ABSTRACT

The study comparatively assessed the influence of farmers participation in National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) capacity building programme on sweet potato yield and income in Abia and Anambra States, Nigeria. Specifically, the study described the socioeconomic characteristics of participants ofNRCRI’s capacity building programme in Abia and Anambra States; identified the techniques/methods used by NRCRI in the farmers’ capacity building programme; ascertained farmers’ levels of participation in NRCRI's capacity building programme; assessed the knowledge and skills acquired through the NRCRI’s capacity building programme by farmers; ascertained the level of utilization ol knowledge and skills gained by the participants on the programme; estimated the sweet potato yield and income generated by NRCRI participants; ascertained the organizationrelated factors that influenced the quality ofservices provided to participants and identified the constraints faced by farmers participating in the capacity building programme. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 240 respondents (120 NRCRI participants per State). Data were collected using structured questionnaire and were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages, mean and standard deviation while inferential statistics such as simple linear regression, ordinary least square regression (OLS), Pearson Product Moment Correlation analysis (PPMC) and Z-test were employed in testing eight null hypotheses at 5% level of significance. The results showed that participants in Abia and Anambra States had mean ages of 49 and 47 years respectively. Sweet potato farmers in Abia and Anambra States had moderate levels of participation in NRCRI’s capacity building programme with grand mean scores of 2.19 and 2.24 respectively. The mean estimated sweet potato yield of participants in Abia and Anambra States were 4325.50kg/ha and 3961.52kg/ha respectively. The mean estimated income of participants in Abia and Anambra States were N693087.67 and N614324.73 respectively. The OLS results revealed that age (2.862***) and level of education (3.081***) influenced farmers’ levels of participation in NRCRI capacity building programme in Abia State. Participation in NRCRI capacity building programme had significant influence on the yield (11.498***) and income (8.935***) of participants in Abia State at 1% level of significance. Participation in NRCRI capacity building programme had significant influence on the yield (9.357***) and income (8.114***) of participants in Anambra State at 1% level ol significance. The PPMC result showed significant relationship between knowledge and skills acquired by farmers and their utilization in sweet potato production in Abia and Anambra States at 1% level of significance. The Z—test result revealed that theie was no significant difference in the utilization of knowledge and skills gained by faimeis horn the NRCRI s capacity building programme between Abia and Anambra States at 5% level of significance. The study concluded that farmers’ participation in NRCRI’s capacity building programme had positive influence on sweet potato yield and income in Abia and Anambra Slates. Therefore, it recommended among others that efforts should be directed towards further improving the knowledge and skills ofsmallholder farmers in order to boost their sweet potato yield and income in the study area.