公共行政与管理评论

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The Performance of Agricultural Cooperative Societies under the National Programme on Food Security in Enugu State, Nigeria

Onugu Charles Uchenna and Abdulahi Taiwo Olabisi

National programme on Food Security (NPFS) is a special programme introduced by the Federal government of Nigeria on agricultural activities in order to increase food production in the country. This study is therefore an appraisal of the performance of agricultural cooperative in the National food security programme. The study was carried out in Aniri Local Government Area of Enugu State. The specific objective of the study are to ascertain the socio-economic characteristics of farmers; identify the services available to farmers in the NPFS; determine the extent agricultural services are accessible in the NPFS, appraise the effect of using agricultural cooperative societies in the implementation of NPFS as well as examine the challenges. Data were obtained from both the ADP staff and cooperative farmers using a structured questionnaire. Simple percentage and statistical package for social sciences (SPSS version 17) was employed in analyzing the data and correlation analysis was used to pair the two variables (farmers and extension workers) and t-test was used to test the hypothesis. The study revealed that agricultural cooperative societies are effective means of accessing agricultural services under NPFS. The study also revealed that both farmers and ADP extension workers encountered some challenges in their bid to achieve the goal of the programme. The study therefore recommends that there should be proper publicity and awareness on NPFS programme, adequate fund should be made available for the success of the programme and the youth should be encouraged to embrace agriculture as a means of employment.