAPP technologies on income and examined the challenges faced by the respondents which limited their production. The study employed multi-stage random sampling techniques to select a sample of 180 rice farmers. Three agricultural zones were selected, namely: Ebonyi north, Ebonyi central and Ebonyi south. Two blocks from each of the agricultural zones were selected giving a total of 6 extension blocks. Three cells were randomly selected from each of the blocks giving a total of 18 cells. Ten rice farmers who participated in WAAPP were randomly selected from each of the selected cells giving a sample of 180. Primary data were sourced from the farmers through a structured questionnaire. Both descriptive and inferential statistics such as mean, frequencies, percentages and simple regression analysis was used to analyse the data. Results show that the mean age of respondents was 35years. Most of the respondents (66.11%) were married. The average household size was 6 persons. Major occupation of greater number of the respondents (53.89%) was farming. The average number of years of experience was 10 years. On the average, the farm size of the respondents was 2.5 hectares. The grand mean of 2.37 was obtained on effectiveness of WAAPP on training and input delivery, on a three point scale. A grand mean score of 2.38 on a three point scale indicated a moderate level of adoption of WAAPP technologies. An average of 3.6 metric tons per hectare was harvested showing increased yield.Similarly, an average annual income of N446,530.55 was also reported. Result of the regression analysis with respect to hypothesis 1 showed that there was a significant relationship between adoption of WAAPP technologies and yield. For hypothesis 2, a significant relationship was found between adoption of WAAPP technologies and income.  Thus, the null hypotheses were rejected, while the alternative hypotheses were accepted at 5% level. The study concluded that the adoption of WAAPP technologies by rice farmers increased their yield and income. The study therefore recommended among others greater sensitization and participation of more farmers in the programme to attainment of food security and poverty alleviation in the study area.