Factors influencing extension agents’ competence on climate smart practices in South West Nigeria: implication for rendering effective resilient advisory services.

Abstract

This study examined the knowledge level of extension agents on six classes of climate smart adaptation initiatives (CSAI). A multi-stage sampling procedure was utilized to collect data from 277 agents in South-West Nigeria with the aid of a structured questionnaire. Data were descriptively analysed using frequency counts, percentages and means. The result showed that extension agents were knowledgeable on crop-mix (56.3%) and tillage-smart (53.4%) related initiatives with more than half of them scoring above the mean benchmark. However, they had a low knowledge level on the majority of the water management (59.2%), fossil-burning (94.2%), soil (75.8%), ICT and other adaptive initiatives (98.9%) as the majority of them scored below the mean benchmark for each of these categories. Seminars and workshops should be provided by extension organizations for these agents to upgrade their knowledge on these initiatives, thus positioning them to effectively be able to render needed advisories to farmers. This will equip farmers to be adept in responding adequately to managing climate change risks and also scale-up their use of CSAI.