INFORMATION SOURCING, ORGANIZATION AND DISSEMINATION BY AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION WORKERS IN BORNO STATE AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Agriculture remains the mainstay of almost all economies of the sub- Saharan African which Nigeria is not an exception. In Nigeria agriculture had been the most effective and viable sector in revenue generation to the economy before the advent of the oil and gas sector. It is now second to oil and gas in terms of revenue generation, and contribution to national gross domestic product (GDP) and first in all employment opportunities in the country. This view was highlighted by President Goodluck Jonathan (2012) when he averred that agriculture accounts for about fourty percent (40%) of Nigerians gross domestic product (GDP) and over seventy percent (70%) of all employment. The sector also increases productivity which drives down rural poverty and revive rural economy. In addition Ugwu and Kanu (2012) also stated that more than seventy percent (70%) of Nigerian population depend on agriculture and provides subsistence farming for two-third of Nigerians who are low income earners.

Agriculture and farming are synonymous when it comes to their definition, a layman simply sees it as the ordinary cultivation of land to obtain food and cash crops for his/her livelihood, but to professionals and corporate organizational bodies they see it beyond that. Ugumba, et al (2010) define agriculture and farming as the practice of cultivating the land or raising stock and the production of agricultural goods through the growing of plants and the raising of domesticated animals. In a similar definition, United Nation Development Programme UNDP, (2008) sees agriculture as the cultivation of land for producing crops and proper utilization, processing, marketing and extension of not only crops but also other agricultural commodities such as fish, meat, eggs, forest product etc. Following the definitions given above, it can be

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discerned that agriculture involves many activities such as cultivation of land for crop production, agro-forestry, and animal husbandry.

INFORMATION SOURCING, ORGANIZATION AND DISSEMINATION BY AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION WORKERS IN BORNO STATE AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME